Request for assistance - Citadel Roughcoat

[Denzark]

Hey Guys

Saw a thread in the news/rumors that citadel roughcoat was no longer being produced. Thought I had best use mine up. I have some excellent polystyrene projects on the go - roughcoat is supposed to be safe and non melty on this.

Tried it on a tester, with my usual 30 second impatient shaking. It melted the buggger. I then tried after 2 minute shake and spraying a plastic outcrop - thought action might stir the mix.

I then sprayed the polystyrene test just to melt it again.

Any ideas what I am doing wrong? The instructions clearly say can be sprayed onto polystyrene.

Cheers

[Morat]

Depends how they define polystyrene. Certainly in the UK when you say "Polystyrene" one immediately thinks of bobbley, white, static, mess creator (Expanded Polystyrene if we want to be a bit more technical). In the US, that's "Styrofoam" (or at least I -think- that's the correct parlance). Well, whatever you call it, it's exactly the same plastic that figures are made from.

I suspect when it says "polystyrene", it means the stuff that's used for miniatures.

As to why one melts but the other doesn't, I'd guess that the expanded polystyrene is less dense and presents a much larger surface area to the spray propellant. The paint isn't what does the damage it's the hydrocarbon (propane Bobby) solvent that does that.

[Denzark]

Depends how they define polystyrene. Certainly in the UK when you say "Polystyrene" one immediately thinks of bobbley, white, static, mess creator (Expanded Polystyrene if we want to be a bit more technical). In the US, that's "Styrofoam" (or at least I -think- that's the correct parlance). Well, whatever you call it, it's exactly the same plastic that figures are made from.

I suspect when it says "polystyrene", it means the stuff that's used for miniatures.

As to why one melts but the other doesn't, I'd guess that the expanded polystyrene is less dense and presents a much larger surface area to the spray propellant. The paint isn't what does the damage it's the hydrocarbon (propane Bobby) solvent that does that.

Interesting. Again, when saying 'polystyrene' I mean 'expanded polystyrene' - this from what I remember was the big selling point to this stuff. All your gucci buildings stolen from inside TV boxes wouldn't melt.

I might have got the wrong end of the stick but for the fact that no other GW spray I am aware of can't be used on their plastic (polystrene) figures and carries a safety warning - I undercoat plastic and metal alike.

I am still mystified...

[El Scotcho]

Sorry there denzark but you are s.o.l. when it comes to spraypainting styrofoam. i've been playing since '96 and I have not heard of anything that won't melt styrofoam except for an airbrush powereed by compressed air. The styrene they are referring to is the polystyrene the plastic mini's are made of, as some primers, mostly ones meant for metals, will warp them.

[krispy]

couldnt you just cheat? buy a tub of cheap non toxic paint house paint and a big brush and do an undercoat with that and THEN spraypaint over it - it should be protected by the previous layer of paint no?

[Denzark]

couldnt you just cheat? buy a tub of cheap non toxic paint house paint and a big brush and do an undercoat with that and THEN spraypaint over it - it should be protected by the previous layer of paint no?

Normally I cover the whole thing in filler such as tetrion and then spray but you might have a genius idea hear thanks!:)

[Morat]

A coat of PVA glue will do the same job, if you add a dollop of paint to the PVA you can see that you've covered the lot.

[fade_74]

Did you all know that they now make water based spraypaints. Krylon h2o. I tried out black on some foam and it seemed to work fine. It had a very long drying time though.

[Robotfloyd]

Just as a heads up, in case it hasn't been mentioned:) When I did scenery in the past (especially doing tables) I've found that I never liked the colors I found at the local Home Depot or whatever as they never looked quite right. You can however get them to mix a paint for you in whatever color you want. I take a business card, take whatever citadel paint color I like, and paint a splotch on the back. Take it to your local Home Depot and they will put it in a machine and it brings up the mix, and voila, you now have a quart of whatever citadel color you like:) I recommend interior flat enamel.