Re-Paint Neca Figure Tips

[Reg Pred]

hey guys, i got an extra boar pred in the mail by accident and instead of listing it back on ebay i thought id dip my hands in trying to re-paint the sucker! now i can paint with fine detail but i have never tried to re-paint a figure. ive been looking and i cant seem to find any threads about it. do you guys have any tips? what kind of paint i should use? or anything else you can think of? thanks guys.

 

[CYCLONE 06]

Well most of us use acrylic paints. Most guys use citadel, or tamiya, and theres a couple other brands. I use folk art and delta acrylic paints myself. Mr Uruk recommended washing the figure, which I didnt use to do, but I did on my Ultimate Elder figure and it helped the paint apply and stick much better, so I think washing the figure is a good starting point. Usually I put them under hot water and take all the pieces apart, all the armor, dreads, etc. its much easier to paint this way. Just pick your colors and patterns, and good reference pics, and go at it. Dont be afraid, if worse comes to worse, paint over it, or put it under hot water and scrub it off with a toothbrush to start over. Let the paint dry in between coats, dont rush it. Usually when doing a custom, picking some kind of theme inspires your design... for instance, ive seen gladiator predators, battle predators, variation of movie predators, etc...

You can also interchange some parts...arms, torsos, legs, feet... my elder has his own head, arms, and legs and feet, with a p2 torso for the added height... be creative.

~CYCLONE_06

 

[Reg Pred]

man thank you very much for the tips! this has helped out alot! im going to get started right away!

 

[deepincision]

Look at what armour, gear and accessories your pred has and his colours scheme: the original costume designers did a pretty good job of making each pred unique in some way, and it's a good source of inspiration. Plan a bit, make a few sketches too. Look at others' work on this forum or around the net for ideas too.

I almost always use Citadel acrylics, and their white or black spraycans for priming. Word of advice: don't use enamels on the rubber/soft plastic parts. Recently I got a spare can of enamel spraypaint to prime some of my pred's rubber gear.... and it didn't work out too well. The paint remained tacky and I had to remove the lot with turps and respray it with citadel acrylics. They're pretty expensive but they're easy to work with.

I use a combination of stippling, drybrushing, highlighting and using a fine brush to add spots for the pred's skin tones. I also like to finish off with a coat of gloss varnish to protect the paint as well as adding a nice, clammy, pred-sweat layer.

One more tip: if your paint doesn't seem to be adhering well, try adding a drop or two of detergent to the paint. It breaks up the surface tension and helps it to spread into all the cracks.

 

[CYCLONE 06]

Also, theres a good write up on mr uruks last post of his customs if i remember correctly, and it has pics.

~CYCLONE_06

 

[Reg Pred]

awesome dudes! well im done painting the sucker now im just getting him back together with a few added pieces! im pretty happy with it so far and id say its not too shabby for my very first re-paint. ill post pics up tomorrow if its complete!