Painting terrain

[LMB]

I bought some terrain from ebay to make my own lava, but I'm wondering if I should not paint the sides where the pieces interlock. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm planning to shoot them with white first so that the red will be bright, then I'll be sealing them with clear dullcoat. Will 3 layers make interlocking them difficult? If I leave the sides unpainted will is show much? Thanks for any tips you guys can give me.

[special-jlk]

I made some custom lava tiles for heroscape and all i used was red spray paint ive had them for about nine months and they still look fine maybe a little flecking on the sides but not so much that you would notice

[Remice]

I normally paint my sides than spray after with a clear acrylic finish. It usually doesnt have much of a problem afterwards.

[pegasus]

I don't think painting the sides will give you any problems with interlocking. If you are worried about chipping resilience consider using a matte coat on top of a glossy one. Glossy coatings are much harder and wear resistant than dull coatings. It's what most pro painters do.

[Raudulfr Shieldcrusher]

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=901413#post901413

I've had no problems with mine:

http://www.rodriguezphotography.com/dwf/lava/24_lava.jpg

[Warlord Alpha]

Worst comes to worst, go and paint two extra tiles you have laying around with your process and see how they work. If it works out fine, do the whole batch.

[Just_a_Bill]

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=901413#post901413

I've had no problems with mine:

http://www.rodriguezphotography.com/dwf/lava/24_lava.jpg
Looks fantastic, but ... they don't seem to stack and interlock correctly? Or am I misinterpreting the shadows?

[Raudulfr Shieldcrusher]

No, you are not. When I took the pic I just shoved them together. They were only hours from the final coat of paint.I only posted the pic to show how I painted them. I've been using the tiles since the final coat of varnish and have not had any problems.

[habs1009]

They look like burnt hamburgers.;) :p

[Raudulfr Shieldcrusher]

Hamburgers burnt by LAVA!

[habs1009]

They don't look like they stack too well though.

[omen20154]

I have flocked and painted all of my heroscape tiles and to tell you the truth, the type of paint u use is really what determinesif it sticks or not.

The prime example were my lava tiles.. I kinda messed up the firs time arround .. well not really messed up but i was not satisfied with them at all.. They stuck the frst time.. The second time arround they really stuck. I had to get a knife and scrape the extra off. I am glad it was only the lava set. It took forever to do. They still stick a little to this day.

Now I have have painted and flocked the other master sets all without any problems. Maye it was the ammount of paint I used on the lava set. With all the drybrushing I had to do. Mabye it was the type of paint i used. I dont know..

[LMB]

Hamburgers burnt by LAVA!

I'm planning to make mine look as much like the official lava as I can, but those look really nice, good job!

[jotun7]

I've never done any customs, so, I don't know what most of you are talking about. But now I sort of understand, sort of. So, let me get this straight, you take any hex tiles, or water pieces, and you spray paint? That sounds OK. Thanks for the info!

[Agent Minivann]

I don't know if I'm right in my thinking here, but I believe the spray paint that is made especially for plastics is really dying the plastic rather than traditionally painting the product. It might make a difference in how the pieces fit together after the painting if you pony up the extra money for the "for plastic" spray paint. I believe it is also sold as vinyl dye.

I really should make it clear that I have not painted terrain tiles using either type of spray paint. You might want to try it on a small scale first before hitting a whole ton of tiles.

[Raudulfr Shieldcrusher]

They don't look like they stack too well though.



Like I said before, I just pushed them together for the picture. They stack together perfectly. I made sure of that when I made them. No problems with stacking, sticking together or anything else. They perform as well as standard Heroscape tiles. As do all of my customs.

[LMB]

I don't know if I'm right in my thinking here, but I believe the spray paint that is made especially for plastics is really dying the plastic rather than traditionally painting the product. It might make a difference in how the pieces fit together after the painting if you pony up the extra money for the "for plastic" spray paint. I believe it is also sold as vinyl dye.

I really should make it clear that I have not painted terrain tiles using either type of spray paint. You might want to try it on a small scale first before hitting a whole ton of tiles.

