The Energon Pub

Hello all, new to the forums here and new to repainting transformers figures. I want to repaint a couple of acid storm seekers into skywarp and thundercracker respectively (primarily because of the expense of these figures) and was wondering where to start.

I'm already familiar with painting (I play Warhammer so I know a lot about painting, particular fine detail) but I was wondering what kind of primer (if any) paints etc worked best on this type of model seeing as how most of my mini's are resin, or metal.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Welcome to Transtopia, I'm sure we all hope you enjoy your time here. I don't personally have much in the way of tips to provide with figure painting as I'm still more or less of an ameture myself, thought I mostly use an airbrush on what little I have done. I don't really have steady hands, which is a shame seeing as how I hope to be a cartoonist someday However I'm rather interested in painting up one of my old seeker molds as Thundercracker as well, so if that goes well I'll try to pass on how I did it.

Deshma wrote:Hello all, new to the forums here and new to repainting transformers figures. I want to repaint a couple of acid storm seekers into skywarp and thundercracker respectively (primarily because of the expense of these figures) and was wondering where to start.

I'm already familiar with painting (I play Warhammer so I know a lot about painting, particular fine detail) but I was wondering what kind of primer (if any) paints etc worked best on this type of model seeing as how most of my mini's are resin, or metal.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Hey Deshma, Lemme begin by saying Welcome. Now as for paints it seems like most of the fellas around here use Testors or Games Workshop or something like that. So that would be the recommended paint line. As for your Substrate question. Plastic,Metal,Fiberglass all can be painted. The majority or Transformers are plastic. Make sure you clean them with WARM water and soap. As to get rid of the lube for the joints and Release agent. I usually start with 800-2500 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Sand it down and then go to town. This will sound corny...but in the automotive paint industry it is scripture. "Where it's slick it won't stick" Meaning that you do have a chance of paint lifting if you dont sand. I use a spray gun myself. So any tips for using a brush to apply paint...im not the one to ask. I hope that helped you somewhat.

Those are some pretty good tips man, and greatly appreciated. I'm somewhat familiar with painting cars myself so I'll apply that knowledge to my current project.

My two big questions here though are what type of paint can be applied the best with a spray gun (I have an old one I used on model cars back in the day) and should I prime the model after I sand it?

Deshma wrote:Those are some pretty good tips man, and greatly appreciated. I'm somewhat familiar with painting cars myself so I'll apply that knowledge to my current project.

My two big questions here though are what type of paint can be applied the best with a spray gun (I have an old one I used on model cars back in the day) and should I prime the model after I sand it?

Testors/Model Master brand acrylics work best for me. As for sanding and priming, I'd suggest only doing one or the other personally. I've used primer before and not had quite the most desirable results. Sanding has worked fairly well thus far, but I'd still recommend caution not to overdo it.

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Deshma wrote:Those are some pretty good tips man, and greatly appreciated. I'm somewhat familiar with painting cars myself so I'll apply that knowledge to my current project.

My two big questions here though are what type of paint can be applied the best with a spray gun (I have an old one I used on model cars back in the day) and should I prime the model after I sand it?

Practice on some scrap or a junker first, to get a feel for the material and the results. Spraying you can use enamels or acrylics, just thin it down right. Far as sanding and primering, SS is right, one or the other. Remember though, you are ADDING mass/paint to a product that was designed to transform and fit together within millimeters of clearance between parts, adjust/sand/primer accordingly. Joint areas and places where it rubs especially. You have gotten some great advice from the other guy already, just practice and you'll be fine