So, I bought some scenery bits from MAS recently. My package arrived today. I looked at the stuff inside and I'm satisfied for now :) That said, I have some questions - could I ask for some advice from people who worked with MAS stuff? 1. I bought some Supply Boxes and ITS Panoplies to act as objective markers. Each of them came with a base - and the bases have brown, wooden-like colouring on the top and bottom sides. Is this how this bases are supposed to look? Do I need paint this wooden colouring over? Or is it some protective layer I should remove? 2. What paints should I use for the resin bits (cars, markers etc.)? The same paints I use for models, or something else? I use Vallejo's Game Colour for the minis. 3. I also got some hard-foam hills... Currently, they are all black, so they obviously need painting. Any special advice how to proceed with that? I'd grateful for your input!
1. If the bases are acrylic then that is a tape applied to protect the acrylic when the laser cut the shape. You can take another piece of acrylic and use the edge or corner to rub up the edge of the tape and peel it off of both sides. Using another piece of acrylic won't scratch the other piece. 2. Same paint will be fine. Just wash the resin with warm water and dish soap, rinse and let it dry. Just to make sure you get rid of any residual mold release. Prime the resin with a sandable auto primer, 2-3 light coats will do. Paint as normal. 3. Paint as you are inclined. Base in a dark shade then drybrush up several lighter layers. Should get you a good start.
I have some of their hardfoam bunkers - but I gave them a light spray of an auto primer with no ill effects, then after it was dry (it took 3 days to fully cure the paint) just used other rattlecans over it. It's a different kind of foam to the usual packing/insulation foam stuff (I know you can get foaming resins, for example - that are designed to foam up because it makes them lighter).
Hm. Would it be a mistake to prime resin or hardfoam using the polyurethane Vallejo primer (the one you can brush on)? I use this stuff for my minis and I also primed some AW resin scenery with it...
As long as you get ALL the mold release off, it won't be a problem. Simple Green or Formula 409 will work pretty well at getting rid of the mold release. Purple Power or Castrol Superclean should also work well.
Toothpaste and an old toothbrush also work quite well. It's a very mild and fine abrasive polish. It will remove mould release - up to the rather persistent one that FW uses on their resin casts. Mentioned because it's usually something most households already have - so no extra "special" purchases needed.
MAS started including laser-cut MDF bases with thier objective pieces. If you want them to look like that, well, nothing wrong with it (though I'd then suggest attaching the resin pieces to them once you're done painintg the resin). Not much experience working with MDF myself though, so I can't advise on proper technique. Valejjo Game Color worked fine for me in the same case, so I'd say you're safe to go with these :)
Thanks for all the input, guys! Any advice on painting the HDF buildings by MAS? Currently, I only have the pre-painted buildings by AW, but I tried planning my Infinity table today and I decided that it really needed these subway entrances MAS recently released. I ordered them (because Black Friday and all that), but they come unpainted, so I could use advice as to what to do with them? BTW. Here's my table so far: As you can see, I have AW's SOMP Pharmacy, some AW barricades and some crashed cars by MAS. I plan on adding four more AW buildings, two MAS subway entrances, one additional car and - maybe - some adverts. I wish I could afford a rubber mat, but I needed to cut costs here, especially as I actually needed two mats (an urban one and a wilderness one for Dragon Rampant. This one is actually two-sided, so it was about a fourth of what I'd pay for two rubber mats...
MDF sucks up a lot of paint. You will want to seal them with something, though cheap-ish automotive sanding primer (in a rattlecan) isn't bad.
Vallejo should work fine, as it gets in, then tensions, leaving all detail. Maybe too much, I can see the MDF texture. It seems a good way to make use of it (for metal and plastic, Badger Stynylrez/UMP Ultimate/Ammo Mig One Shot is better IMO). Edit: better local names for the Badger primer.
It will probably take multiple coats of primer, especially around the edges. Cut edges suck up ALL the paint.
You could always seal the cut edges with something like gesso (it's thick, forms a nice primer coat and dries relatively quickly, too - but it DOES have to be brushed on. You can't really airbrush it, it'd be like spraypainting with custard ...
Actually a friend of mine use it as primer with bot brush and airbrush. Unfortunately I have no idea if he's using a specific one or perform some kind of dilution himself. I remember asking him about it a while ago but completely forgot the details.
I've just never had any luck airbrushing it - or pushing it through a spraygun - it just felt like trying to push custard through a straw. :D
Hm. And regarding that automotive sanding primer - any brand names etc.? I don't even know what to look for...
I use Rust-oleum sandable auto primer. I use it for all my miniatures (plastic, metal, resin, etc.) and MDF.
Pushing custard is easy. With a strong straw, you can push aluminium. Pulling is the problem. Also https://www.flickr.com/photos/vrogy/4140559359 For automotive primer, whatever you can find avaliable where you live. Shipping is tricky, so there is no much choice.
Drive down to the local NAPA or whatever the auto parts store is called in your area. Buy direct from them. Shipping aerosol cans is tricky at best, and positively crappy during the winter.