Some painting tips

[Skull 001]

I am going to get back into customizing. But I wanted to know those of you who have totally painted the entire Valk for a custom. How and what do you use to seal it so the paint doesn't scratch or chip off durring transformation. I have been very scared to totally paint up a valk thinking it will chip or scratch off making it look like crap.

Edited June 17, 2008 by Skull 001

[Excillon]

I am going to get back into customizing. But I wanted to know those of you who have totally painted the entire Valk for a custom. How and what do you use to seal it so the paint doesn't scratch or chip off durring transformation. I have been very scared to totally paint up a valk thinking it will chip or scratch off making it look like crap.

Krylon is your friend.

[big F]

Yeah if you can get it (I cant in the UK) Krylon is good.

I seal with Future but its not strong. I have also used Clear Auto Gloss but this has to be shot from an Air brush or gun as its mix only paint shop stuff. Works well though as its meant for cars, although it can be a bit thick.

[mitch]

I am going to get back into customizing. But I wanted to know those of you who have totally painted the entire Valk for a custom. How and what do you use to seal it so the paint doesn't scratch or chip off durring transformation. I have been very scared to totally paint up a valk thinking it will chip or scratch off making it look like crap.

I just finished a custom myself which was sort of an experiment in what paints to use. Obviously chipping was a main concern since there are so many contact points and joints in any valk. I mainly used Krylon Fusion since the blurb on the can said 'bonds on a molecular level' or something. This is BS! The can lies!! Still, if you do use krylon make sure to leave it for 7 days to fully dry.

I also used Krylon's Crystal Clear to seal it because;

A) I've used it before, and...

B) I had used Krylon to paint it. It is my experience that you sometimes need to test how a sealer will react to the paint underneath. Still, the crystal clear gives a reasonably tough finish that shouldn't yellow.

Just remember to test your paints and sealers, and to give the figure some preliminary sanding with something like 1200 grain sandpaper with a little extra sanding at areas that will move or come into a lot of contact (eg. 'snap-points').

Good luck!

[winterdyne]

I've only done the one valk, but it turned out nice, and the paintwork is wearing very well. The transfers, not so good, especially on the intakes where the GBP armour is a little tight.

If you're doing a full repaint, sanding and priming are the most important part. I used 600 and 1200 grit papers, and primed with Citadel (Games Workshop) Skull white from a rattlecan. My actual paint was Tamiya acrylic (thinned with the proper thinners). Sealed with future, tranferred, then sealed again, then oil washed, then flat coated with 'flat future' - a 30-70 mix of Tamiya flat base and Future. (Klear in the UK).

On the yammies, pay particular attention to the verniers on the intakes (where they rub the upper leg), the surfaces of the hinges on the arms and legs, the knee cover sides and all over the forearms. Those areas all get a lot of handling, so you absolutely need good paint adhesion. Do this whilst the valk is disassembled and keep dry fitting to ensure a moderately loose fit. I put all this stuff in a writeup in a thread a few months back.