Confederacy Figurehead painting

[cdrusn89]

I am starting the Model Expo Confederacy kit and am struggling with painting the figurehead - picture below  (and other Britannia metal decorations).

 

The instructions say these decorations should be painted to look like wood.  I also understand that early on (2009-2010) there were resin versions of these decorations but these are no longer available. So I am stuck with the Britannia metal versions.

 

I have never had much luck painting Britannia metal parts. The paint (and I have tried oil and water based paints) does not seem to want to adhere to the edges of the item.

 

Does anyone have experience painting items like this and have a "tips" that I should follow?

[Seahawk1313]

Hello Gary,  My son is into  wargaming metal figures.  He primes them with "The Army Painter" primer before he paints them.  He has very good luck with it.  I use the black primer for my tops and yards.  I think it works well.  The metal needs to be primed.  - Hal 

[Greg M]

I paint wargaming figures as well and "The Army Painter" primer is excellent although it doesn't shrink, so it's very easy to obscure detail if you are a bit heavy on the trigger.

 

I highly recommend Reaper Brush On Primer if you plan on brushing.  It creates more of a powder coating so it doesn't flake off in sheets if there's no tooth to the surface (never had metal flake primer, but have had smooth resin shed primer).  

Vallejo Polyurethane primer is awesome if you airbrush as it shrinks as it dries, so it's very difficult to spray too thick and obscure detail and it creates a very strong base if you let it cure for a day. 

 

All that said, if you have some Krylon primer sitting around, you can hit it with a couple light coats of that.  Metal minis are very forgiving with the primer as they are very easy to strip down to base metal.

 

I also give my metal (and resin) minis a good soak and brushing with Simple Green before priming to remove any residue.

 

 

 

 

[cdrusn89]

Greg and Seahawk,

    Thanks for the info I will give the primers a try.

[Freebird]

I know this is an order post, but…. does anyone make any replacements for the cast metal parts (mostly the figurehead) that come in the kit? I’m not crazy about the supplied items. TIA!

 

Best Regards …. Rick

Edited January 8, 2023 by Freebird

[Dziadeczek]

On 10/7/2020 at 10:52 AM, cdrusn89 said:

I am starting the Model Expo Confederacy kit and am struggling with painting the figurehead - picture below  (and other Britannia metal decorations).

 

The instructions say these decorations should be painted to look like wood.  I also understand that early on (2009-2010) there were resin versions of these decorations but these are no longer available. So I am stuck with the Britannia metal versions.

 

I have never had much luck painting Britannia metal parts. The paint (and I have tried oil and water based paints) does not seem to want to adhere to the edges of the item.

 

Does anyone have experience painting items like this and have a "tips" that I should follow?

Mixing your paints with powder sugar will increase the adhesion to smooth surfaces like glass or metal. Try it!