Noob Painting Question

atomic · Post by **atomic** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:22 pm

I've been paininting minis for about 10 years, but mostly 28mm Figures and armor. I'm a stumped on how to hold the ship minis while painting. Can you folks share your techniques for temporarily afixing the mini to something while painting, so that you don't get fingerprints all over it? I use water-based acrylics from that unnamed British company (and some from some unnamed Japanese companies, too.) Do I even need to worry about that because the paint is fairly fast to dry?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Bolo_MK_XL · Post by **Bolo_MK_XL** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 6:14 pm

I mostly put it on the stand, this helps when you need to get under it,
You can pick it up, rotate it without touching the mini -- A small dab of super glue will hold it (Make sure you use metal ones), when done just carefully twist/pry to separate it --

Some of the flatter minis I just set it on the table, normally on a small piece of packing foam (turn or pick it up without touching the mini) ---
If doing large areas in a single color, occasionally just hold it in one hand --

Several use water-based acrylics, in the states, stores like Wal-Mart or Craft stores carry some by companies such as FolkArt/Apple Barrel in 2 Oz and larger bottles -- Never had an issue with them drying to quickly ---

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:43 pm

Welcome aboard, Atomic. It's great to see another minis painter from Tennessee.

As for holding the minis... I typically do this:
1) attach to an old stand wiht blu-tac.
2) airbrush hte base coat
3) remove from temporary stand
4) place mini on old t-shirt and paint underneath
5) attach mini to permanent stand with epoxy
6) paint remainder of miniture and detail using the stand to hold mini
7) repaint stand to reapair any scuffs that occured during painting

clear coat
9) Play Federation Commander!

Check out the links below to see how they turn out...

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:02 pm

Unlike some folks, I permanently mount the mini to the stand during assembly. I then use "alligator clips" on a hobby holding fixture to grab the stand's neck. This gets used for every stage of painting and detailing. At the end, I file and sand the neck smooth (if it got scarred-up) and paint the stand black.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:15 pm

djdood wrote:Unlike some folks, I permanently mount the mini to the stand during assembly. I then use "alligator clips" on a hobby holding fixture to grab the stand's neck. This gets used for every stage of painting and detailing. At the end, I file and sand the neck smooth (if it got scarred-up) and paint the stand black.

I tried that when I first got started, but didn't like the way it felt. I guess with 4 kids (including the infamous PlasmaBoy), I'm too used to things moving, jumping, bouncing, etc... not sitting exactly where you want them to be!

atomic · Post by **atomic** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:09 pm

Thanks, guys. Your tips have been enlightening. I'll experiment with these technques and see what works best for me.

Rick Smith · Post by **Rick Smith** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:32 pm

Hey Atomic. I'm with djdood. Right after I'm done cleaning the model of mold lines or making slight changes to it, I drill a new hole (most likely in the spot of the original, but not always) to accomadate the flying bases and stems I use. I then glue it in place with zap-a-gap or Testors plastic glue for plastic to plastic joints.

After everything has set, I wrap artist's tape around the stem as not to get primer on it, take the model outside (so as not to gas myself to death) and give it a few light coats. Light coats are better than one really heavy one, as that can destroy details or run.

With the stem as part of the model, it gives me a perfect hand-hold while priming or painting the ship!

Good luck.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:21 pm

The only reason I don't permanently mount them to the stand first is because I like to detail the undersides (see Entry #6 in the 2006 online painting contest) of my miniatures and it's sometimes hard to do with a stand in place.

Rick Smith · Post by **Rick Smith** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:45 pm

I've discovered some interesting "work-arounds" in the past when dealing with flight stems and detailing the underside of models. It would make it difficult to do Bird of Prey decals though. Unless the hull detailing was hand painted - but I don't think that's how Scoutdad did his. His look like decals with a paint over. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

I suppose what it comes down to is making sure you have a battle plan when you approach painting a model. If your ship has an extremely detailed underbelly, paint the whole model without a stem in place.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:57 pm

Ack! No - Those were all hand - painted, well - the frigate and the destroyer are decals - but the SparrowHawk, FireHawk, and Condor are all painted by hand.

I actually use very few decals on my miniatures. Federation hull names / numbers and warp engine penants and a few Fed details are decals.

Nearly everything else is painted on... Kzinti windows... Lyran stripes / spots / rosettes... Hydran fleet bands... Orion flames... etc.

Rick Smith · Post by **Rick Smith** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:00 pm

Sweet dude! I thought that because of the very symmetrical lines you had going on, the decals were laid on first, and then sealed and then hand-painted to add a different feel than most of the eagles you see on the bottom of Romulan ships. Nice work. Steady hand.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:09 pm

thanks for the complement.

If you go back through and read some of the comments made on the minis contest after there were finsihed - I lost out on a lot of votes because everyone thought my stuff was done with decals...

Oh well. I didn't paint them tpo win contests, I painted them to relax after a hard day at work... and to look good while kicking enemy but on the weekends!

Rick Smith · Post by **Rick Smith** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:18 pm

No problem. They look great. Too bad about the decal/non-decal confusion.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:22 pm

No biggie. I still had ooodles of fun painting them...