Frequently asked questions

Posted in Custom Workstation

So Here's a list of the most frequently asked questions we get here in custom help / questions / info. I hope this thread will grow over time to include things such as what paints to use etc.etc.

Be sure to check out the great tutorials over on the main site a lot of questions asked in here are often answered there: http://www.figurerealm.com/viewcustomtutorial.php

If you have any information you wanna contribute, feel free to either post it here or PM me if you prefer.

SCULPTS
Aves Fixit sculpt, it can be bought online or special order from some shops but I've never found a shop that stalks it year round, I consider it to be the best sculpt out there because it is very easy to work with and can be smoothed using water and cures very sturdily on the down side it is very expensive.
Aves Apoxie sculpt, it can be bought online or special order just like fixit, it is pretty sturdy, slightly less expensive then fixit, it comes in many colors, the only downside is it doesn't work as well with water but there is a special smoother you can buy.

Super Sculpy, it is pretty sturdy and very inexpensive, and can be bought from most craft stores, it is pretty easy to work with, the downside is it needs to be cooked and this can warp or melt the plastic figure you are sculpting on.
Normal Sculpy, this can be bought at most craft stores, comes in a wide variety of colors, and is very inexpensive, the downsides are in my experience it can be hard to work with and it needs to be cooked same as super sculpy.

Green Stuff , it can be bought online or special order from some shops, it is pretty easy to work with and not that expensive but the real drawing point for me is that it cures slightly bendable which is great for sculpting thin parts on figures,

Zubber, it is made for kids and can be bought at Walmart or Target or online, it cures completely bendable and is great for sculpting details on capes or loin cloths, it is very hard to work with though and needs to be cooked to cure although they advertise that it cures on it's own that hasn't been my experiance (I use a heat gun to cure mine), it also comes in multiple colors that can be mixed.

Epoxy Putty, can be bought online or special order from some stores, it is great for sculpting large parts of figures but not so good for detail work, it's pretty sturdy and not to expensive,

plumbers putty, it can be bought at wall mart, target, alco, K mart, a lot of gas stations, any hardware store, and a lot of other places, it's cheap to, it's a clay made for patching pipes so it's super sturdy, and can be sanded into any shape, it holds detail pretty well although sometimes there are hard chunks in it, the setback to using it is it cures in 5 minutes so you only have 2 or 3 minutes of working time which makes doing a good job very very hard.

Milli-Put it is a two part clay, and is fairly inexpensive, available at most hobby stores and it has a similar cinsistency as aves but has a longer cure time and does not hold detail as well as aves, but it will get the job done. it comes in different colors, white, fine, regular. It's price will vary slightly depending on color.

Contributed by: ẈĀŦƧĦĪƧ₣Ā₵Ė

PAINTS
Reaper Master Series - these can be purchased at most hobby shops or wargaming stores, and come in small dropper bottles. This is great (IMO) because you can control how much paint you use at a time. They are great for painting custom figures since they are very durable, although you might still want to use some sealer over the top. Over 250 colors to choose from.

Badger Freak Flex - these are mostly used by airbrushing but can also be brushed with some good results. They have about 80 colors to choose from with cool names like "Autopsy Orange" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon Green". Since they are for airbrush they are very thin, but I like this because they can be used effectively as glazes and topcoats.

Testers Model Masters Acrylic: can be bought at many hobby shops and some retial stores for $4-6, it dries very quickly, covers well, and comes in many collors including some tranclucent collors.

Testers Model Masters Enamil: In my experiance it is thicker and covers better then the Acrylic but I very rarely use it because you kneed to use a special clenser to water it down and wash your brushes wich is a royal pain in the arse. They are the same price as the Acrylics

Citidel Games Works: They can be found at some hobby shops for $3-8, I've found all there collors to be very vibrant wich is why I like them so much, in my experiance they aren't quite as strong as some other paints so I tend not to use them for base coats but appart from that nitpick there my personall favorite

Citidel Base: these are dessigned specifically for base coats so they are stronger then the normall paints and they have a slightly thicker consistancy, they are all flat collors, they ussually only take one or two layers to cover over a white or black base wich saves time, the only place I've been able to find these is online for $4-8

Citidel Shade: These paints are dessigned to be premixed paint washes for your figures, they work well and have a good consistancy but I prefer to mix my own washs. Same as the Citidel Base I've only ever come across these online for $4-8

Citidel Dry: These are have a thicker consistincy dessigned for dry brushing, personally I think you can just let a paint sit out for a minute and it will come to this consistancy on it's own but if you prefer it that way strait out of the bottle then these are for you, once again only online $4-8

Citidel Glaze: these are dessigned to brighten whatever color that is beneath the glaze, I haven't had the chance to try these myself but I've heard they work pretty well and would love to get my hands on some, Same as the others only online $4-8

Citidel Texture: this paint has some grit in it that is made to ad a slight texture to whatever you paint, it's a neat idea and I've used grits in my paints before, they can be bought online for $4-8

Foundry Paintstream: these come in packs of six collors for $20 and can be very hard to find, each pack comes with 3 shades of two different collors, the idea is to have a base coat(mediom tint), dark coat for shading, and a light coat for highlights, this makes painting very conveniant, allthough be warned these paints can be very grainy at times, it helps to stir well before using.

