General questions

[Wulf Vengis]

So I've moved away from the gaming aspect for the most part, however the hobbyist in me still feels the need to build occasionally. For my birthday this year i was given a box of space wolves which has led me to want to do some work on my massive pile of gaming supplies.

 

I've been put of for far to long by styrofoam sheeting. Every primer i use on it dissolves the foam. Now don't get me wrong this leaves a really cool looking bit of scenery but the natural pink of the sheeting remains.

 

This begs the question, "how do i prime these bright pink styrofoam sheets?"

[Gurth]

Why would you need to prime them? Just apply paint of the colour you want — and pick a paint that isn't solvent-based. That rules out spraying cans, but any water-soluble paint you brush on should work fine.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Go to your local home improvement or paint store and see if you can find a can of off-batch interior brush-on paint for cheap (usually something that they incorrectly mixed the colors for or some such) - since you're priming it, the color shouldn't matter too much, and the paint won't damage the foam. Also, the larger particles in the paint (compared to 'normal' paints for us) won't matter if what you're priming has nowhere near the detail of minis.

 

Alternatively, you can have them mix up a custom can of paint for you - most places have some sort of color-matching tool, so if you want it to match a certain color, then paint something flat that you can bring in - and then you'll be able to take care of the priming and most of the painting in one step (as well as saving your preciously expensive wargaming paints for the important stuff).

[Wulf Vengis]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping to avoid that route but if i must than so be it.

 

My next question is in regards to that magnetic primer on the market now. I'm curious as it would make kitting out models of any nature much easier. Then if i should ever decide to play regularly again my lists can be made legal with arm and/or weapon swaps. My only fear is that the paint may be to thick for models of this level of detail. I would hate to spend the 9$usd and lose model quality.

 

Have any of you tried the magnetic primers out there? And if so what results did you cone to?

[Lucien Eilam]

I used to seal styrofoam before spraying with a couple of coats of watered down PVA glue. Just make sure you're thorough – any gap can be enough to melt a giant hole in it.

[KhorneHunter57x]

Magnetic primer?  Never heard of it.
*does a bit of Google-fu*
Ah.  Apparently, it contains iron particles, so you'd still have to put magnets in one side of the joint - and that's assuming that the paint is effective at a thickness that would preserve miniature quality.  I could be wrong, though.

[DarkMark]

Magnetic primer is fine for movement trays that you use in fantasy, though you do need to apply many more layers than the recommended 3 I found. However, I don't think you can really use it for mini's tbh, magnet to magnet is still king IMO.

[Wulf Vengis]

Thanks for the replies once again. I think I'll stick to magnets then.

 

Now a glue question. I used to use ultragel (i think its made by either loctite or elmers) but i found that a white dust or film would appear on the plastic, resin, or even pewter. This film would not always appear right away, sometimes appearing days or weeks or as in one unlucky terminators case years after the model was done being painted. I couldn't paint over the film as it would just bleed through the new layer paint with tome.

 

This led me to switch glues but no matter what kind of super or model glue i used i found similar results, that every once in a while this white film would show up on a model or two somewhere down the road.

 

Since then I've switched to the brush on kray-z glue and have found this to be an almost non existent problem. I still get the occasional white film, but when i do its within the time it takes for the glue to dry, it just wipes off or i can simply paint over it without it bleeding through the paint and it never turns up weeks after I've finished a model.

 

Now my question(s) are as follows, what is this white film and how do i avoid it?

[Lucien Eilam]

It's a reaction of cyanoacrylate with moisture, called blooming. It happens with all superglue exposed to air. It shouldn't be appearing through acrylic paint.

[skawolf]

Use less glue to avoid the white film, you only need a little. Brush paint your foam before spraying it.

[Wulf Vengis]

Thanks again everyone. So far this has been very helpful and motivational. I'm actually starting to make progress on about 4 years of back work.

 

My next question(s) is regarding brushes. I realize there are different brushes for different things but i don't know what brushes are for what exactly. I have one brush at home (I'm not there and can't check the size right now), its a gw brush (yellow top). I always replace it with an identical gw one.

