Painting plastic

Hi Martin,
I've used a similar system with my Armies in Plastic figures...I wash the figures in soapy water and then prep with PVA, either straight from the bottle or diluted. I've never heard of using vinegar.

I don't go for the block painting style but paint in main colours and highlight, then use the Army Painter dip to shade and varnish, add more highlights if necessary (or more accurately, if I can be bothered) and then matt varnish once or twice. There is still the risk of flaking on swords, rifle barrels etc....I haven't found a way to make them un-flakeable, but the repeated coats seem to prevent flaking on most of the figures.

Hi Martin,

Like Alistair, I wash in warm soapy water (washing up liquid) and then coat in PVA. I WATER THIS DOWN. I do agonize about doing it though as it does seem to blob and gather in creases when you put it on, but it dries reasonably well.
I then spray with an acrylic car primer spray (SO usually use grey).

When I've finished the painting, I varnish the figures. For my 60mm Ancients and 54mm Napoleonics wargaming figures I use Matt varnish.
For my"toy" soldiers I use gloss.

Mig do a nice range of varnishes in pots the size of Vallejo paints.
For my metal toy soldier look, I use yacht varnish.

One guy told me that when he'd finished painting, he used PVA again to coat the figures. But I've never dared do this as I've seen the PDA drying when I put it on the bare figure and daren't risk ruining my paintwork.

Best Wishes Dave

Thanks for your input guys. Would it be ok to log my progress here.?

I've used Aleene's Tacky Glue as a primer and a sealer for 54mm figures. There seem to be some plastics that simply won't allow any type of primer to stick to them. Like oil and water. Normally, these days, I use Liquitex artist's gesso for most figures. But, it just rolls off some figures and for those I fall back on using Aleene's as a primer. Slather the entire figure with Aleene's and let it dry at least 24 hours. Then I block paint the figure with acrylic craft paints. Here's the tricky part: Aleene's is water soluble and as you apply the water based acrylic, the Aleene's will swell as it absorbs the water from the paint. Thus, the glue swelling causes the paint to craze but as it drys the glue shrinks again. Consequently, I give a second coat of paint to the figure and since the first coat of paint now provides a water proof barrier for the glue no swelling and cracking occurs. When I'm done painting, I put a second coat of Aleene's over the figure to seal everything in. Aleene's remains flexible which is what (I think) prevents most flaking. It also drys crystal clear and provides a glossy finish which might go along with your intended 'toy soldier' style. I haven't found anything that repels the Aleene's. It seems to stick to everything. Most of my earlier ECW and AWI figures on my blog show where painted with this technique ( petiteguerre.blogspot.com/search/label/AWI )

Good Luck and welcome!

I use car plastic undercoat. It is a clear spray. (Prior to that I soak figures in vinegar (or/and wash in dishwashing detergent and rinse well, allowing figures to air dry). After painting with acrylics I overcoat with PVA and a drop pf dishwashing detergent. Don't allow it to pool - spread evenly with an old brush. later I overcoat with mat artist's fixative and still later. coat with water based mat and gloss acrylic
varnishes.

I find it fairly effective although i occasionally repaint the odd bayonet or sword. Even the latter can be vercome by replacing swords with silver DSG ones (after the figures have already had hands drilled out and bodies painted).

A mate of mine has recently put me on to this idea. Wash as usual, then spray the figures with car bumper spray (It's a clear liquid) and this does the same job as PDA, but gives a smoother, thinner coat than the PVA. I've just tried it with my Highlanders and it works a treat

I posted a 4-part ‘duffers guide’ to painting plastics on my blog last year. megablitzandmore.blogspot.com/search/label/Duffer%27s%20Guides