Coat D Arms: These paints are ok and with 266 collors they have a pretty wide variaty, they can only be found onling in my experiance for $6-8

I-kore: These paints very widely in quality, some may cover in one layer while others will take many, and also some of them are very smooth while others are very grainy so be sure to test each paint on a spare figure before using it on the custom your painting. I barely see these paints sold anywhere but the one time I have they were $6,

Reaper Pro Paint: They can be bought online for $3-8, These take a few layers to cover but they go on very smoothly and have some very nice collors. Reaper paints are all extremely matte, unless otherwise noted.

MSP Core Collors: These take some layers to go on but they are very bright and go on very smoothly, great for paint washs. They can be bought online for $3-7

MSP HD: These are thicker then the core collors and cover smoothly nad quickly in only a few layers. They can be bought online for $3-7

Vellajo Model Color: These can be bought at many hobby shops and online for $3-6 and they come in a huge variaty of collors. They cover pretty well and go on smoothly wich is always a plus, they also have a large selection of transparant paints to choose from.

Vellajo Game Color: These can be found at a few hobby shops less then the model colors but for the same price of $3-6, they are slightly thinner and take a few more layers to cover then Model Colors, in my experiance they are a little more vibrant then the Model Colors.

Formula P3 Paint: These come in sets of six for $11-20, they have some pretty cool collors but what these are really great for is basecoating, they are said to be one of the strongest paints ont he market even stronger then model masters. You may kneed to water them down a bit to get smooth coats, and that it can take a few layers but to get a nearly indistructable basecoat is worth the time.

Craft Paints: there are many brands of generic craft paints in large botles that are all about the same, they can be bought nearly anywhere and they are often as cheep as $.25-2.00 wich is always a plus. They dry very chalk like and chip off easaly, so I suggest using a clear coat in addition to any of these. The only reason I ever use these is to get some collors no other brand makes, I got a set of neon Craft paints wich has served me will for small details like eyeballs. I also like to use the Craft Silver with a clear coat because I've had very bad luck with other brands silvers.

Ikns: I don't know much about different brands of inks but I've found that there great for giving figures a dirty wash, I suggest mixing them with a bit of paint though because inks can be a bit to thin for what I want at times.

Markers:Yes it may sound weird but perminant markers can be very usefull for painting joints before you do a base coat, I also know some people like to use perminant markers for painting on some details but I preffer to use a brush for details.

Contributed by: ẈĀŦƧĦĪƧ₣Ā₵Ė

SEALANTS
Layers of paint and polish - Some people swear sealant is not necessary and intead choose to apply multiple thin layers of paint before buffing it with a super soft cloth.

Games workshop Satin Purity shield - Quite pricy but a great product. Gives a slight shine but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's gloss, kinda in between Gloss and matte. Does not react well to metallic colours as it tend to leave a slight frost.

Vallejo satin purity shield - not quite as expensive as GW. I find this product tends to be quite shiny but not to the stage of gloss.

Krylon Matt Finnish- This sprays on nicely and dries completely flat with no gloss

Krylon Flatt Finnish- This dry's with a semi glossy finish that is pretty shiny.

Krylon Gloss Finnish- This dry's with a more glossy finish then anything on gods green earth should ever kneed

Clear Fingernail Polish- This can be brushed on and gives a nice thin layer of strong protection to the paint it's over, my only heads up is sometimes it give the paint a slightly yellowish tint.

Contributors - Darththomas81, ẈĀŦƧĦĪƧ₣Ā₵Ė

Brush Sizes
Games Workshop
Fairly expensive but you pay for what you get, the bristles tend to stay together more than cheaper brushes and they last pretty long if you look after them right.
Fine detail Brush - A very small brush ideal for detail, my fine detail brushes usually last a very long time as they don't get used much

Standard brush - ideal for base coats and general paint work if you don't have to be too precise.

Large drybrush - great for the first layer of drybrushing, once again no good for fine detail.

Medium drybrush - Great for most of you drybrushing needs, not as wide or uncontrollable as a large. Generally lasts around 6 months as paint sometimes dries out during work and become solid.

Small drybrush - ideal for the last layer of drybrushing when you just want to pick out detail.

Jarvis
Fairly cheap compared to GamesWorkshop brushes, not as good quality but last a fair while, usually made from pure Sable hair.
Size 0 - similar in size to a fine detail brush, ideal for detail
size 2 - similar to a standard brush, ideal for base coats and general paint work
size 3 -slightly bigger than size 2, great for large figure base coats.
size 4 -The biggest brush I use, once again ideal for larger figures.