Paint & weathering advice - Bandai Sandtrooper

[Dermo245]

So this fella' arrived last night and I can't wait to get started on it soon!

 

 

 

I haven't build a Bandai kit before but have followed and been inspired by the many great builds I've seen here. I had a couple of newbie questions that I was hoping fellow BM'ers could help me with...

 

• Should I glue the parts or is the push-fit process strong enough to keep it all together?
• Do I need to seal the factory paint-finish with Klear before I start weathering? Or is it ok to weather right on top of it?
• I've read about the plastic being fragile with/attacked by certain products - I mostly use acrylics and water-based so would I be ok with those?
• Any advice on a final finish for this guy - Matt, Satin or Gloss?

 

Sorry for all the queries, thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Dermot

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Dermo245
Photobucket and their shenanigans

[Andy Moore]

Hey Dermot, nice kit. One of the ones that I've not got round to making yet.

 

I tend to run a little Tamiya extra thin cement here and there for extra security, but in reality the push fit assembly should be easily strong enough on its own.

 

You can weather straight onto the plastic but, on the troopers I've done, I've given the whole model a light coat of satin varnish first, partly to protect the surface from the weathering, and party to lessen the glossy look of the plastic and give the weathering something better to key to.

You'll be absolutely fine weathering with acrylics and other water based products (the clay based washes from UMP and Flory work well with these), and you should be okay with oils/enamels as long as you don't soak the surface with white spirit/thinner.

 

Andy

[Dermo245]

Cheers Andy and much appreciated, thank you.

 

Hopefully I can do it justice!

 

Dermot