Painting terrain

[LMB]

Originally Posted by Raudulfr Shieldcrusher

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]

Originally Posted by habs1009

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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?

[Agent Minivann]

Originally Posted by LMB

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]

Originally Posted by GreyOwl

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]

Originally Posted by Carnival Man

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...?