Hobby Cheating 173 - Stripping vs Repainting Miniatures 

Excellent, I don't generally waste time on proper. :)

There you go!

Happy to help as alwys. :)

Awesome, happy to help as always. :)

Interesting, I do have it and have used it to clean brushes, never thought about that use, I'll give it a try.

So it depends - sometimes I will just prime over (with an airbrush, it's so thin, it's not hurting anything). If I am just resetting an area, then I use something neutral. Like an ivory for warm colors and a grey for cold, usually the Vallejo Extra Opaque series. That resets the area to neutral with minimal additional paint application.

Glad I could help!

That is definitely a struggle - hope it's gotten easier since then and hope the videos helped. :)

I'm in the process of stripped and repainting my Eldar too. I was in a hurry and botched a lot of things.

Always happy to help.

You got me on that one. :)

Sure, it's always okay to strip anything, I mean it's your miniature. :) - My hope is to steer people away from feeling like they have to strip everything anytime they don't like how a single miniature (or part of a miniature) turns out. :)

@@VinceVenturella I think that the big fear is that if you don't strip and you just paint layer upon layer then you lose detail and that happens if one doesn't think their paints adequately; this is usually a beginners painting problem though.

Yep, would and have many times. Often when doing a competition piece, I will realize a color just doesn't work deep into the project (a whole cape is the wrong color or something). I simply paint over it and keep going.

In general, I will just pop them off the base. If I can't do that, then I just deal with the whole thing all at once. :)

Yeah, in the primer case, you have to strip, it's unfortunate, but it's the case.

The artist colors thing. Yes, I will pick them up when they are available retail. I am interested for sure, but I am not sure they are not just selling traditional HBA style paint at a miniature market mark-up. ;)

Yes it is called Scale Color Artist Smooth Acrylic paints, I believe, and will be available on the 6th. It looks fantastic!! Can't wait!! Have a great day!!

In general, nah, unless you have a serious case of Cheeto fingers situation, it's generally going to be covered by primer without issue.

Well, I wouldn't throw here away, but when you have that situation, yeah, that is a time you pretty much have to strip.

In the future, if you’re able to, always wash your resin models first to avoid this from happening. The peeling was due to painting over unwashed mold release

Master Airbrush starter set with the compressor,it's about 80 USD and will get you going for priming and base coating.

Absolutely, I do it all the time.

SHould be able to just reprime.

Clearly, he's had a long good life, he deserves a base.

I've found soaking in Purple Power for 48 hours and then scrubbing uner warm water with a toothbrush will pull most anything off.

@@VinceVenturella tyvm Vince

Makes sense.

Thank you, I thought this might help some folks make the decision if they are less familiar.

Sure, it's generally happening because of humidity. Humidity is your worst killer for rattlecans and what you are describing is the main reason I airbrush prime, it just makes everything so much easier. That being said, there is no way I have ever seen or know of to recover from a bad prime other than stripping sadly.

The effect you're talking about, which is also known as "orange peeling", happens because particles of the paint (or in this case primer) dried in mid-spray; the little grains are small clumps of dried primer that are sticking to the miniature along with the rest of the primer. There are a few factors at work here: 1) Relative temperature and humidity conditions. Extreme heat and cold can make rattle can paint and primer do all kinds of wonky stuff and its the same with relative humidity. Generally speaking, there not a lot you can do about this if you have to prime outside (which is usually the case when it comes to rattle cans) because you have no direct control over the weather. This is where other factors come into play. 2) The distance between the object you're spraying and the rattle can also makes a difference. Generally speaking, you want to go with the minimum distance when spraying, with a light finger and making sure that you're constantly moving the can side-to-side. This can be a bit daunting at first because the natural inclination, given the nature of spray paint/rattle cans is to pull back quite far so that the paint doesn't glop on and clog things up; unfortunately, the more distance there is between rattle can and target the more chance there is for the paint to dry mid-spray. Grab some old pieces of cardboard or plastic and practice spraying closer to help you develop touch sensitivity (for that light finger) and get you used to constantly moving the can; obviously, I don't recommend using miniatures for this simply because the stress that comes from fear of messing them up will make this practice * a lot* harder. 3) Lastly, how well mixed the paint/primer is and its temperature can make a huge difference. I know its tedious to shake cans for the recommended length of time but it really does help in making sure everything is well mixed. Another thing to try and remember is not to simply shake in a single direction; shake forwards and backwards, side-to-side and even just swirl the bottom of the can around for a few seconds to make sure that agitator inside is really scraping away at any paint that's settled. Finally, you can fill up a bowl or some other container with mildly hot water (usually the temperature you'd wash dishes or your hands is a good mark to shoot for) and submerge the rattle can about two-thirds of the way in the water; leave it there for about 10 minutes or so, so that the paint inside has plenty of time to warm up, then start shaking to mix. The warm paint will make mixing *much* easier and therefore its more likely you'll get it mixed thoroughly. Keep the container of warm water nearby while you're priming and, if you have to pause, put it back in to warm up when you do; this will keep the paint warm and flowing well.

@@VinceVenturella yeah I'm looking next at getting an airbrush, my concern is space, but I'll be getting a bigger place in the next 6 weeks.

Always happy to help!

The more mate surface is easier for paint to grip to. THe primer difference is happening because each color is mixed differently and responds to humidity differently. Chances are with the scale, you'd need to thin it down and apply in very thin layers, but as I said, it's not a good base coat paint.

@@VinceVenturella the original scale75 gripped the rough texture fine but the smooth one poorly. im still waiting on the artist tubes, they rerouted them or something i dunno

It can happen, it's more likely with a rattle can, but it can happen with an airbrush if you overspray. If you have that situation, stripping is pretty much the option.

Thanks Vince! @@VinceVenturella

I like all of these thoughts and guidance. Seems perfectly reasonable.

Yeah, it's a fine enough tool, but honestly not necessary.

Yep, and that's perfectly fair. It's usually the 2nd hand ebay that requires the stripping more than your own work.

Absolutely, if it's been varnished, no reason you can't just paint the whole thing over. I've done just that many times.

Vince Venturella thx I appreciate it

There is something really wonderful about putting a great paint job n some of those old figures. I have an old Heroquest figure that I have really been wanting to do a nice paint job on for a while.

It really does.

A fair point

Ouch, yeah, I use Purple Power mainly, as I can leave them in there for weeks when I inevitably forget about them. ;)

Yes, sadly, many of those things from youth do have no other option beyond stripping. :)

Yep, acetone works wonderfully for metal. Keep it away from plastic. :)

I've since moved to LA's totally awesome, I really enjoy it.

Yep, it's when you get the detail obscuring it's time to go. If it's simply the wrong color, then just keep painting.

He is basically the mascot of the channel.