 

So what brush should i use to dry brush vs paint the armor of my space marine? For that matter what brush should i use for say faces or eyes (or other fine details)? What about washing, should i use a separate brush for that?

 

EDIT: Is there a specific brand brush that all of you prefer over others? If so why? I don't care about price at the moment just gathering info for my own personal reference.

[skawolf]

I like the army painter brushes. My longest lasting brush I have though is a Plaid 1/0 liner I got from wal mart in 1999.... I still use that bitch for painting eyes and it only cost me $0.99.

[Lucien Eilam]

My next question(s) is regarding brushes. I realize there are different brushes for different things but i don't know what brushes are for what exactly. I have one brush at home (I'm not there and can't check the size right now), its a gw brush (yellow top). I always replace it with an identical gw one.

 

So what brush should i use to dry brush vs paint the armor of my space marine? For that matter what brush should i use for say faces or eyes (or other fine details)? What about washing, should i use a separate brush for that?

The GW Standard brush is fairly typical - a round, sable watercolour brush, and in terms used for artist brushes would be about size 2. It should naturally come to a fine point, and have bristles long enough to hold a small reservoir of paint, so you can paint a reasonable area before it dries up. Most of your painting will use a brush like this. The point will be sharp enough even for many small details.

 

If you look at the rest of GW's range, the names are more or less self-explanatory. Detail and fine detail brushes are smaller and easier to control versions of the Standard - equivalent to size 0 and 00 artist brushes. They don't hold as much paint, but you don't need much to paint things like eyes and gemstones. The "large", "basecoat" and "wash" brushes are simply bigger - harder to control, but hold more paint to cover large areas quickly. They're all sable watercolour brushes of various sizes.

 

GW's dry brushes use synthetic fibres blended with tougher hair than sable (boar, IIRC). Dry-brushing is hard on brushes, and you'll destroy a sable brush very quickly. Synthetics are tough, and the boar hair has naturally split fibres which hold more paint across the surface, ideal for dry-brushing.

 

There are many manufacturers making sable watercolour brushes and synthetic/boar brushes, many of which will be either cheaper or higher quality than GW (but rarely both, in my experience).

 

EDIT: Is there a specific brand brush that all of you prefer over others? If so why? I don't care about price at the moment just gathering info for my own personal reference.

Winsor & Newton Series 7 are widely regarded as the highest quality Kolinsky sable watercolour brushes. High quality sable is springy and consistently comes to a fine point of its own accord. The brown-handled brushes GW occasionally sells as limited edition 'Eavy Metal or Citadel Masters brushes are rebadged Series 7 - allegedly they were originally created so GW could say 'Eavy Metal only use Citadel hobby supplies. Their regular brushes are also made by W&N, but are cheaper, lower quality versions.

 

Obviously a Series 7 won't magically make you paint like a Golden Demon winner, so it's up to you whether it's worth paying anywhere up to 2-3x as much.

 

You won't find higher quality than W&N anywhere, but you can get more bang for buck with other companies whose brushes are "good enough" but cheaper. Some companies also have features like triangular handles that some people find more comfortable. Once you reach a certain quality of sable, it's mostly down to individual preference.

 

Whatever you use, get some brush soap to keep them clean, and don't let paint reach the ferrule. They'll last longer, and it'll stop flecks of dried paint deforming the bristles.

[DarkMark]

Roughly speaking you'll need;

A 3 or 4 for large areas, or flat brush for vehicles

A size 2 for most general work

A size 1 for details like belts, buckets etc.

A size 0 for small details like eyes etc.

I use a mashed up old brush for brush dry work. Note, I only really dry brush bases or fur texture, and an old brush to apply washes.

Unless GW brushes have changed since I last used them then don't bother with them. Army Painter brushes offer decent value for money with their range, and so are worth a look. Local art supply stores may stock OK brushes for acrylic use. Many will recommend the W&N series 7, I use Raphaels myself , but I'd wait till you know what you're doing before buying them. You don't learn to drive in a Ferrari: so give it a bit before you invest in top quality brushes.