Monday 20 October 2008

In the Country



It is a week now since the mysterious Wurm left Tradgardland. It was last seen flying away over the forest having been encouraged upon its way by a battery of field pieces...

Duke Karl Frederick and his Duchess Liv are residing in the forest for a few days away from the pressing matters of State. Their time is spent in a simple hunting lodge ,far from other dwelling places. They will read ,walk and hear Mass said by the Ducal domestic chaplain.

The season of fruitfulness and mists is upon the Duchy and all bask in the last few days of sunshine before the Dark days and evenings prevail...

2 comments:

  1. Hi Alan,

    Sorry to hear about your peeling basecoat. I avoid spray basecoats because they never cover like they should and always require touching up with a brush anyway.

    Here's what I suggest:

    1) Use a toothbrush and soapy water to scrub off as much of the flaking paint as you can. Then, soak your figures in a jar of vinegar for a few days. This provides microscopic etching in the plastic, which helps the paint adhere later.

    2) Rinse and let dry.

    3) Affix your figures to temporary painting bases that are large enough keep your fingertips off of the figures as you paint them.

    4) Apply a coat or two of Future/Klear acrylic floor finish to the figures. This will go very quickly and will help make the plastic a bit firmer. It also provides a good surface on which to apply your undercoat. This can be either black or white acrylc artists gesso, available at almost any art supply or craft store.

    5) Apply the gesso fairly heavily with a big brush. It will shrink as it dries and won't obscure too much detail.

    6) Paint as you usually do.

    7) Apply a coat or two of Future/Klear over the paint once all painting and retouching is complete. The Future/Klear will give your troops a highly glossy sheen, but if this is not to your taste, you can either fix this in noe of two ways: spray a shot or two of Tesotrs Dull Kote onto the shiny figures, which will kill all gloss. Your figures will be nicely sealed now and should stand up to quite a bit of handling. Or avoid the shiny problem altogether and simply apply acrylic artists varnish (flat or satin) with a brush instead of the Future/Klear and avoid the shiny "problem" altogether.

    I've heard that the latter method gives good results too, but I'll stick with my Future for the time being.

    This should give you the results you're after. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any additional questions. Happy painting!

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  2. One ore thing -- use acrylic hobby paints like Vallejo or Games Workshop. Enamels will crack and flake. Acrylic paints have considerably great flexibility and will take much more punishment. Oil-based paints will flex with the bendy bits too if you don't mind waiting for them to dry. You could always mix in a special medium that speeds drying time if you opt for this approach. A good art store should be able to fix you up with what you need.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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