Building the Empress PBR river boat - Almost finished

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I am, step by step, working on a Vietnam War project and together with that, a painting guide.

I have just bought and received the excellent Empress PBR and I want to build it and also create a tutorial as I go.
However, there are a few things where I would like your help and advice, so that I don't mess it up.

With Empress resin models, do they need to be washed in soapy water?
I think they don't need to be washed but want your opinions.

There are some faint surface blemishes that I am not sure if they will disappear with painting.
I could fill them with Milliput Yellow Grey and then sand down with fine sand paper.
Is that the right thing to do?

Do I need to prime with say Citadel Black Spray, or could I jump ahead and spray with (Russian Green) Vallejo spray paint direct on to the bare resin and metal?

If this was just for the wargame table, I would probably just go with fine sanding of the blemishes and jump straight to the Vallejo spray.

Thanks for the advice.

Mick

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I wash all my resins with scouring cream (Tesco's cheapest possible) using an old toothbrush.

I have had very few issues with Empress miniatures (V100's facial hives being the only ones recently)

If there are surface marks, milliput is your friend.

I undercoat them with Citadel Chaos Black spray (unless I am going to use light colours). I have not used Vallejo sprays so I do not know if they work without an undercoat (I only have Citadel, Humbrol, Army Painter and PSC sprays).

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Thank-you

[Ash]

I think the general consensus is to wash any resin kit/parts to remove any residual release agent; that was certainly the case for old ForgeWorld buildings, as otherwise paint and primer would part company from the model at the first oportunity. That said, I didn't with any of the models I have bought from Empress.
The first was an oversight, but resulted in no adverse effect, the second was diliberate to see what would happen and still nothing. So by the time I got to the PBR I didn't even think about it, just went straight in with the primer. Also, if you are going to go over the model with a fine sand paper I think that should effectively remove any residue that may be on the surface.
I don't recall any blemishes with the PBR, other that what looked like a tiny airbubble in one of the davits, simple fix with any filler.

Re primer; personally I'd always give any model a coat of primer first, as it provides a layer for your paint to adhere to.

I think you'll have great fun with this model, I certainly did with mine. Look forward to seeing how you progress, lots of pictures please...

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Thanks Ash and Ultravanillasmurf,

Your advice is very valuable.

I am painting the crew at the moment. They are wonderful sculpts that look just like the actors.
There will be lots of pictures as I go along.

Thanks

Mick

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Never get out of the Boat!  Crew of "Apocalypse Now" Patrol Boat River. 28mm figures from Empress Miniatures

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

This weekend's progress

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Nice start.

[Marine0846]

Looks good.
My boat is still in dry dock.

[Paul @ Empress Miniatures]

Nicely done 

What colour did you use?

[tomrommel1]

very good start

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I used the Vallejo 28.003 Russian Green Spray after an initial primer coat of Citadel Chaos Black spray.

The colour is the same as Vallejo 70.894 Camouflage Olive Green (which they used to call Russian Green a few years ago).

At the moment the boat looks brand new and very smooth. I will over-paint it and weather it to make it looked used.

My plan is that it looks used, but in good condition, like the early part of the film, when they pick Captain Willard up.

I have been taking pictures as I go, so there will be a full tutorial when I have finished.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Almost finished.
Still needs some lettering on the back and the 50 Cal.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Very nice.

[Sparrow]

Very nice 👍