Painting a Squadt: Not Step by Step - A Work in Progress

Always wash your hands and the object you are painting, if you can strip the old paint off. and use a good primer, i use the automotive ones not the plastic. the plastic for me ended up sticky/tacky.
what are you going to paint Charlie?

I'm also looking to get into airbrushing, anyone have suggestions on equipment, paint, tools, tutorials?

Me too! I was JUST looking at airbrushes on amazon yesterday.

geopina wrote:Always wash your hands and the object you are painting, if you can strip the old paint off. and use a good primer, i use the automotive ones not the plastic. the plastic for me ended up sticky/tacky.
what are you going to paint Charlie?

My TL Gohst
I'm unsure as to what route I'll be going but I puttied up his third eye as of now, need to sand and paint.
Are you referring to automotive primer? Can I buy this at the local auto shop?

acetone - buy a mask/respirator! that shit will fck u up
rustoleum primer grey - worked well on helm/body but remained tacky on arms
rustoleum ulta cover 'plastic' - went well on body with rustoleum primer

ive read that krylon doesnt play well with any other brands besides krylon
maybe true, maybe not but the krylon ultra flat camouflage did crackle instantly when i sprayed it over the rustoleum primer
i stripped the helm and sprayed the krylon w/o primer the 2nd time, seems fine (pic)

ive yet to try the arms again, its too cold to paint until spring
and when that time comes ill try mr hobby, tamiya or montana 94 sprays

wash your hands, wash the parts well with dish soap!

itsa_mia wrote:

This pic makes me want to paint my TB matte black.

Quick question: What do you guys use to paint on?

Ive seen wires used before to paint arms and stands for helmets. Color me stupid but I dont know where to look to find anything like that.

ROACHSHACK138 wrote:Quick question: What do you guys use to paint on?

Ive seen wires used before to paint arms and stands for helmets. Color me stupid but I dont know where to look to find anything like that.

Bamboo skewers.  I am not at home so I will try to describe what I use and post a picture later.  A big block of foam works great to hold the skewers while paint dries.

Straight skewer for helmets, heads, and bodies.

Skewer wrapped on the end with masking tape.  Make the tape thick enough so it is a nice fit inside the legs.

Skewer wrapped on the end with masking tape and holding a couple straight pins.  The arm material is soft enough to push the flat end of the arm, at the shoulder, onto the pins.  Just never hold the skewer upside down....the arm can fall off by it's own weight.  To make this start wrapping some tape.  After you get about half what is needed to fit in the leg then lay in two straight pins as you continue to wrap the tape.  Make sure the pins are not too close together.

Hope this helps a little.....will follow up with pics....

Just the way I do it.  

Can't wait for pics Greg.

Question, what do you all think is the best way to replicate the smoky eye look on the FB figures and SA Germ?

I'm doing light grey for my doc and this grey primer came out darker than expected. If I go with a lighter grey, would I have to strip down and start over since the primer is darker than intended color? And 2nd opinion: SHOULD I go lighter grey or does it look good as is?

assuming its treats, the blue vinyl alone will darken any colour applied (guessing)
i think it looks great

I think it looks pretty good as is. In regards to stripping and repainting I don't think thats necessary, it'll jus have a thicker layer of paints. Won't be an issue for Squadts but if you're painting other stuff, paint thickness comes into play for possible rub issues.

I fucked up and had to strip it all down anyways , but I think this looks much better now with the light gray

Edit: Ive noticed the paint is a bit grainy. Anything I can do? Should I recoat or just leave it?

What brand of paint are you using?

How far from the piece are you holding the can when you paint?

That will not get better with more paint. Either wet sand the entire thing until you are happy with the surface or strip it and try again.

Im using Rustoleum autmotive primer and I was spray a little to far away. Ive did 2 coats, got grainy results, and just did my 3rd coat but sprayed a bit closer this time arpubd and it looks like it went on smoother. I'll update when it dries. How many coats should I do?

I am usually good with two coats. Occasional places need a little extra but that is mostly on helmets like gassed that have difficult places for the paint to get to.

Haven't used the auto primer. Let us know how it works out.

Its still a bit grainy, but Im ready to just call it a day. Its good enough for me, so fuck it. But the auto primer is pretty good in coverage and maybe someone with better skills could get more out of it then I did. But overall, I think it definitely does its job as a primer, and I think my fault is using it for final paint job. Here's the final result:

it looks like the paint might be drying before it hits the surface
its probably from spraying too far away
also shake the heck outta the can, a few minutes for sure

i had to strip and redo mine like 3 times

oh and also http://www.picresize.com/ u dick haha

cool to see this !! i am thinking of painting one too !? does anybody no the color of the SA germ ??

CankleBreaker wrote:Can't wait for pics Greg.

Question, what do you all think is the best way to replicate the smoky eye look on the FB figures and SA Germ?

airbrush

ROACHSHACK138 wrote:I'm doing light grey for my doc and this grey primer came out darker than expected. If I go with a lighter grey, would I have to strip down and start over since the primer is darker than intended color? And 2nd opinion: SHOULD I go lighter grey or does it look good as is?

I think you can just spray the lighter grey right over the primer. Shouldn't bleed through.

Anyone get water in their squadt helmets? After washing it with some soap and water, I got a little inside the helmet. I tried squeezing out as much as I could but still got some in there. Anyone else had this problem?

Ha my copperhead was floating in the flood. He's got water in his helmet and I have no idea how to get it out. May have to puncture it and then soak in bleach.

edstuff wrote:Ha my copperhead was floating in the flood.  He's got water in his helmet and I have no idea how to get it out.  May have to puncture it and then soak in bleach.

Have you had any issues with the water being in there or is it fine?

I haven't had any issues. But then again I'm not trying to paint it...

ROACHSHACK138 wrote:Anyone get water in their squadt helmets? After washing it with some soap and water, I got a little inside the helmet. I tried squeezing out as much as I could but still got some in there. Anyone else had this problem?

Lol, I was worried about this issue when I washed mine so I put a small piece of tape over it. Maybe try putting the helmet in some rice, but be careful not to let the rice get in also... don't want a rattle or mold growing w/ the water and rice combo! Then again, I didn't even wash the inside of my helmet, wanted to leave it stock...