How to repaint/customize paint scheme on toys?

[thetrollphysicist]

I have been to this forum for awhile now but i still have a question about this topic, how can you guys repaint your CHogokin or the older Yamato toys into a different paint schemes than the original one?

[chyll2]

Some toys can be easily repainted since it is hold onto by Clips and Screws but some toys are painful to customize due to heavy usage of Glues. You can only learn about the it by dis-assembling the toy as much as you can without destroying it. There is also a consideration if you can destroy a part and rebuild it later on. On my Painted Super parts for VF-25 Renewal, I had the option to destroy the Screw Covers since I can easily putty it back later.

Though going back on the recent work that I did as well as my future project I am planning in the next few months,

it just basically involve a lot of planning

a. what parts that rubs of

b. What parts that can be separated

c. Color scheme, some scheme is actually bad for paint rubbing (this parts are better left unpainted or if to be painted, has to be handled carefully or with a good layer of protection, regardless, it will still chip but a lesser extent)

d. what parts that you have to accept that the only way to paint it is by lots of MASKING MASKING AND MASKING.

[thetrollphysicist]

Hmm, what about something as old as the Yamato 1/60 YF-19 Excalibur? I was thinking about paint it into a VF-19A

[Mog]

I'd echo chyll2's comments too: the most important thing is to plan, plan, plan.

Figure out how your color-scheme is gonna look in all three modes.

Figure out what areas are gonna have a ton of paint rub, and plan to sand those areas heavily.

A few other tips:

1) Figure out early on if you're going to use stickers or decals. If you're going with stickers, realize that the market for custom stickers is pretty dry now. You can try making your own custom stickers, but realize you'll need a white background for them to really show up on the Valk. Unless you use a special kind of sticker sheet with a white background (or somehow find someone with an ALPS printer that has white ink), your sticker or decal won't be visible on the darker shaded part of your Valk.

2) Make sure you remember and keep track of where each screw and part goes. Not all screws on a Valk are the same. I learned this the hard way with my YF-21.

3) For large areas, you'll probably want to spray paint the parts for a nice even look.

4). Be patient. Give parts time to dry, and take things slowly. Better to take your time and get it right the first time than rush through and realize you have to re-work or re-do certain parts.

Hope this helps! And keep us posted on what you decide to do!

[thetrollphysicist]

Well, my current contender for my new custom painjob is the SV-51 Ivanov, it has been catching dust on my shelf for quite a while now, and i find the color rather dull, so i was thinking about repaint it as a Soviet plane.

And this is the scheme i was going to consider for this repaint, since im just getting started with this, i chose monotone scheme

Edited October 13, 2016 by thetrollphysicist

[wmkjr]

That would look nice. Or the Shark themed scheme. Forum member Dobber also made a nice custom SV-51 scheme.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?app=gallery&album=296

[edstuff]

I have an old jetfire figure i plan on customizing. What do you guys suggest as far as the original paint? Do you remove it or paint over? And what do you remove the paint with if you remove it?