repainting hero clix

[Rob_bresnen]

I am an avid fan of 28mm Superhero minis, having buit up quite a collection (painted and unpainted).

I have in teh past confined my efforts to the metal variety of minis, but having seen some of the masterful repaints on this forum would like to now a thing or two about repainting a heroclix mini.

1) do you strip the mini first, and if so how?
2) what do you prime and paint them with?
3) who durable are they. Given that they are a bit flexable, will the paint come of, or crack, if they are subjected to normal gaming wear and tear?

Also, where is the spell checker on this forum?

[Hat Guy]

1. Most you don't need to strip as the paint is pretty thin on most of them. If you think it's a little thick, water down some nail polish remover and use an old brush to work slowly at the paint, rinse the model in water regularly to avoid the plastic eroding.
2. I prime all my minis in GW Chaos Black spray. It's a little expensive, but I've never had it crap up on me like other sprays. I paint with Citadel, Formula P3 and Aqueous Hobby Colour paints.
3. If you varnish them and keep them out of direct sun on a hot day they're fine. I'm yet to have to touch up a repainted clix from wear and tear.

Also, the spell check is built into Google Chrome and Firefox. Not that I really need it, English is kind of my thing.

[P_Clapham]

I use black automobile primer myself.  It's quite thin but has a very good consistancy.  Works quite well on the prepainted clix figures.

[JollyBob]

Yep, just prime straight over the factory job. In some cases (female figures especially, I found) you may lose a little detail on faces as they are not always that sharp, so just exagerate your shading and highlighting a little and it compensates nicely.

As for them being bendy, I would replace any weapons etc that are too flimsy with metal or plastic spares, as these will flake in no time, but the figure itself is usually fine under a coat of gloss varnish and then a topcoat of matt.

[Auton]

I just painted straight over the top of the original paint jobs when I repainted some Horrorclix figures a while back
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=4915.0

Reminds me, I really must do some more...

[wellender]

I find it depends on the figure.  Some of the figures have very thick paint that really obscures details.  Some of them have very nice sculpts under all that factory paint.  I have used straight acetone and nail polish remover to take the paint off.  I had better luck with the straight acetone.  Some people dip it for a tiny bit, but I have found that wiping it with the acetone is better for the figure.

I have also painted directly over some and that works out ok.  I have really only done this on models without a lot of detail though.  I have also just given a simple ink wash to the existing paint on some.  That really made them pop without doing a lot of stripping or repainting.

[Tom Reed]

For painting over the flexible plastic I usually brush prime with Gesso. It is very durable and will not crack if the figure is bent. I liberally coat the figure, as the gesso will shrink and not obscure the detail. Then I paint with acrylics and give the figure a coat of matt overspray.

[Heldrak]

Spraying primer (of whatever kind you like) directly over the factory paint-job is fine, but don't forget to do some mold line removal and gap filling first. Since the figures are essentially produced cheaply for the little kid market, many of them have pronounced mold lines and large gaps between components. I also think that re-basing is essential for clix to help divorce them from their humble origins...

[goon3423]

I have found that the acetone method is pretty easy and painless. Put some acetone in a jar, drop in the clix, swirl it around for a few minutes and scrub with an old toothbrush. As long as you dont leave them in the acetone long, and give them a good soap and water scrubbing afterwards, they are fine. Oh and wear gloves! 

[Death]

I have painted straight over them. Some are painted pretty decent in their own right.  On some id just drybrush them, dullcote the model, and base them.

[Hat Guy]

Nice Rhino. I have to get around to painting my "Giant Metal Rhino Suit" from Ultimate Spider Man, not as cool a villain, but a cooler look IMO.

[rob_alderman]

Yeah, some of them are really nice.
Some of the non-coms make great pulp pieces too. I have a scientist model I plan on using over and over.

I'll have to try the supersystem rulesets as I hate clix! 

[P_Clapham]

Having played with both rule sets, I heartilly endorse the Supersystem rules.

Yeah, some of them are really nice.
Some of the non-coms make great pulp pieces too. I have a scientist model I plan on using over and over.

I'll have to try the supersystem rulesets as I hate clix! 

[Death]

Supersystem is almost as perfect as a rulesystem you can have for heros.  The powers you can create are endless, i wish i had more people in my club interested in the genre!

[rob_alderman]

Supersystem is almost as perfect as a rulesystem you can have for heros.  The powers you can create are endless, i wish i had more people in my club interested in the genre!

I'm not hugely fussed by the genre, but I have lots of models.

I'm up for any kind of skirmish game, I wouldn't complain if the wrong guys were fighting each other as I would be none the wiser!