The Energon Pub

I want to paint up my WfC Optimus, and that includes, for the first time, finding paint that will give me a realistic iridescent shine. Any fellow painters with advice or favorite paints? Does a specific brand do car quality really well, or is there a type of clear gloss that will give me the same effect?

This would best be asked in the "Customs" section of the forums.

You could try Krylon Fusion paints. It's designed specifically for use on plastic. It doesn't specify whether it's gloss or matte, but you can always spray a coat of clear gloss spray on it for a car-like glossy finish.

Pylox might also be worth checking out. Just be careful NOT to spray any clear coat over paints of this brand, or the surface would look grainy. Not even if the clear spray is the same brand. For some reason, the clear and color paints react chemically with each other and produce a grainy, almost sandblasted finish.

I found that out the hard way when I was painting up my Arii VF-1J Max way back when.

Valandar wrote:This would best be asked in the "Customs" section of the forums.

And thus it is so

Well. I'm kind of new-ish to the site, but I've been customizing for a long while, and I have done some auto painting in the past, so if you're looking to get a real auto shine to the figure, just use real auto paints. There are numerous paces online that you can get paints from, or even places like Pepboys and O'Riley's auto's carry paints as well. Now, as for the type of paint, I would probably go with what they call a polyurathane paint, and that's specifically designed FOR the plastic parts of a car, but also adheres to the metals as well. You can probably go to a local auto body shop, and ask them if you can pay them to mix a few ounces of which colors you want. I'm sure they will be more than OK with doing so as long as they are getting paid to do it Hope this helps a little.

But aren't those paints a little thick? Would they adhere well in high-friction areas like joints, or would they clog them up after re-assembly?

actually, no, they seem to go on about as thin as your hobby paints honestly. As for joints, they will tighten them yes, but if the joints are loose that's a good thing, but if you like how the joints are, simply either mask the joints off with some tape, or sand the paint off once dry.