How NOT to change your armor

TwoTonic Knight · Post by **TwoTonic Knight** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 4:29 am

No, this isn't a Brave Sir Robin joke.

In anticipation of Jellybean Armor, I am now experimenting with ways to redo armor.

Spray paint: One can of acryllic black. Quick and dirty. Leaves the surface matte (not shiney) and not wholly Lego-like. You can add a clear gloss or semi-gloss to protect the paint and give it back some of that shiney plastic look. Actually, I was doing this to prep the armor for another technique, but hey, it works. You want to get a spray black, and not try and brush it on - if you paint directly on the plastic with a brush it will leave big old brush marks. And since I'm on the subject, it is best to give plastic a bath in warm soapy water and thoroughly dry first to remove mold release oils, finger oil, and what not. And you do all know to shake the can, make sure the nozzle is clean and pointed in the right direction, and do it in a well-ventilated place, and have lots of surface and backstop protection so you don't spray-paint your mom's curtains?

Foil Leaf: Ever try and wrap your armor in aluminum foil? Kinda the same thing with similiar if not quite the same pitfalls. You can get foil leaf systems at most art/crafts stores and they come in a variety of golds, silvers, coppers, brasses, bronzes, etc. Basically, you paint the armor with a thin liquid glue and then let that dry until it is tacky and no longer fluid. Then the wonderful part of trying to get this very, very thin sheet of fragile foil transfered to the armor. Lots of indentations are the bane of this technique - the foil catches on the high points, and has no "stretch" so if you try to depress it into the low points you get very thin tears. It's so thin you can lay another layer over the area and fill it in, but you still get a wrinkled texture. Very fine wrinkled texture, mind you. You can smooth some of it out by working really delicately, but you can also start lifting some of the fragile foil off. Once satisfied (or frustrated beyond all words, depending on your patience) you then brush on a clear sealer to protect the foil. Bright! Shiney! Dazzling! Sunglasses! But still has that micro-texture. It's a matter of taste, I suppose.

Rub'N'Buff: A tube of almost powdery goo intended for the same purpose as the foil leaf stuff, usually right next to each other. Cheaper and quicker. I've worked with this before, but on metal figures I prefer dry brush techniques. Since I've already spoken on the dislike of plastic for brush strokes, I tried this. Basically, you apply some to you finger (or cloth if you prefer) and rub it on. On the bare plastic, sometimes it goes on well and gets very nice results. Sometimes it just goes on in an uneven way and it just doesn't want to be controlled - it applies best on slightly textured surfaces (the lower area on some of the helmets, for instance). Thus, my advice would be to spray paint the item in question black (or dark brown if you are going to work with golds, bronzes, brass, or copper) first to give it something to grip better. Practice on something you don't value first since it takes a little practice to get the right amount and the right pressure - but you'll get the hang of it (use sparingly is my advice). This is capable of more subtle effects - whether or not you feel that having more realistic looking armor is appropriate to Lego is again, a matter of taste. You can achieve a faint metallic look to a reasonably bright and dense application, but it will never be as dazzingly bright as the foil leaf. It doesn't get into the cracks and crevices easily, but you actually don't want it to. If you lay it on bare plastic and don't apply a clear sealant to it, then you can rub it off eventually (I've applied it and then wiped it out entirely back to the bare plastic - but I haven't seen how far I can remove it from a painted surface).

I suppose at some point I'll add some photos, but that will have to wait a bit.

Devari · Post by **Devari** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 4:45 am

There is the option of just leaving the armour alone...

But I suppose some of the coulors are REALLY bad... You can only have so much ceremonial armour.

wlister · Post by **wlister** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 6:35 am

Thanks for the tips, it is likely I will try one or more of these methods with both the violet and light blue armor. Who will be the first to post pics of converted KKII armor? Who will be ther brave soul who will attempt this feat? Results will vary and we shall see in July just what will come of this...

Will

Dragon Master · Post by **Dragon Master** » Sat Jan 03, 2004 4:06 pm

I doubt I'll be changing my armor...I've always had a moral delema on changing pieces. I can't even bring myself to cut a halbard ax in half. I guess I must be weak or something, but I've never felt confortable making my own LEGO.

Sorry,

DM

LEGOFREAK · Post by **LEGOFREAK** » Sun Jan 04, 2004 9:19 am

Sounds like the foil leaf technique might be worth experimenting with. I like doing arts and crafts, and while I probably wouldnt want to do a whole army (not nearly enough patience) I think I would like a sig fig made this way..
Thanks for the tips, and I will probably post here again asking for your advice.

LF

Dusty · Post by **Dusty** » Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:47 pm

model paint might be the way I go. I used some on some helmets I made when I was trying for WWII German helmet. I used black. Came out pretty well, but I think that is because I did a some sanding to rough up the gloss so the paint would stick better.

Jojo · Post by **Jojo** » Tue Jan 13, 2004 1:48 am

Hello!

Dragon Master wrote::? I doubt I'll be changing my armor...I've always had a moral delema on changing pieces. I can't even bring myself to cut a halbard ax in half. I guess I must be weak or something, but I've never felt confortable making my own LEGO.
Sorry

No reason to apologise! You're on the right way. You are a good boy :-)

Bye
Jojo