I don't much about paint which is why I started the thread, but my white paint is a primer that is safe for plastic minis and my red is "for plastics".

My impression of the safe for plastics paint was that is didn't contain chemicals which would melt or otherwise distort the plastic, I'd never heard anything about dying the material. As soon as we have a nice dry day or two I'm going to try a small experiment to see how it works.

[GreyOwl]

I've used Krylon Fusion spraypaint for plastic to paint terrain tiles, and it turns out great. It has a very strong finish that won't chip, but I apply a clear coat anyway.

For non-spray paint, acrylic paints work, and the more expensive modeling brands will have a nicer finish and last longer (Testors ModelMasters, Tamiya, etc.). I've never tried enamel paint on terrain. Enamel won't work on softer plastics, like figures, but I'm not sure about the terrain. But if it does work, enamel paints are much more durable than acrylics, especially for pieces that are constantly rubbing against each other like terrain pieces.

[Carnival Man]

I've used acrylics with a clear-coat & yes some of my hexes remain a little sticky to this day. If you use a matte clear finish on your terrain you can also use a very fine sandpaper on the edges after the finish had dried. ;)

[GreyOwl]

I've used acrylics with a clear-coat & yes some of my hexes remain a little sticky to this day. If you use a matte clear finish on your terrain you can also use a very fine sandpaper on the edges after the finish had dried. ;)

Do you mean enamel?

[Agent Minivann]

I don't know if I'm right in my thinking here, but I believe the spray paint that is made especially for plastics is really dying the plastic rather than traditionally painting the product. It might make a difference in how the pieces fit together after the painting if you pony up the extra money for the "for plastic" spray paint. I believe it is also sold as vinyl dye.

I really should make it clear that I have not painted terrain tiles using either type of spray paint. You might want to try it on a small scale first before hitting a whole ton of tiles.

I don't much about paint which is why I started the thread, but my white paint is a primer that is safe for plastic minis and my red is "for plastics".

My impression of the safe for plastics paint was that is didn't contain chemicals which would melt or otherwise distort the plastic, I'd never heard anything about dying the material. As soon as we have a nice dry day or two I'm going to try a small experiment to see how it works.
I just went and checked and I'm thinking of two different things. The vinyl dye stuff is a different product that seeps in and dyes the part. The plastic paint, like Krylon Fusion, is a paint.

[Carnival Man]

I've used acrylics with a clear-coat & yes some of my hexes remain a little sticky to this day. If you use a matte clear finish on your terrain you can also use a very fine sandpaper on the edges after the finish had dried. ;)

Do you mean enamel?

Nope, acrylics... It's what I've been using on all the painted terrain in my custom terrain thread. In fact if anyone reading this is going to the Nor-Cal tourney this Saturday I'll be bringing my two 2nd place winners for display.

[jotun7]

Well, since the last time I posted here, I've made my first custom terrain! It's not tiles, I made a temple post (a plastic tube super glued to another one, to another. Kind of like a lower-case n). It looks really cool with ticalla jungle!

[GreyOwl]

I've used acrylics with a clear-coat & yes some of my hexes remain a little sticky to this day. If you use a matte clear finish on your terrain you can also use a very fine sandpaper on the edges after the finish had dried. ;)

Do you mean enamel?

Nope, acrylics... It's what I've been using on all the painted terrain in my custom terrain thread. In fact if anyone reading this is going to the Nor-Cal tourney this Saturday I'll be bringing my two 2nd place winners for display.

There's no way pure acrylic paints should remain tacky. The tackiness in enamel paints occurs from soft plastic absorbing one of the two chemical agents required for curing the paint, which results in the paint not drying because the two agents cannot "mix". But for acrylic paints, the drying comes simply from water evaporating, so it should always dry (unless you keep it in an extremely humid room, which is unlikely). But there are paints called "acrylic enamels", which are really enamel paints but have a finish that looks like acrylic. You may have used one of those perhaps...?

[LMB]

I finished my test (white primer, red paint, clear coat) and the pieces fit great. I could probably add 4-6 more coats without risk of the pieces not fitting. Now I just have to get started painting enough of them to create a decent lava field. :)