Hey all -- I'm considering getting into the ol' kitbash thing and I was looking for some suggestions paint-wise. I want to do this right, so I'd like your feedback. Is primer recommended / necessary? What paints (if any) adhere to plastic well without staying tacky? And finally, does anyone know the process by which factory paint is applied to TFs, and what kind of paint it is? Thanks y'all!

You can always use acrylic with a clearcoat. but in my opinion it doesnt hold up too well where moving parts are, such as arm joints etc. just recently i tried something new. automotive touch up spray paint, found in walmarts, etc in the automotive dept. it adheres to plastic very well, well hard plastic anyhow, i dont know about soft plastic as i havent tried it on any as of yet. it seems to work better and is more scratch resistant than the krylon plastic bond stuff. there is always the option of dye. heres a link to a great site that kinda lays it all out for you. if you have any questions on my personal experience with dye, pm me. how to dye

I use some 88 cent acrylics I got from WalMart. I feel they work really well, and the color is nice up close. Only problem is, it has a hard time staying on the figure, so you need like 4 coats to make it look decent. I've been told primer works wonders to fix this though, so you might want to try that.

 

And one last thing. When I was into Mage Knight and repainting the mini figures, a few people told me that applying a layer of hair spray on the figure, after you've completed it to its entirety, will help give the paint a longer life span. The stickieness will wear off shortly with a lot of cool air, and it gives the figure a little bit of a shine.

i am a little stupid but on my gundam model kits i sometimes use fabric paint makes it shiney

how to dye

Awesome thanks for that link. It explains everything perfectly.

how to dye

Awesome thanks for that link. It explains everything perfectly.

Very thorough. But I was more thinking of painting than dyeing. That looks scary to me.

then id go with the spray touch up paint for cars. its good stuff.

and transfan, no prob.

I used acrylics once (from Tamiya) and it is bad, when dry, it can be scraped very easyly from the plastic, same with spray paint that should melt the plastic (that was told me, but paint still peels off)

 

I prefer enamel paints (Humbroll and Revell) and Tamiya's Aircraft spraypaints

I have had some pretty good expierences with Model Master's enamel. It's not too gloppy like testors can be, but some colors can be quite runny.They don't stay too sticky,unless they are too thick in one coat, and don't come off very easily, too.Believe me, I've tried.

Hmm, quite good tips, now to get some revell white paint and to work I go to make my Armada STD OP into Armada Magnus.