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I bought this cheapo toy to convert into a bloodthirster


The conversion looks awesome, but I'm a bit worried about how to tackle painting the thing. It's made out of softer plastic 'gum' that's solid, but has some flex to it if you push it enough (sort of like a hard eraser).
Is there anything I need to consider when it comes to priming and painting? Will spray primer flake off because of the bendy-ness? Will acrylic GW paints peel off?

If anyone's had any experience with this sort of thing, I'd love some advice on what to do here.

Prime it either with spray primer for plastic, or with gesso.

http://www.tooled-up.com/product/plastikote-10605-primer-plastic-400ml/178547/?Referrer=googleproductlisting&gclid=CKPx2PCQ-rUCFY3LtAodyCAAzw

The bendy axe shaft is going to be a problem whatever you do, though. The best solution would be to mask it and leave it the original plastic, or replace it with a metal shaft.

The axe is removable, and I've replaced it with a scratch build spear.

I might try gesso, as it would have some of that acrylic give to it.

Hi !

My hydra for my WHFB army is a plastic toy. I primed it with GW chaos black spray can, and then painted it normally.
I have a friend who did the same with a toy dragon.

The only problem we both encountered is that the plastic reacted after we sealed the monster with spray varnish. It made it become shiny and a little bit sticky.

If I had to do it again, I simply wouldn't varnish it.


You can see this hydra here : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/180/406869.page#4402530

Not sure if it's the same material, but I've found that washing figures with a soft brush, dish washing soap, and water (kind of like any metal mini before priming/painting) helps remove any possible mold release on the figure as well, and would probably help your primer stick without chipping off. Granted the only toy I painted was an action figure made of hard plastic that didn't require any priming. Anyways, that's my two cents.

Yes, wash the models well.

I've used gesso primer on high density polythene models (1/32 scale Airfix soldiers -- basically Army Men) with good effect.

I don't think the varnish matters if you have a good primer followed by good paint. Naturally each layer must dry well before the next one is applied.

I do alot of terrain work with soft plastic toys.

I usually start with either gesso which has a nice flex to it, but is a bit more suceptible to being scrached off, or with Krylon Camo sprays which aren't quite as flexible, but have "fusion" technology and stick really well to plastic.

After Fusion, you can apply any acrylic paint. Most acrylic is latex anyway so it has some flex so I wouldn't worry about it. I've painted lots of vinyl figures like this and they have quite a bit of bend in the weapons and it has been no problem.

After acrylic paint, you can spray with any sealer/varnish, but if you're woried about it, a few coats of half-water mixed artists brush-on matte varnish will give a protective coat that won't react or get sticky.