Painting Question?

[TrekStar]

I would like to make a custom figure and would be using the FTC Martian ManHunter head, but I would
need to paint it over to flesh color.

So my question is, what is the best way to go about doing this? the head is green, so should I paint it over
to white, then paint that over with flesh color, or just paint the flesh color over the factory green?

I also want to use a paint brand that won't make it sticky or crusty/flaky when just touching it,
it will break apart.

any helpful info or ideas is greatly appreciated, thanks.

[LonnieFisher]

Grey primer, vinyl paint. That's my best suggestion.

[sprytel]

You can use acrylic paints over a vinyl head. You will want to pack the head with air dry clay beforehand to make it hold its shape as much as possible. It will still have far less adhesion than on a resin head, though... so you will want to be ginger with the results. Vinyl paint, as Lonnie suggested will not rub off... but you are not going to find "flesh color" options with that kind of paint.

[comicmike]

I agree with the suggestions.

Personally, I first coat my rubber heads with plenty of acetone. The chemical seems to help make the rubber a bit more porous, to help make the base paint adhere. I use thin coats of slightly thinned paint (and a hairdryer on high heat to seal on the thin layers of colour) so the layers don't ever go on too thick, especially in the facial grooves. Too much build up can be remedied with acetone on a thinned out Q-tip, and water to rinse it quickly. If the oil-based paint is ever too tacky, you can remove it and start over with acrylics ...but one check-in is try "cobalt dryer" liquid on (painted over top, or actually mix a drop or 2 into the oil paint) because it may force away the paint tackiness.

I keep checking the final coats by using my phone to photograph my work: And, one neat trick is I turn the pictures upside down, so another part of my cognition & vision takes in the paint details, so to spot what needs to be quickly fixed. It's a great way of picking up the fine details of painting the eyes.

I often use better quality acrylics on the finer, final details. I thin out matte acrylic finish to seal over those details, once I'm happy with the painted results. I spent way too many long hours in my university Fine Arts studio to figure out how to make these small items durable. There is nothing like the perfect Mego sculpt and final finished paint job.

[scott metzger]

Keep in mind, I'm far from an accomplished painter on models and such. But...I usually use acrylics because they seem to dry better on the Mego-type heads. I have actually used basic Elmer's glue as a protective overcoat once the head is painted; dries clear, just don't get the head wet. I would say do a base coat of a color like gray with decent coverage. Anything with a yellow or red base tends to have more coverage issues, but flesh tones usually have enough brown to compensate. Most flesh tone paints aren't quite the color you need if the body is a classic Mego. Odd as it might sound, I've had the best matching success starting with a base of Nutmeg Brown and then adding some white, red and yellow until the proper tone is achieved. Afraid I never sat down, kept track and came up with an exact formula, so I kind of eyeball it. And remember that most colors change a bit when they dry; it may look perfect when wet, but the color might darken a bit as it sets. The original Mego heads didn't have much problem slipping back into the bodies if you widened the neck hole a bit; the FTC heads might have more of an issue. I might suggest maybe painting the neck first, putting it into the body and then finishing.

[PNGwynne]

I'd be much more comfortable painting a resin copy, using acrylics.

[TrekStar]

Thanks for all the above suggestions, there's so much you need to know and understand when doing a project like this,
I agree with PNGwynne about being more comfortable painting over a resin head than a rubber or vinyl head, but when searching for something particular, an idea like that is sometimes not an option.

I am currently working out an angle on this custom project, and I thank everyone for their help and suggestions it's greatly appreciated.

[LonnieFisher]

I just want to clarify, I meant to use "grey primer vinyl paint", and shouldn't have had a comma inserted. Grey primer for vinyl for the base coat, then whatever paint you wanted after that. I would also topcoat with clear matte finish, from a spray can.