plastic gun painting II?

[Professor J. Cogsworthy]

Ok..... I ordered a sparking space gun for my daughter. It arrived not working properly and after contacting the seller was given a refund and told that it was not worth shipping it back to them....

So I got out my matt black spray paint, some sandpaper, some gold and red paint and had a go at a very simple paint job just to see whatmy first try might look like...

Not bad.... ( I'll try to add a picture later.... )

Now I find myself wondering what advice you guys might have to shorten my learning curve and get better results and learn more advanced techniques...

[Narsil]

Basic painting tips :

-Surface preparation is very important. Surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned and degreased (especially plastic which tends to have a coating of mould release agent which resists paint). Very smooth surfaces should be lightly abraded with wire wool etc to give them a b it of a key. Also plastic moulding often have quite a few imperfections from the moulding process, particularly part lines and where the sprue has been cut off. Pain will tend to highlight these so a bit of attention with a file and some fine sandpaper will help a lot. Epoxy putty can be used to fill gaps and any unwanted holes etc.

-Unless you're going for textured effects it's usually best to apply paint in several thin layers rather than one thick one. If you're using a brush then paint will often need to be thinned with a suitable solvent to help achieve a smooth finish.

-If you're trying to simulate a particular material then find some reference images of the material, and carefully study what it actually looks like, particularly how shadows and highlights changed the perceived tone.

-Shiny surfaces tend to have sharp, well defined highlights, on matt surfaces they are softer and more gradual.

-When mixing colours for shading adding white to make  them lighter and black to make them darker doesn't always work well. It's generally better to use a lighter or darker shade of the same colour or a complimentary colour.

-Ink washes are very effective in bringing out recessed surface detail, dry brushing is good for highlights and metallics. In both cases it's best to build up layers of shading gradually  working from light to dark or dark to light in several stages.

-Inks glazes can also be used over a base coat to build up very vibrant, translucent colours.

-Unless you are blending colours allow each layer to dry thoroughly before applying the next one.

-Inks, powders and pigmented waxes are all good for creating old and distressed effects.

-The quality of brushes you use will have a direct effect on the quality of the finish .

[Professor J. Cogsworthy]

I'll admit up front this was a quick "how easy is this technique anyway?" paint job....

( the gun still 'growls' but it didn't make sparks..... )

For a sidearm for a 7 year old it's not too bad..... I guess.

[robotmastern]

Primer can also help greatly though it can be expensive

[Drew P]

Expensive?!
Not as much trouble as painting it over&over Always try to do it right the first time-ok,test a bunch,find what works then do.

Good lookin' gun

[robotmastern]

The spray can I got for model painting cost $15.

[Professor J. Cogsworthy]

For 'dry brushing'..... foam brush, regular brush or rag? or does it depend on the
results you want? What result does each one give you?

[Professor J. Cogsworthy]

also wondering if this should be in How To instead of here.....

[Narsil]

For 'dry brushing'..... foam brush, regular brush or rag? or does it depend on the
results you want? What result does each one give you?

As you suggest, different 'brushes' will give different results and it's well worth experimenting. I've found that cheap bristle brushes intended for oil painting work very well. You certainly want a brush which is fairly stiff but not too coarse and not too expensive either since the process tends to be quite hard on them. The trick to effective dry brushing is to make sure that the brush only has the smallest race of paint left on it when you start and (obviously) that the paint is fairly dry and thick, brushing back and forth on a piece of scrap paper or card is a good way to achieve this.

If the brush is too wet then you will scratch lines on the surface which isn't really what you want (usually) and if you have too much paint it will tend to form clumps and obscure detail.

[Burgess Shale]

For 'dry brushing'..... foam brush, regular brush or rag? or does it depend on the
results you want? What result does each one give you?

You can use any of these and get similar results as long as you use a light touch and there isn't too much  paint on the applicator. I have never used a foam brush for this, but I imagine that it could be good for larger flat areas on a bigger object. A rag with a little more paint than that usually used for drybrushing could be used with a faux finishing technique to paint rust or other oxidation marks.

I have a broken airsoft shotgun that's been staring at me disconsolately as though it wants to be reborn and this has given me some ideas...

[Otto Von Pifka]

foam brushes are good for drybrushing when making texture and details "pop", especially a fairly flat section with fine detail. things like pavement on diaramas or siding on model buildings. the sharp edges keep you from brushing onto areas that will have a different color. the trick is to never dip the sponge directly into the paint, better to use a regular brush to make a wet spot on a paper plate and to rub the sponge on that to get an even layer on the surface of the sponge. then you rub it on a clean paper plate to get the amount of paint left on the sponge to your liking.

a cheap brush with loose bristles will definitely shed them when drybrushing. I like the big fat blush make-up brushes but they seem to shed alot so I have to season them a little to remove the worst offenders first.

using a rag can be good, especially if you need to give it a sort of half worn patina look. the cloth itself can add a subtle pattern (or not so subtle) its also great for large expanses with fairly small detail, it's unsuitable for deep and multi leveled details unles used in conjuction with other methods. it also works better if you use a regular brush to make a wet spot to load the rag ball with paint.

best wat to practice is go buy a bunch of cheap dollar store squirt guns and spray paint them black, even just black primer, then dry brush your paint of choice onto that. the black will act as a nice backround and shadow to highlight the details molded into the plastic. some of them have quite alot of detail thats invisible when molded in a solid color built into the plastic. makes for some "oh, wow!" moments when you start to drybrush.

oh, also on that non sparking sparker gun, you can now rub on some black paste shoe polish and that will darken the overall metallic and bring out some of the details like the ribs in the barrel body. it buffs to a nice sheen too, while still leaving the recesses dark. you can always add more too, if you polish it too much for your taste. just make sure the paint has had plenty of time to dry completely. that can mean up to a couple of weeks for rustoleum!