Priming soft plastics (Toybiz, Mattel, Hasbro capes etc)

Thanks so much both of you. Looking forward to experimenting and hopefully solving this problem. Just realized I’ve used the Angelus leather paints before on Halloween costumes and I enjoyed using it then.

Glad to be of help, and often times that's what this hobby is about, experimentation and trying different things in order to improve upon our figures and realize the ideas we have on our heads.

So Truwe, you are saying prime with The Duplicolor vinyl spray and then paint with Vallejo?

I've used the Duplicolor Fabric and Vinyl spray as well, not on rubbery capes, but as a primer, and tha's how I'm reading Truwe's post, Duplicolor spray first, then Vallejo paint. You could use JUST the spray if you wanted, but the colors are limited, and the ones I've used had a flat/matte finish.

Exactly. As antithetical said, you can use the spray as your normal color, but I usually just use it as a primer and then paint with the game air. Game air is great since it is already thinned down and if you let it cure for two days, its one of the most durable out there.

Duplicolor Fabric and vinyl spray at Autozone with Vallejo Game air for paint. It's what I use on all my capes with absolutely no problem. Just make sure you let the Vallejo Paint cure for 2 days and you can bend the cape all you want.

I’ll try that paint out. Are you priming and painting with that leather paint, just using it as primer and then acyrlics on top, or using it on the soft rubbery plastics directly with no primer?

Directly on the piece with no primer, just the leather paint, then a few light coats of Testors Dullcote clear spray.

You're talking about the more flexible, rubbery plastics, best suggestion for those that I know of is the Angelus paint for leather, it remains flexible after drying so won't crack or flake, adheres well after washing and a light sanding. For capes and the like I find it best to just use the brush attached to the cap, no need to water it down, just brush it on evenly and cover all the area you intend to paint. You can paint half a cape, let it dry, then paint the other half without any problems, I've done it with pretty much all the capes I've painted and it looks fine after drying. One thing I will mention, after drying it does have a glossy finish and has an ever so slight stickiness to it, it won't come off handling it or anything, but I have found tiny specks of the paint stuck to the back of a figure after sitting a month or two. Since then I'll spray a couple of layers of Dullcote over the paint and haven't had any issues.

Wanted to say thank you for this, came here to post something else and this response solved a problem for a custom I'm planning out that I was gonna worry about later.