Painting or coloring rubbery plastic?

[WereDragon EX]

Ok, so after playing around with my AOE Deluxe Scorn and Slash figures for a while, I've noticed that the paint is starting to wear off on the rubbery plastic on the tips of the spikes on their tails, as well as the black paint on Slash's robot mode "hip feathers". I've been using gel pens and Sharpie markers to try and recolor the portions with worn-off paint, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a better solution, like any form of paint, that would provide a better color match (mainly for the bluish/teal paint on Slash's tail)? Also, in the event I buy more figures with the same sort of painted rubbery plastic, is there any sort of sealant or varnish that can be applied to the rubbery plastic parts to protect the paint from wearing off? These are fairly new toys and well, it's quite a bummer that this problem is cropping up so soon. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[carissa]

Acrylic paints will generally work best in my experience. You can top coat it with Future.

[chans formers]

tamiya acrylics work nice,no matter what don't use enamels as they'll react with the rubber and never dry.

[alternatorfan]

I find if i boil my transformers in hot water
The paint doesnt rub off ! LOL!

[WereDragon EX]

Thanks. So acylic paint then? I wonder if they sell that at TRU? I guess I'm also concerned about color matching. I'm new to this whole thing, so I'm not sure how one goes about with matching the color of the paint to what is already on the figure. Are there any things I should be aware of in determining what sort of paint ot use and how to color match?

[Malwave]

Originally Posted by WereDragon EX

Thanks. So acylic paint then? I wonder if they sell that at TRU? I guess I'm also concerned about color matching. I'm new to this whole thing, so I'm not sure how one goes about with matching the color of the paint to what is already on the figure. Are there any things I should be aware of in determining what sort of paint ot use and how to color match?

Sadly Tamiya isn't sold at TRU. Your best bet it look up any local hobby shops; if they sell Tamiya products, you can bet your ass they'll have the sprays and bottles. Looking at usually $3.99/bottle and $9.99/spray can (and $15 for primers)

[WereDragon EX]

Originally Posted by Malwave

Sadly Tamiya isn't sold at TRU. Your best bet it look up any local hobby shops; if they sell Tamiya products, you can bet your ass they'll have the sprays and bottles. Looking at usually $3.99/bottle and $9.99/spray can (and $15 for primers)

Sorry for the late reply, was busy the last few days. So Tamiya brand? Are there any other good brands of acrylic paint that have worked for this sort of job? I guess my concern is finding a good color match for the blueish-green (?) on Slash's tail. I looked at the selection of colors here and really have no clue what to mix. http://www.tamiya.com/english/produc.../acrylic_1.htm Is primer a must for this sort of thing?

Sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions, I've never done this before and am basically going in blind.

[FreedomGundam]

The inherent problem is less of the fact that the paint will rub off, but more because the plastic is flexible.

1) Paints are usually designed to dry and harden. This is especially prominent in enamels and lacquers. Acrylics are a tad more flexible; but I would recommend polycarbonate paints (usually used on RC cars, if I'm not mistaken) as they end up more flexible than acrylics after they've dried and cured.

2) Primers are usually also designed to dry and harden. I wouldn't recommend it in this case.

3) It's a bit hard to help you match paint mixes. Your best bet is look at the color wheel and figuring it out from there. I don't know the exact color you're trying to go for, but for example, the basic paint colors are red/yellow/blue. Yellow+Blue=Green, so you should probably start with some blue, and add in small amounts of yellow and see where it gets you. Keep in mind that adding in while or black won't lighten/darken the color like most people would think it would; adding white turns it more pastel-colored rather than simply lighter/brighter; while adding black makes it "murkier" instead of just darker.

That being said, being on a flexible plastic is an inherent problem; eventually, the plastic will flex and the paint will chip regardless.

[WereDragon EX]

Originally Posted by FreedomGundam

The inherent problem is less of the fact that the paint will rub off, but more because the plastic is flexible.

1) Paints are usually designed to dry and harden. This is especially prominent in enamels and lacquers. Acrylics are a tad more flexible; but I would recommend polycarbonate paints (usually used on RC cars, if I'm not mistaken) as they end up more flexible than acrylics after they've dried and cured.

2) Primers are usually also designed to dry and harden. I wouldn't recommend it in this case.

3) It's a bit hard to help you match paint mixes. Your best bet is look at the color wheel and figuring it out from there. I don't know the exact color you're trying to go for, but for example, the basic paint colors are red/yellow/blue. Yellow+Blue=Green, so you should probably start with some blue, and add in small amounts of yellow and see where it gets you. Keep in mind that adding in while or black won't lighten/darken the color like most people would think it would; adding white turns it more pastel-colored rather than simply lighter/brighter; while adding black makes it "murkier" instead of just darker.

That being said, being on a flexible plastic is an inherent problem; eventually, the plastic will flex and the paint will chip regardless.

Sorry for the late reply, and thanks for the tips, but I have been very busy over the last few months and so haven't had time to think of Transfomers, let alone figure out how to fix the paint restoration on my figures. I'm aware of the color mixing thing with black and white paint, and I know it's a common misconception that adding white or black paint makes the color lighter or darker respectively.

Can polycarbonate paints be found in the same sort of art shops that sell acrylic paint? Or might I have to look elsewhere if I choose this option?

So basically, if you play with a figure for a while and transform it a few times, it's essentially an inevitability that the paint will wear off sooner or later due to the flexing of the soft plastic parts (unless you try your very best to not touch or move or flex the painted soft plastic), correct? And thus, on a figure that sees frequent play, you would basically have to reapply the paint (if you can do so) every once in a while?

Which brings me to my other point, that being that even if you restore the worn off paint, can you use some sort of varnish or sealant to "lock in" the paint, so even if the plastic flexes about, any paint that would drop off is "trapped" under the sealant and the soft plastic thus retains its color? And if so, what sort of sealant can be used? Of course, I would suppose that even if there is sealant that can be used, there is the same pitfall of it wearing off if the soft plastic flexes, just like with the paint itself.

[ironclaugh]

I'm not too "up and up" on what to seal with... but before you paint be sure the thoroughly clean the figure using a 99% alcohol rub in order to remove the oils from the surfaces.