Putting your undercoat on

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Be careful - he has access to almost unlimited numbers of RAF cadets. And then there's his missus.....

[RMD]

Be careful - he has access to almost unlimited numbers of RAF cadets.....

I sold them all for medical experiments and bailed out four years ago.

[grizzlymc]

How many 15mm figs did that buy you?

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

I sold them all for medical experiments and bailed out four years ago.

Give over! They're just "in stasis" waiting for your siren call......

[Jamanicus]

Morning all
I've just had a few thoughts after reading Atheling's yellow paint tutorial mainly related to the question of undercoating
I hate prepping and undercoating
I have always undercoated black (except for some Austrian SYW figures)
I usually use black undercoat by sloshing figures in turps diluted Humbrol Matt black which at the moment I'm struggling to find. This is incredibly quick - I stick the figures in a heap, use a large brush which inevitably makes a pool of dilute undercoat then manipulate the figures by turning them in the heap with tweezers and adding more dilute paint. When they are covered sufficiently I either lie them down or stand them up individually to try

Because of a shortage I'm wondering about using a spray in the next few days
The problem I find whenever I have used spray in the past I find I cant get decent coverage - I tend to undercoat in large batches - I've probably got about 200 figures to do

How do you lot do it
The hassles I find are ...
1 Getting figures to stand up
2 getting spray from all sides
3 getting spray on undercuts and the lower half of figures
4 Getting enough coverage

Any pearls of wisdom?

I know you usually do them in large batches...with a spray (and the massive reduction in drying time) you could do in multiple quicker smaller batches

I've done what Jeremy does (with the bobbins and large squared tops etc) and even just individually bluetacked each figure to a small board.

Just get a 12" square piece of mdf or something, arrange the figures in a diagonal rows/diamond formation, then you can spray with one hand and hold/rotate with the other. All paint will hit something that way and you're not wasting as much.

With the base surface only being quite small, you can get 'under' the figures quite easily and because of the saving in dry time, you could always have a quick touch-up where you're not happy with the coverage (insert smutty comment accordingly).

[Wg Cdr Luddite]

Thought Humbrol paints & white spirit went out with the Ark?

I have a very particular set of skills honed from years of experience and when I find you I will cover you in thinned Humbrol black enamel.

You and whose army sonny?

We are myriad.
All paise to the Old Gods.

[grizzlymc]

Amen to that Wingco!

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Similar system to Jamanicus, except that, being the flash git that I am, I use a small retired TV turntable with a couple of sheets of newspaper over it. Again, minimal waste and relatively easy to get underneath the figures (but remember to also do an "overpass" to get the inside of backpacks etc).

[Peeler]

I'm a sprayer myself.

[Count Belisarius]

I thought the cleaner at the Forge had had a word with you about that?