One more thing will help too: Use masking tape to square off all of your edges and to prevent bleeding onto other parts. A lot of your running could've been prevented with masking man. You should get hobby tape but you can get away with regular mask tape if you can't get the hobby stuff. By the way, I PMd you on the paints man
I'd say take your time and take it apart completly, remember to keep track of everything all the screws, pins, and anything else that might be needed to make this thing whole again. Once your done soak it in isopropyl alcohol for a day or two, just so it can eat away all the layers of paint. Once the paint starts to fall off take the pieces out and let them dry completly. you may need a tooth brush to get the paint out of some of the smaller areas. After that try different techiques, do a little research here on TFW, and most importantly take your time in painting. These are art, enjoy the time your painting and dont get frustrated. When youre repainting there isnt much that cant be undone. My painting area was full of the carcasses of failed early projects, but I did all those things I talked about, and now Im in 60 or so repaints later and still kickin albeit at a much slower pace
maybe send him a painted piece of junk transformer to give an idea close and personal what yours look like painted.
I think the arm stickers are a lost cause. If you want to replace them, you could try stenciling them on with masking tape and spray paint. You lay the tape on over your part, draw the shape you want, and cut it out with a knife- after you've taken the tape back off or with it on, if you're feeling daring. Cover everything else up with paper towels and spray in even stroked from about two feet away. When it looks good pull off the mask and your should have a nice sharp detail. There's always a little edge clean up, but that's life. If you can find the colors you like, spray paint is a really good option for budget customizing. I use it all the time, and I'm a real tight wad. You can't use it on the soft plastic parts, like his head vane, because the solvents in the paint will react with it, but the hard plastic will be fine. A good first step even if you're hand painting is to give a figure a base coat of primer. A lot of people use gray automotive primer. I don't think that you have to totally strip this guy if you want to go in again on the paint. If you sand what's there, it will help by acting as a primer layer. A word of warning about masking tape- It can pull off the paint it's on top of. A good trick is to stick it to your pants first to take the strength out of it. It should grab like a strong Post It note, so it doesn't hurt your paint. I hope you take my suggestions in the right spirit. We all benefit from getting feedback. I learned most of what I know my getting help from other board members, so I always like to help where I can.
I've decided to ditch the arm and knee stickers. They don't match the paint scheme, anyway, and aren't really worth trying to alter to match. NLTAG, what exactly disappoints you, apart from the criticisms everyone else has given?
No, NLTAG, that's not it. When I initially repainted Blurr, I attempted to make the stickers on his arms match with the cartoon-based colour scheme (by painting the V-shaped notch). Didn't really work, though, especially not on the left arm. Besides, the markings created by the arm stickers are neither present on his cartoon appearance, nor do they really enhance the toy's looks with this paint scheme. The detail the knee stickers add is kinda nice, but altering them to match the dark blue legs is more a job for a marker and they were getting in the way of cleaning up the paintwork. They may go back on later. Also, you didn't answer my question.
I'll (try to) answer it. Your paint work is horrendous. The idea behind it may not be, but it's awful. Your current technique is a disservice to the figures. It's smeared, messy, the colors are all mixed together, it looks like you rubbed your hands all over it when the paint was wet, you're using the wrong kinds of paint and putting it on the wrong way. Now I'm not saying you can't get better, but if you truly cannot understand why everyone says your paint work is awful (which is exactly the vibe I'm getting from you), you'll never improve. All you need to do is look around the mod forum at 99.9% of the other postings to see what a careful paint job looks like. I'm sorry if that's harsh, but you keep asking why people don't like your work. That's why. I remember in another thread you wanted sticker scans that you were printing out on regular paper and gluing on with super glue. That is exactly the type of shoddy technique that ruins a figure. If you want people to like your stuff you need to do it properly.
I already admitted to the paint being sloppy and rushed, though, and said I was re-doing it. I don't mind being told the paint sucks. What's got me irritated is people acting as though I've dynamited the figure to smithereens and then being vague about why. As for the stickers, that was a case of limited resources. I printed on regular paper because it's what I have. And I used super glue because it dries quickly.
What you need to do: Unless somehow youve managed to make this look amazing when you did the touch up work you need to buy some Isopropyl alcohol, 99% works great and soak every piece with paint on it in the alcohol. Leave over night. This will strip the plastic bare of all the old paint and give you a nice clean surfave to paint on again. Then buy some good quality acrylics that are easy to use for beginners. I recommend Tamiya acrylics. Craft paints can work well if you have the knowledge and experiance to know how to use them, otherwise you are best using the stuff thats pretty much designed to be foolproof. When you are ready to paint again take some masking tape and tape off the areas you dont want to paint. Taking your tamiya acrylics apply light and even coats of paint (thinning them with some alcohol if need be). The lighter the coats the better. Dont worry if you have to apply 5 or 6 coats of paint, as long as its thin and you are doing it right your paint will look great by the time you are finished. Once you are done with whatever color you just used and you want to paint the areas that you masked off a different color, simply put some masking tape over the areas you just finished painting (after leaving them to fully cure of course...overnight should be long enough) and repeat the above steps until you have the color and finish you want. Re-assemble. Profit (?) Job done. Basically you have to start over, but the experiance you will gain and the better end result will be worth all the effort.
I did strip the paint off. It's moved from touching up to complete overhaul, and is looking way better. And if I can't make the craft acrylics work, SonOfNemesis is sending some Tamiya acrylics.
Invest a couple bucks in better paper, and STOP USING SUPER GLUE. It may dry fast, but it ruins the plastic and paint and you can't get the surface clean and smooth ever again - not to mention it can't look good. There's no rush! Rushing ruins. Use something like an elmers glue stick to glue the labels on. That way they can be removed, but they'll still stick. You could also experiment with printing on water slide decal sheets, which again are harmless to the surface.
