Looking for customising advise please

[balayard]

Hi,
I would like any customising advise anyone can give me please. I have just bought two Hoty bodies who need repainting but I'm not really sure where to start, I want to do them justice. I have never customised Julips before, the only experience I have of doing this is on Breyer's but even then I usually only use pastels, but I understand Julip's need to be re-done in acrylics.
what consistency should the paint be? Is it best to do thin layers at a time and build up? do I need to start with a white base? And how do you avoid paint work being streaky and showing brush strokes?

Thanks a lot, sorry for so many questions haha x

[maisiemou]

I just gave my faded HOTYs a good wash in fairy liquid so there was no dirt and grease, then used some acrylic paint in tubes or little pots. Games workshop paints have good colours for bay/brown shades but for my palomino I used Winsor and Newton burnt sienna shade mixed with white and yellow cheapo acrylic from Quality Save. Really happy with how they turned out as Bay Beauty was a weird pinky brown and the Golden Anniversary horse was patchy and green tinged and I had never had a go at painting horses before. I also changed a very dirty stained Moondance into a skewbald with feathers - great fun!

 

[balayard]

Thank you maisiemou, I'm even more excited to have a go now, you've given me inspiration yours a amazing, I particularly love the palomino! Like the feathers on the skewbald, would like to have a go at that too. So many ideas haha x

[astudyinscarlet]

I know nothing about pastelling models but I know people have done Schleichs and similar in pastels which are a similar sort of plastic to most of the HOTYs so I don't suppose pastelling Julip HOTYs is a definite no-no?

With acrylics though I do a white primer coat then usually a solid colour base coat (or actually several thinner base coats to get solid coverage) of whatever colour is appropriate and then often I dry brush the shading on top of that, using very little paint on the brush (sometimes it's more like stippling than actual painting). Or sometimes I use very dilute paint to add darker shading, so you get more of a translucent watercolour-like wash when you apply it over the base colour.
Dapples I mostly paint individually with a very fine brush and then sometimes dry brush a slightly darker colour over the top once they're dry if they look too stark and need to be softened a little. fleabitten greys and some appaloosa markings can be done with paint on an old toothbrush (running your thumb along the bristles to flick the paint off the end - the paint needs to be relatively thick then or the speckles can get too drippy). Also fine sponges can be used for some effects like some of the more roany markings on some appaloosas

[balayard]

Thank you, that is really helpful! I think you shouldn't pastel Julip's because you need to use sealant on each layer of pastel and that can crack on HOTYs, I don't think the two materials bond well. The dry brush tip is very helpful! That must be how you stop the paint work being streaky! I really hate it when they look like that lol Maisiemou's look so smooth. Actually the more I link about it I think painting on that type of plastic must be a much better material to work on than the Breyer plastic, and my Schleich customs tend to look better.
Thank you

[EG]

You certainly can pastel HOTYs, all mine were painted with them! Just make sure you give them a good sand beforehand and an even coat of primer first. Obviously really bendy ones like Silver Mist might be harder though.

As for acrylics, I often use makeup sponges to dab on shading and if you gradually add darker or lighter colour to the paint with each layer you can get some really nice and subtle shading.

[balayard]

Thanks EG this is also really helpful for me So are you able to use Sealant on HOTYs?

[EG]

Yup! As I say, the really bendy ones like Silver Mist might crack if their legs are moved too much but in general they're all fine!

[balayard]

Thanks very much!