Hello all, I have decided to try restoring vintage transformers that I picked up recently and was hoping I could get some suggestions. First, is there a place that sells the screws, springs and parts of ratcheting joints commonly found in vintage Transformers? Second can anyone recommend paint pen colors that would match the below parts? G1/2 Optimus Prime Chest (Red) G1 Optimus Prime Feet (Dark Blue / Purple) G2 Optimus Prime Feet (Bright Blue) G1 Inferno Feet (Red) Jetfire Legs (White) Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
With paint pens, you would be limited to a small variety of colors plus those things tend to rub off easily. Also, paint fades over time and certain batches of figures might be in a slightly different color due to the slightly different plastic and paints used over time. Paint/plastic can also degrade over time so it would take some work to mix and paint match with your figures. These are for acrylic paints: Layman's Gunpla Guide - Hand Painting Tutorial | Otaku Revolution The Gunpla Kit Painting Guide for Realistic Models | FROM JAPAN Blog I would recommend using a good quality brush (natural not synthetic) to fix minor paint chips and to strip and repaint figures with serious paint loss with a spray can/airbrush. I would personally recommend enamel paints (and enamel thinner) for diecast parts but try to get something better than the stuff available at your local Michael's/Hobby Lobby. Be warned, do the stripping/painting in a well-ventilated room. Your health and the health of people around you are more important than a single robot toy. Be careful of unscrewing figures, you wouldn't want to be stuck with a stripped screw and no realistic way to take apart fragile 20+-year-old figures. Have a screwdriver that actually fits. Don't force an unfitting screwdriver to remove a screw. List of supplies: mixing trays ventilation fan painting booth (if spraying) good quality natural fiber paintbrushes of a variety of shapes and sizes thinner (acrylic or enamel) paints (acrylic or enamel) screwdriver that fits screws plastic trays to keep loose parts The Hot Wheels community has a lot of information on painting and stripping diecast pieces. I would suggest to research and find more information on the nuances, but for now, this should be good enough: How to custom paint Hot Wheels diecast cars Toy Polloi did a three-part series on repairing a G1 Optimus Prime: With replacement parts, your best bet would be to buy some cheap junker figures off eBay and cannibalize them for parts. The specifications for the dimensions of the screws for these figures are not easily available to the general public, so trying to go into stores and trying out screws and springs through the process of trial and error would be incredibly time consuming and expensive. Also, I think that this thread should be in Creative General Discussions, not Radicon Customs due to the lack of a physical product to show off at the moment. Good luck and have fun. edit: grammar
