Painting questions

[Syphar]

I'm planning to paint some Tomy/Hasbro Zoid models in a few weeks/months (still have to wash them all and clean up the sprue cuts, they are 2nd hand) before trying my hand at full customisations, and I have a couple of questions.

1. Can you spray paint a model while it's already assembled? If yes, how do you do so? I have only painted the individual pieces.

2. Can you paint the rubber caps? What's the best way to do it, so that they will still stretch enough to fit over the pieces, and the paint won't crack?

3. Is it ok to paint the clear plastic parts like the cockpit, and a Redler's wing pieces? Is there anything special I should know before doing this, or are they just like the normal plastic pieces?

4. How do you take apart a Schneider's side blade sections? I can't seem to get either side piece apart, the orange piece that goes over the other 2 pieces just won't come off. I'm afraid if I ask a family member to help me that they'll break it. If I can't get it apart do I just masking tape it like heck and paint it that way? I can take some photos to show the pieces I mean if it's not clear. I only have one Schneider kit but orange and I don't get along so it's getting a new coat whether it likes it or not.

5. Apart from more colour choices, is there any benefit to buying the little hobby spray paint cans over the full size paint cans you can get from bunnings warehouse? Because they seem to be about the same price but double the size.

6. I read the ink/paint washing topic. It said enamel is best for washes but I have a lot of acrylic paint from my years of regular canvas painting. If I plan to use them, I should be using enamel spray paint for the main body, yes? Just want to make sure I buy the correct paint for the base.

7. I've used lacquer spray paint before on a small piece and it came out beautifully glossy but quite thick. Is there any way to get around this? I think it'd be neat to have a stupidly glossy black & green Molga. Is it possible to paint wash green over black lacquer? Would it look silly? Or instead of lacquer, I could use chroming powder, but does anyone know where I could get that in/from Australia?

8. Has anyone tried using the super glue method to make plastic shiny? I know it can work well on wood but idk about plastic. I have a co-worker who used super glue, wiped it off with toilet paper then sprayed it with windex before applying another layer of super glue, if I remember correctly (he made wooden pens). Is this worth investigating? It sounds like it would take ages but for something like the Schneider blades it could be neat (assuming I can get the side blades disassembled!)

I think that's it for now. Sorry for so many! I want to do them properly this time though, I've only painted a Zoid once before and it was as a teen with whatever spray paint I could find lying around and whatever I could get my parents to buy for me.

[wolves]

1. Yes with heavy masking. I don't suggest it though, it's more work than it's worth.

2. I paint my caps with brushes and bottled acrylic paint. Haven't had any cracking issues. I'm not sure what you mean by stretching?

3. Redler's wings are not like the regular plastic. I sprayed mine and it was really dark. Try to keep the coats light. I went too heavy and it was bleh.

4. I just built my Schneider but I'm not sure. I hand painted mine so it wasn't a problem but if you need the orange gone, masking the blades shouldn't be too hard.

5. I found hobby spray cans to give much more control. I almost ruined my Saber project by using a large bottle of an ugly white(I found this out late) and came to my senses later by using a model-sized can of Testors white spray. The control made for a MUCH better coat.

6. That sounds right but I'm not sure. Hopefully someone else here can answer that.

7. Not sure about the laquer question but you can get chroming powder on Ebay from a seller in Asia. For the US, with shipping, one compact of the stuff is $15. I can send a link if you need.

8. Never done that myself so I can't answer that sorry.

Hope I've helped a little. Good luck with your project, Schneider's my fave. I just made a glitter one

[Syphar]

So hand painting the caps is safe to do and they can still be put on the model without issue? Perfect.

Hmm. Perhaps with grey primer the Redler wings won't turn out too dark? I am thinking about doing mine silver but haven't fully decided on a colour scheme yet.

I didn't think about control, that sounds a great reason to get the hobby cans. Thanks!

I don't see any chroming powder on ebay from Asia but I'll keep an eye out for it, I'm not in any rush at the moment. Shipping from the UK or US is a bit expensive.

Thanks for the help wolves, much appreciated!

[wolves]

Yes definitely! I used Apple Barrel paints on mine. I blue tac them on bbq skewers to make it easier.

Primer should get you a better result I'm sure!

No problem

[Maethius]

I'll do my best....

1. Can you spray paint a model while it's already assembled? If yes, how do you do so? I have only painted the individual pieces.

You can, but I never do.

2. Can you paint the rubber caps? What's the best way to do it, so that they will still stretch enough to fit over the pieces, and the paint won't crack?

Depends; usually they crack. I've used enamel paints with some success, but in general paint doesn't remain flexible. You might be able to use a Sharpie, but you are pretty limited on what colors you can end up with.

3. Is it ok to paint the clear plastic parts like the cockpit, and a Redler's wing pieces? Is there anything special I should know before doing this, or are they just like the normal plastic pieces?

