customizing a bud question

What do you use to strip the paint off a bud? I was using acetone and I think it started eating the plastic. I tested it on a dunny and it seemed fine so I tried it on the bud. It seemed o.k. at first then the plastic started rubbing off on my fingers.

Acetone works fine, when used in combination with water and sandpaper. I start by sanding off a good portion of the paint before busting out the acetone. You'll want to use a wet cloth or dunk the figure in a bucket of water after each pass with the acetone. [I use Q-tips dipped in acetone for small figures or tight areas.] You could try diluting the acetone with water too, if it's still too powerful.

Cool thanks
I'll give that a try. It didn't do any real damage thankfully but I stopped before I started the body.

On the clear buds the plastic gets sticky.
On regular buds it works fine, as long as you don't use too much.

Though I know some people use only sanding, but that seems to take forever.

hey edstuff,

dunnys are made of vinyl - acetone works great for getting paint off vinyl and does not eat into it too much.
buds,however, are made of ABS plastic. acetone completely melts ABS if you give it some time. so be über careful.
i find it easiest to just primer directly on the paint on ABS pieces. if afterwards there are traces of the tampon-printed
patterns underneath i would sand them slightly using 600/800 grit sandpaper and thinly primer again if at all necessary.
this works for vinyl, too. just be careful not to drench any detail and to mask of the shoulders balljoints and the legpegs -
if you take em off at all, that is.

hope this helps.
cheers
mm

Actually that helps a lot. I was debating just leaving the original paint on the rest of the body.(I only stripped the head and wick) Now I know that's o.k. Did you leave the original paint on your squadt custom? I'm working up the guts to customize one but think I should do some more munnys/dunnys/plastics first.

All feedback is appreciated fellas!

hi edstuff,

yes, i left the og paint on the squadt, mixed a little acetone in my primer for a better 'bite' and sparayed it as thin as
humanly possible. i completely removed the paint only on the inside of the helmet, so only the soft bare vinyl touches the
new face of the squadt. wouldn't want any scratches there, right?

cheers
mm

muffinman wrote:hi edstuff,

yes, i left the og paint on the squadt, mixed a little acetone in my primer for a better 'bite' and sparayed it as thin as
humanly possible. i completely removed the paint only on the inside of the helmet, so only the soft bare vinyl touches the
new face of the squadt. wouldn't want any scratches there, right?

cheers
mm

You spray with regular airbrush? Isn't too thick?

@crow (sorry for derailing your thread, edstuff)
well, i've got airbrushes that range from 0,2 to 0,5 nozzles. the 0,5 is cool for priming smaller stuff.
i like the primer a little thinner anyway so i don't mind having to thin it with either nitro or acetone.
mind you, i use 0,8 + 1,0 nozzles too, like on a sata minijet for example. but only for priming and sealing.
the colours are all regular airbrush and sable brushes...

muffinman wrote:@crow (sorry for derailing your thread, edstuff)
well, i've got airbrushes that range from 0,2 to 0,5 nozzles. the 0,5 is cool for priming smaller stuff.
i like the primer a little thinner anyway so i don't mind having to thin it with either nitro or acetone.
mind you, i use 0,8 + 1,0 nozzles too, like on a sata minijet for example. but only for priming and sealing.
the colours are all regular airbrush and sable brushes...

No probs
I was going to ask you if you airbrushed the base coat. It looked too clean for a spray can and I knew there was no way you did it with a paint brush.

you know, i do occasionally use rattlecan primer. but although i have my difficulties mixing colours
i would always use airbrush coulours (or anything else i can water down enough to pass through a 0,2 nozzle)
to paint my base coats or patterns. most of the times the hues i want aren't available in cans anyway.
saves a lot of money, too, in the long run...