FAQ: Painting
What kind of paint should I use?
This is by far the most important customizing question. Only use acrylic (water-based) paint. You should never use enamel (oil-based) paint. Although enamel paint is fine for model airplanes, it will never dry when applied to the type of plastic used in Star Wars figures. Using enamel paint on your figures will make them feel tacky and sticky, and they will continually collect dust until they look like bulimic baby wampas.
What is acrylic-enamel paint?
Acrylic-enamel is a member of the acrylic family of paints. I’ve heard it works well for Star Wars figures, although I’ve never used it personally.
What kind of paint do you use, Erik?
I use Badger Model Flex, an acrylic paint. It works fairly well, although some colors need 4 or 5 coats. It’s a good brand, but I’ve had a lot of trouble finding it in stores.
Where can I get acrylic paint?
Some brand of acrylic paint should be available at your local hobby shop. Check at model train and airplane shops, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or other hobby shops. You will also find assortment packs of acrylic paint at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. Assortment packs may suit your needs, but I find the colors aren’t really good base colors for mixing, and they generally tend to be glossy.
How can I mix paint colors?
With patience - it’s not an exact science. You need to have several base colors to be able to mix a range of colors. At the least, you will need bright red, bright yellow, bright blue, white, and a lot of black. Mixing colors can be tedious, so I recommend you try to buy the exact colors you need, unless you will only use a very small amount.
Do you use a protective coat, like a flat or satin finish, to protect your figures?
Rarely. Although it’s not a bad idea to use a protective coat on your customs, I’ve never seen that it helped that much. (Then again, I don’t play with ‘em, I just put ‘em on a shelf.) Sometimes I will use an acrylic flat coat if the paint came out to glossy, or an acrylic gloss coat if I want a glassy or shined look for a particular part.
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