I see a black 'Bird and I want to paint it white

[Valkyrion]

I've picked up a fully partially built Stormbird (i.e, everything is fully built but the wings and side bits aren't attached) which has me feeling all giddy inside, but it's been sprayed with what I assume is Chaos Black.

The chap I got it off doesn't know if it has also been sprayed with any sort of varnish or protection thing.

I want to spray it white so that I can paint it yellow.

 

So before I make any expensive mistakes I thought I'd best check with the experts if there's something I should do before I attack with a can of White Scar.

[Bryan Blaire]

If the details are already somewhat filled in, make sure you spray as lightly as possible, you want to try and retain as much detail as possible, but several layers of spray are likely to cause some amount of small detail loss.  If you can, spray lightly enough to build up the color instead of trying to cover it in a single pass - that’s more likely to cause detail filling.  You could even try pre-shading with several light coats of spray, but it is more likely to cause speckling from a spray can.

 

Alternatively, spray it with an airbrush if you can get access to one.

 

You can also warm the can up some with warm water in a container you can submerge the can in most of the way (I use a large clear pitcher) - the water should be warm enough you can just hold your finger in it, not hot to boiling - you don’t want to make the can burst.  Submerge the can for like 5-6 minutes - it helps make the spray a little thinner before you use it.  Then shake it for like a minute - two minutes and get to work trying to do as thin a coat as you can.

 

(Also, a good  at your title)

Edited December 3, 2022 by Bryan Blaire

[Valkyrion]

I'm going to be as delicate as a delicate thing, but if it has been clearcoated or something will the primer adhere?

Also, would pure white primer be fine directly over the black, or should I mechanicus grey > grey seer > white scar?

 

[Grotsmasha]

Paint will stick to varnishes no worries

[Bryan Blaire]

If it’s been varnished in some way, it may be affected a little (mostly the paint sliding around) if it’s been sealed with a gloss coat - if it’s glossy, you may want to take a light sanding to it.  If it’s a satin or matte, it should adhere just fine.  A spray can primer may even have enough bite/adherence to deal with a gloss coat fine - it’s been a long time since I’ve tried to do that.

 

A pure white over black sprayed lightly is going to end up with the black showing through and appearing grey.  I don’t know any way to get a pure white over a black undercoat except by layering multiple coats, or just going in super thick (which you don’t want to do).  It should work fine, but it’s just not going to give you a white in one coat.  If you are going to build up with multiple colors, you could actually do a decent undershading effect with them (you could still do this with just the white, but you are more likely to see the speckling) - depending on how you spray it, it could be a zenithal or some other look (really depends on how you want to simulate the light falling on the model).

[Valkyrion]

It's going to be Imperial Fists so I suppose I could leave the body black and just spray the wings to get to yellow, or vice versa. 

Might look a bit waspish though.

 

Any further advice to help me carry on procrastinating because I'm too nervous to mess it up is greatly appreciated 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I fully understand if you don't want to do this (I just looked up the Stormbird on Forgeworld's web site, and all I can say regarding the price is "oh my"...), but AK Interactive's paint stripper is supposed to do a good job on Forgeworld resin.

 

 

I've not used it so can't vouch for it, and as always it's best to try on a block of resin if you've got some - just thought I'd throw it out there. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Firedrake Cordova

[Valkyrion]

Thanks, but there's absolutely no way I have the confidence to strip such a piece! 

I know it's not the same, but I remember being a Yoof and acetone or paint stripping a bunch of 2nd ed metal tactical marines and fire dragons or something with some success, and then doing the same with the plastic models and picking up a big multicoloured blob of melted plastic out 24 hours later!

So, yeah, not stripping this! 

[Firedrake Cordova]

That's fair enough - I don't blame you  The chap in the video said he'd stripped many models with it without problem by brushing it on, but damage was very likely if you soaked a resin model in it.

[LameBeard]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:21 PM, Valkyrion said:

It's going to be Imperial Fists so I suppose I could leave the body black and just spray the wings to get to yellow, or vice versa. 

Might look a bit waspish though.

 

Any further advice to help me carry on procrastinating because I'm too nervous to mess it up is greatly appreciated 

It will look ace with yellow wings and black body. Wasp stripes go the other way, so no problem on that front. DO IT!

[Pacific81]

I can't answer the Q unfortunately but just stopped in to commend on the great thread title.

[Maximus]

Don't be too worried about what's on it already. I've repainted plenty of minis that have come primed with some unknown stuff. Best thing I have found is to give it a wash in warm soapy water to get rid of any dust and surface residues, then a light rub with some scotchbrite to give the new paint something to key onto. Then, as others have said, multiple passes with light coats of your chosen primer. Light over dark should not cause any problems, I would imagine you're gonna weather it and dirty it up with nuln oil etc. anyway. Good luck.

[Stitch5000]

Stormbirds don't really have a wealth of super critical fine detail, so even if the paint is thicker than ideal, you probably won't have too much of an issue.

If I were painting a model of that size, I would probably be looking to prime it with black first anyway, then giving it an all over coat of mid-brown, then a high angle coat of white before layering on the yellow in a couple of coats.

TLDR: Don't sweat it, paint the lot black to start with.

[Jings]

18 hours ago, Stitch5000 said:

Stormbirds don't really have a wealth of super critical fine detail, so even if the paint is thicker than ideal, you probably won't have too much of an issue.

If I were painting a model of that size, I would probably be looking to prime it with black first anyway, then giving it an all over coat of mid-brown, then a high angle coat of white before layering on the yellow in a couple of coats.

TLDR: Don't sweat it, paint the lot black to start with.

 

Yeah, this is probably what you wanna do. Black is fine and you'd be spraying the areas you want to be metallic black anyway. Get some masking tape, cover those to-be metallic areas, and then do as others have said - spray on white/brown/what have you over the black. Hell, you could probably do a bit of a zenithal to give the panels a bit more shading. 

[Razblood]

If you've got an airbrush then spray it pink, followed by highlights of pure white then go over the lot with yellow and you'd never know it was primed black.

 

If not then possibly hand paint it pink and use a white spray to hit the high points, same difference.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Razblood

[sarabando]

im gonna be a bit different and suggest you drybrush the entire thing brown, start with rhinox hide and then go warmer. THEN give it a light spray of white from above, then do your yellow coat. It will give you a nicer warm tonal shift to your yellow.