Again, depends on your final desired look. They can be tinted by using transparent paints, but the colors can do wonky things like turn green on you or just get ugly if you try a bad color combination. If you want the cockpit to appear like solid metal, go for it. I've seen many customs done where the glass has been masked to appear as armor with a few slits for windows.

4. How do you take apart a Schneider's side blade sections? I can't seem to get either side piece apart, the orange piece that goes over the other 2 pieces just won't come off. I'm afraid if I ask a family member to help me that they'll break it. If I can't get it apart do I just masking tape it like heck and paint it that way? I can take some photos to show the pieces I mean if it's not clear. I only have one Schneider kit but orange and I don't get along so it's getting a new coat whether it likes it or not.

There are few plastic parts that cannot be separated.... but you might maul them in the process. Mask, if you can. Remember to let the first color set at least 24 hours before painting the second color.

5. Apart from more colour choices, is there any benefit to buying the little hobby spray paint cans over the full size paint cans you can get from bunnings warehouse? Because they seem to be about the same price but double the size.

Sometimes hobby sprays are a finer paint, but, again, it depends on what you are looking for... base coat? Final coat? Undercoat to be detailed upon later?

6. I read the ink/paint washing topic. It said enamel is best for washes but I have a lot of acrylic paint from my years of regular canvas painting. If I plan to use them, I should be using enamel spray paint for the main body, yes? Just want to make sure I buy the correct paint for the base.

This is correct, but in general enamel thins better than acrylic, and acrylic can tend to bubble up. Still, it can be done with practice.

7. I've used lacquer spray paint before on a small piece and it came out beautifully glossy but quite thick. Is there any way to get around this? I think it'd be neat to have a stupidly glossy black & green Molga. Is it possible to paint wash green over black lacquer? Would it look silly? Or instead of lacquer, I could use chroming powder, but does anyone know where I could get that in/from Australia?

I have always seen gloss spray paint as too thick to maintain detail... almost twice as thick as flat paint. If I want a glossy Zoid part, I airbrush it. Chroming powder? I get most of my stuff at Micro-Mark.com.

8. Has anyone tried using the super glue method to make plastic shiny? I know it can work well on wood but idk about plastic. I have a co-worker who used super glue, wiped it off with toilet paper then sprayed it with windex before applying another layer of super glue, if I remember correctly (he made wooden pens). Is this worth investigating? It sounds like it would take ages but for something like the Schneider blades it could be neat (assuming I can get the side blades disassembled!)

I've never honestly tried to shine a Zoid.

Hope that helps!

[Syphar]

Thanks for the help Maethius!

For the caps, what if I hand paint them while they are already on the Zoid? Perhaps that will prevent them from cracking as long as I don't remove them. Failing that, I may have to scavenge alternate colour caps from other kits to see what I can come up with for my Schneider. I don't think a sharpie would work too well over bright red, unless I wanted to make them black I spose.

I've not heard of transparent paints before; the cockpits I will want to repaint will be the orange ones so I will do a bit of research on that. I suppose if I stuff them up I can paint them silver or gold. Interesting window idea.

Masking it is! I can't afford to break the armour as I don't have any spares and it'll be very expensive to get another.

For the paints I think I'll get the large ones for primers unless the cost difference isn't enough to bother going to a second place, then use the hobby paints for undercoat & final coat. 2 thin layers of paint on primer should be enough, right?

Hmm. I'll have to go through my old boxes of paints to see if I have any enamels. If I do then I can buy acrylic spray paint instead; I may be restricted by what the hobby store stocks anyway. Some of them are expensive, I think they are $11 - 15 per can.

You probably can't tell from the picture, but the black paws of my Leoblaze were painted in what I am fairly sure was lacquer; either way it came out very thick, I think I only gave them a single coat (this was about 5 years ago): fc03.deviantart.net/fs28/f/2008/047/3/2/Zoids_Leoblaze_Repaint_by_Solloby.jpg
So I think you may be right with the too thick for detail part.

Part of me wants to try the super glue method on a sprue tree, but the other part of me is convinced it will end up with my fingers stuck together. Perhaps I shall get some gloves and give it a go anyway. It'd be really interesting to see the result, as it might end up easier than going the chroming powder route. Wolves PMed me a link to where I can buy chroming powder from eBay so if the glue fails I can try the powder. I should try this asap, I might dig around for some glue today so I can see whether or not it eats up the Zoid plastic or anything like that over time. If it's successful I might try it on a Molga, if I stuff up one of my spare Molgas it's no biggie but I will only get one shot at customising the Schneider blades.

[Maethius]

If the caps to be painted are not removed, that will improve your odds.

If you are tinting orange canopies you have to stay within that color gamut: red, brown, etc. Remember that orange will affect any transparency you apply to it.

On the chroming, that also depends on the final desired effect. A good use of buffing metalizer (a Testor's Model Master paint) can do wonders; it gleams where you polish it but elsewhere can be a very dark, dull color.