Painting Plastic Soldiers with Nostalgia
As a kid, I played with these very Plastic Soldiers—carving trenches in the dirt and building expansive forts with string and sticks. We painted their helmets with different nail polish colors from our mothers to distinguish the many neighborhood kids' armies. Good Memories.
These are actually my toys from when I was a little boy.
Plastic Soldiers are made from Low-Density Polyethylene plastic, making them durable, flexible, and cheap, unlike the miniatures I usually paint, which are made from PVC or resin. While the Plastic Soldier's material allows it to survive the firecrackers I taped to them as a kid, they are not prep-friendly. Because the plastic was soft, I could scratch it off with my fingernail! I gave up using a hobby knife to remove the mold lines and attachment points from the sprue. Sandpaper was also useless, leaving behind little hairs of plastic.
Yes, I do pick my fingers when I get anxious. I’m working on it.
I could scrape away the raised plastic with my finger nails.
After smoothing the Plastic Soldiers the best I could, I sprayed them with a heavy Army Painter black primer coat. Letting them dry completely, I tested the primer to see if it would flake or rub off. I would have hated to paint them only to have the paint wear off. They passed. I missed some spots and touched them up with some matte black.
I missed his crotch with the rattle can primer. Touching it up.
After the primer, I treated the Plastic Soldiers like any other miniature I have painted. I used the following paints from The Army Painter, and yes, I know the new Fanatic paints are available; I can't afford them.
Skin.
Can’t forget the details.
Laces.
After painting, I added base materials to the ones with bases and made a big mistake. I coated them with a Testors Laquer gloss finish. I should have used a paint-on matte finish. Hindsight is always 20/20. They turned out glossy.
My mistake aside, they look great. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and enjoy your day.
