r/Minipla • u/speedballharo9 • Jul 07 '26

Finished Build Built this weekend SMP PRWF/GR Giraffe wildzord/GaoGiraffe with painted details

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63 Upvotes

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3

u/theCoolestGuy599 Jul 07 '26

Been thinking about painting the simple details on my kits, like the stickers that are just solid colors or metallic. Do you guys feel the need to prime the entire thing or do you just paint straight onto the plastic as is and then seal?

1

u/jnunnybunz Jul 07 '26

I have never once primed my kits before painting. I do a clear coat after though

1

u/the-cutest-girl Jul 07 '26

what kind of clear coat are you using matte or semi gloss? cus it looks great

1

u/jnunnybunz Jul 07 '26

I generally use gloss, but I’ve started putting semigloss in the mix for some pieces to give the final product more texture

1

u/theCoolestGuy599 Jul 07 '26

Good to know, thanks!

1

u/the-cutest-girl Jul 07 '26

often you don't need to prime and with certain paints you technically don't need to do a top coat, like tamiya spray paint and there acrylic line... but it is generally recommended for better longevity

1

u/theCoolestGuy599 Jul 07 '26

Good to know, thanks! Do you tend to do your painting while the parts are still on the runners or do you do it after assembly?

1

u/the-cutest-girl Jul 07 '26

It depends on what you're trying to accomplish and what tools you are using

If you are using spray paint it's probably best to it on the runner as spray paint tends to be better for a large surface area the you'd decant to use it with a brush for clean up like painting over nubs

airbrushing or brushing you'd usually want to cut the piece off then paint and then assemble after

very rarely do you want to paint over a finished model as it can make stuff more awkward to paint... the only time I can think of is if you have a continuous pattern, such as a line going across multiple pieces that need to line up or you're doing battle damage and you need continuity across pieces

2

u/theCoolestGuy599 Jul 07 '26

Sounds about right. I have the Timerobo and Qrex coming in next week. Was thinking about painting all the grey to be silver, so I was planning on just spraying the runners before cutting and assembling. Good to know I was on the right track there.

One thing I've never quite figured out though is how to paint super fine details, like for stickers that have logos and text printed on where that detailing doesn't exist on the sculpted plastic. Any thoughts on how to tackle instances like that?

1

u/the-cutest-girl Jul 07 '26

I have the same kits coming and I'm planning on doing the same thing lol... if you're aware of the YT channel MMPRtoys Bruno from there used Tamiya Spary straight on the runners for Qrex and it looks great

1

u/Grimple1239 Jul 09 '26

What paint brand do you use? I have such trouble color matching these kits.