So the painting aspect of the hobby can be daunting to start doing on models. You might not know what to paint or what paints to use. For most, what paints are being used are personal preference. Some prefer acrylic, and some prefer enamel. It takes some experimenting to find what you like, right?

But what do you paint? You can use plastic spoons to do base tests, color swatches, and so on. You can probably use cheaper kits as well. I recommend haros to practice on or just paint for fun! You can do a lot to a haro that you can transfer to other kits when you feel comfortable enough to do so. I’ll talk about some of the possibilities.

(Definitely not because I have a haro bias or minor addiction.)

(Definitely not over a hundred.)

(I have a lot.)

What can you do?

So many things! From adding on to removing. It’s about the fun of creating!

Hand Painting

For starters, I love hand-painting haros! It’s a fun method of decorating a haro with whatever you want. Anything from flowers, animals, camouflage, and so on. Don’t worry about perfection or it not being exactly how you want. Sometimes things have flaws but it makes it more endearing to see your artistic progress.

here are some tools that I like to use on my haros for hand-painting:

• Primer (this can be airbrushed on, rattle canned on, or there’s brushable primer available on the market)
• Brushes
  • There are many brush options on the market, I use cheap bundle brushes because I have terrible brush cleaning etiquette.
  • Always wash your brushes after using them, don’t get a dry brush that’s junk.
• Paints
  • I use acrylic for the most part and thin it down to a milk-like consistency (almond milk for our non-dairy consumers).
  • I will use dotting tools with enamels, these can be thinned down with a solvent-based thinner.
  • Acrylic tends to dry and cure faster than enamels.
  • Depending on what’s being painted depends on how many coats of paint will be needed.
• Topcoats
  • These come in both acrylic and lacquers to provide a protective layer to your painting.
• Dotting tools
  • I love adding dots of all sizes and these little guys are a huge help in doing so.

There are all sorts of stuff you can do with hand-painting. Here are some examples of what I’ve done (and a short video):

Here’s how it can be applied to larger models for more of an artistic feel ( A example of my HG Qubeley on the striped parts):

Spraypaint

Rattle cans and spray paints are often looked down on in the hobby, but I love them!

Brands that I use and tools:

• Spray Paints
  • Krylon, Rustoleum, Montana gold (All are great to use)
  • Don’t forget to shake your cans for a few minutes
• Gloves
  • Keeps your hands clean because spraypaint is a pain to clean up
• A place with ventilation or outside
  • It is highly recommended to wear a respirator if you’ll be working with spray paint for a long period of times
• Spray bottle
  • You can use water in a spray bottle to achieve a bubble effect (video tutorial here)
    1. Simply spray the haro part with the water to create droplets
    2. Then spray with the paint (you can do this at different angles to get color or repeat layers)
    3. Let dry for a few hours to a day
    4. Apply a top coat for protection

• Plastic Shoe tub
  • You can also hydro dip haros (short video here)
    1. Take shoe tub and fill with water
    2. Take spray paints and spray colors onto the water (repeated for desired patterns)
    3. With parts attached to sticks, dip into the water slowly
    4. Swirl leftover paint away
    5. Take part out and let dry for about a day
    6. Top Coat

Here’s what the spray bottle method looks like on an HG Jesta (I broke the body down into main parts like arms and legs rather than individual parts):

Experiment

Try and experiment to find what looks cool! Slap parts on it, try splattering it with paint, or try textures! The world is your haro. I also recommend watching art tutorials to see if you can apply it over to haros. It’s a trial and error on what works, so don’t worry about any mishaps. The most important part is having fun while you do it.

Have a question or thoughts? Drop a comment and let me know.

Kind regards and happy Tuesday,

-J

(here’s a mini haro slide show for your enjoyment!)