Any tips on working with Airfix Soft Plastic Figures?

Andrew Gorman · Post by **Andrew Gorman** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:23 pm

Hi folks.
A project I've been working on has mutated in scale as more references trickle in... Instead of being 1/60 and crewed by Aurora Vikings, it's actually 1/72 and I'll have to use those nasty polyethylene Airfix Astronauts. How do I trim the flash and make paint stick to them? Looking around on the web has people melting the flash off in a candle flame, and painting them with white glue as a primer. Does this really work? If anyone has first-hand experience, I'd sure like to hear it!
Thanks in advance,
Andrew

philp · Post by **philp** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:58 am

Andrew,
You poor, poor man.
First, good luck on your endevor, you'll need it.

I wouldn't try melting the flash off. Get yourself a very sharp Xacto and use that to trim them.
As for coating them, the white glue trick will work. Have also heard of coating with superglue or even a spray flat finish.
I painted many an Airfix figure in my younger days and several still have paint on them. The main issue is the paint flakes off if you handle them too much. If you paint them and place them, you avoid the issue. I have also heard that acrylics stick better to them but no experience there.
Some more helpful info here:
http://theminiaturespage.com/workbench/489428/
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=59703
http://www.geocities.com/dbplastic/plas ... l#painting

Good luck and can't wait to see the pics.

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:38 pm

You might try and use ANYTHING except those. ANYTHING. Try sculpting figures out of marzipan. Train mice to sculpt in marble. ANYTHING..... Soap might be easier to paint. Neat figures, yes, but.....

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:26 pm

Before you go too mad, the Airfix astronauts were available moulded in styrene by Lodela(?) which might have been Airfix Mexico but my memory is very fuzzy on that. They were definitely available though. I have two boxes myself.

USSARCADIA · Post by **USSARCADIA** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:58 pm

Paint usually stuck fairly well to mine, and we used them for wargaming. The paint would only flake off if they were bent or contorted. I believe I was using enamels at the time. You might try shooting them with a coat of spray Kilz from Home Despot and follow up with the craft acrylics from Michael's(at least that's what I would do).

DX-SFX · Post by **DX-SFX** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:17 pm

I've got a book which advocates painting them in PVA before painting them properly but I'm not sure how much of the detail might get obscured.

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:03 pm

I take it that there are no wargaming miniatures that will work? Nice, simple metal or plastic ones? Or 1/72 aircraft or NATO crew sets for dioramas?

If you went from Vikings to Astronauts, you must be working on something... different.

Andrew Gorman · Post by **Andrew Gorman** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:30 pm

It's not that different- I was just trying to use up what I had, and that matched the scale. The project is the ill-fated XMP-13 from the the thrilling 1959 TV show "Men into Space". It started looking like the hull was 1/48, then 1/60 looked good, and in came the Vikings, who are still there as cabin crew. Chop off a viking's head, replace it with a bead and file down his kilt a little and you have a passable spacefarer. Then that issue of Filmfax came in, and there was no getting around the fact I needed 1/72 astronauts, and had a few boxes of the Airfix guys from the late Model Expo blow-out. I had really horrible memories of trying to paint these 30+ years ago. Things should go better this time. I'm curating way too much plastic and need to use some of it up!
Andrew

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:58 am

HEY! Col. MacCauley! (Or however you spell it.) I recently found a very cheap DVD with a few episodes on it for a buck at "ShopKo". Neat.

Pictures. We will need pictures.

Please?

Scott Gano · Post by **Scott Gano** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:12 am

Trim with an x-acto blade.
Shape with hot water.
Prime.
Any paint will stick perfectly fine. We use Airfix figures by the hundreds for wargaming without any issues.

SGluedMyFingers · Post by **SGluedMyFingers** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:27 pm

This is funny. I'm having the same problem with the Tamiya rally driver/co-driver set. I was hoping to use them as snowspeeder pilots, but the bodies are made of some sort of soft plastic. Polyethylene? I've never worked with anything like it.

Flash isn't a problem. The problem is shaping then to the correct seated position. I have all kinds of rabbits in my hat for dealing with styrene, but I've never worked with this stuff.

I had thought of heating them in water. Any tips on this?

I had also considered that painting would be a problem. I was even wondering if Aves putty would stick to this surface.

HELP?

Mark Yungblut · Post by **Mark Yungblut** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 8:23 pm

Here is a few hints for those type of figs. First scrape the seams with a sharp exacto. Second wet sand the area. Third, soak the figures in pure white vinigar for 15 min. this will "micro etch" the surface and allow the paint to adhear better.

Hope this helps,

Mark

Andrew Gorman · Post by **Andrew Gorman** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:36 pm

For re-shaping the figues, Loctite makes a super glue for polyetheylene, which I haven't tried. Their other specialized super glues ARE considerably better than most. My guess is cut the figures as you normamally would, but be sure to pin the limbs in position. There is also a tool called a "pyrogravure" that Historex sell that can be used to add details, and probably weld the pieces together. Polyethylene is actually very easy to weld (the process is more like brazing) on full-size equipment. Heres a link to the Historex tool- you coould probably make something similar with an old cross-slit X-Acto chuck screwed into a soldering pencil. That's what I did in my hot-knife days.
http://www.historexagents.com/shop/tips_pyros.php
Andrew