my first prop project

[tdk1598]

ive always wanted to get into working with props as a hobby. i recently attened a comic con and bought two unfinished resin props. a star wars lightsaber handle, and the ship key from smallville (silver octagon) i didnt expect painting them to be much of a big deal, just get some primer and metalic spray paint and be done with it however its been over 2 weeks and im still working on them.,

after i got rid of the excess resin on the edges and whatnot, i sanded them, washed them and let them dry.. i used rust-oleum automative primer and used several coats. after i wet sanded the parts i used rust-oleum bright coat metallic silver. it looked really realy nice. but after drying for 4 days when i picked them up id leave fingerprints in the paint and could feel it was tacky. i found this site and read that u can use the purple cleaner stuff and a tooth brush to get all that paint off.

this worked amazingly, after 2 days and a little TLC both parts were back to white again. i went to the hobby store to ask for help. i ended up with a $20 testors airbrush kit. i re- primed the parts and used the silver enamel on them. ive let them sit for 24 hours minimum and they look great and i can handle them.

BUT, i have an issue i cannot figure out and was looking for some tips or tricks to help... the smallville key has little symbols carved out. i want black in the symbols but ive failed the 2 ways ive tryed, and had to do another coat of the silver to fix my mistake.. heres a pic of the key as it is right now.. anyone got some words of wisdom for this noob?

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a228/thedarkknight1598/WP_000072.jpg

 

[Jack_Fauth]

i would use a waterbases wash coat of black or grey and fill in the details, doesn't matter if you get it outside the stamped symbols, let dry and wipe off the excess with a damp cloth. What you would be left with is a natural looking coloring of the piece
This is how i do all my weathering on parts to get grime down in all the nooks and cranies
Hope this helps
Jack

 

[tdk1598]

hey thanks man, i got one more noob question... how do i do a wash coat? do i need to buy a waterbased black paint? or can i use the enamel i already have? sorry but im very new to all this.

 

[TryChick]

I had used Valspar paint from Lowes and had the same problem. Thinking I wasn't waiting long enough between coats of primer and paint... and paint... and paint..., I stripped, re puttied, and sanded my TOS Phaser prop twice (my phaser is probably smaller than it should be because of all the sanding...). I'd let the thing cure for 3-4 days, then flip it to paint the bottom and it would stick and pull the paint away from the resin. In frustration, I finally swapped to Dupli-Color spray paint (auto paints but you can find them at Walmart, etc). A bit more expensive (I think $6.99 for a can), but they cure properly. I will NEVER...EVER use Valspar paint to paint anything again!!!!