My First Repaint (WIP) (help appreciate... :))

Hey guysl,

After a few customs in the land of Star Wars, I've decided to return to the Transformers Universe - by attempting a repaint!

Inspired by the many, many fantastic repaints I've seen on this site, I've decided to join the bandwagon. This is a first for me, I won't deny I'm a total noob in the realm of repaints! I'm reasonably adept with an airbrush, so that's what I'll be using.

So I've bought myself a Universe Powerglide with the intention of repainting him to more accurate military colours as an A-10, (as seen in the photo) of course with some weathering/panel lines rendering for good measure.

So, time for the noob to ask questions -

1). Very stupid, but what are the best paints to use? The obvious thing that springs to mind - which I've never really had to worry about on a model before - is durability. Namely, how do you stop the paint rubbing off in transformation?

2). Do you literally take everything apart? And, if so, how do you make sure you put it back together properly!? Take photos? lol

3). Decals. Is there a special paper you can buy to enable oneself to make his own?

That's all, thanks!

Apologies for the noobness.

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I did something like what you want to here:
GoBot Love! Classics Bad Boy

OUt of habbit I took it all the way apart, (but couldnt salvage the electronics)

I had the black repaint to so I used that as a guide. Powerglide is a simple enough figure to take apart and put together. But a simple trick to make things easier is using masking tape on any posts so make the reassembly a bit smoother

I got my decals from a few different "movie upgrade" sets from reprolabels.

but if waterslides are your thing you can get them here:
DecalPaper.com - Decals - Waterslide decal paper or inkjet,laser printers Alps & copiers

If you have any questions feel free to ask

that was awesome work ROD. yeah you can do our own decals, or commission someone to do them for you. I recommend AutobotX23, he's very good at that, trust me. I'm kinda doing the same thing with the V-22 osprey - "Incinerator".

1) No matter how good the paint, prep work is the key to good paint adhesion. Some swear by Krylon Fusion, others prefer Tamiya....that list can go on and on. But proper prep is the key.

a) Some people put a coat of clear on for the final coat to help prevent paint wear/chipping. Future Floor finish comes to mind.

2) Do you have to take everything apart? No you don't. There are some artists here (TonyzCustomz comes to mind....he did an Alt custom using the Mirage mold, without taking it apart, in white at that. Came out flawless) And some (myself included) prefer to take them apart. For me it makes them easier to paint (less masking required) As to how they go back together, yes taking a pic of the dis-assembly process would help. Pen, paper and scotch tape would help to....write down where the pin/screw came from on the paper (maybe even draw a little diagram), and then tape said pin/screw to the paper with the scotch tape right where you wrote down that info.

3) For this one, I have no answer, cause I don't make decals. As the guys have mentioned, there is always Reprolabels (custom made sets cost a little) Also, as mentioned, AutobotX23 makes them, as does Frenzy_Rumble but if either are willing to take a commission for a set, I have no clue.

I've only been painting one figure so far, but when I took it apart I used separate ziploc bags for each limb. All the pieces - screws, pins and plastic - went into one bag, so I could reassemble them one at a time.

The taping them to a piece of paper thing works as well but I have horrible luck with losing little parts, so I don't go that particular route.

Thanks for the advice guys! Much appreciated.

I'll start on him this weekend!