[Anthony B]

So our 3rd weekly thread is : Slotcar people.  How do you paint yours, where you source them, do you make your own, do you kit-bash them.

Even though I have collected and sold collections over the years, I have kept my 'people' ever since the early 80's. I also managed to buy quite a few at start of noughties when the old Monogram and airfix were far more abundant and reasonably priced, so am lucky now to have I would guess around 300 mini people. I have bought a batch of people now available from China on Ebay. A lot of repeats in the batch so variable painting a necessity.

I use Acrylic paints, and ten to paint around 10 at a time, SO start, say with blue,and do different clothes in this colour and then change colour, and so on. Found this the easiest.

Sadly Most of them sit in boxes as I have not got around to finishing my track.....

A few visible in these pics:

                       

[Mr Modifier]

Can I see some “homies” lurking at the front of your stand?  The long moustaches are usually a dead giveaway!

Serious question:  the Chinese repro’s seem to be resin.  Do you prep and prime them before applying the acrylic paint?  If so; how and what with? And will el cheapo acrylic in little tubes bought in discount stores be good enough?  I think we have loads of those as the  kids never did get round to painting with them.

[Fluff]

I always prime mine with grey or white car primer ,then acrylic paint . I was once told by someone who paints wargaming figures to always start with the flesh parts as it was easier to paint the hair and clothing after .Not sure if it always works but that's how I now do mine . But I can't shade anything its all block colour and can't paint the eyes and eyebrows  .So help please

[rallyhub]

I use Enamel Humbrol and Enamel Painting Revell matt paint for my figures.
Only the casted Tarn Model Foundry tin figures got a layer of white primer.
I start also always with the painting of the skin-parts, because clothes and hairs cover these parts, so they come next.

rallyhub  

   
Some painted Tarn Model Foundry and Scalextric figures.
   
Modified MRRC figures.
   
Modified Scalextric and TMF figures in the snow.
   
Some Scalextric figures modified as Touaregs on the Dakar Track.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Detailing the figures requires great patience...  I generally just slap on enough paint to give them some colour.   In my youth, matt paint was rare and so I used gloss Humbrol on them and that just looks naff.
Two or three years ago I realised that my spectators and crews  were not very diverse and so I attempted to include more females and non-Europeans.

Leo

[CMOTD]

You can never have too many little people.
I just counted mine and there are over 100 already populating my track with another 50 currently in the painting queue. Check out my track thread for photos. LINK

They are a varied mixture from most sources: 60s Scalextric, Carrera, Slot Track Scenics, MRRC/Monogram/Revell, Avant Slot, SRA, Micro Icons, Tarn, Dylcom Models, cheapo Chinese and a few of the less weird Homies. A few oddballs as well - the Stig from a novelty key ring; toy Scott and Virgil from the Thunderbirds plus Superman and Batman.

I also have 4 complete mint boxed sets of MRRC/Monogram/Revell figures which don't fit the era of my track so they will probably end up on eBay where they tend to fetch silly money. Then there is the large cardboard box containing hundreds more Homies and 60s Scalextric ones which will never get used. I haven't a clue how I ended up with so many. I have given a lot away to friends but there are still loads more.

Painting them is no problem because I don't do it.   I just give then a quick spray with white primer and send them upstairs where my good lady works her painting magic with Humbrol enamel. Shiny is definitely not a good look on a layout and even matt paint gets an extra coat of matt varnish. She also does the flesh tones first and never tries the lunacy of painting their eyeballs. Only the most expert modellers are able to detail eyes without ending up with something resembling a Giant Panda so she leaves them blind. Ones wearing sunglasses are a lot easier. It is virtually impossible to see tiny details like eyeballs from normal viewing distances anyway.

One thing I have noticed is the price of these things - decent quality ones can cost upwards of £5 each and buying any quantity doesn't half reduce the budget for actual slot cars!

[kalbfellp]

I have over 300 on my track from various sources,including some from my resin moulds and now 3d printed ones. I prime them,paint with cheap acrylic paint from a craft shop then clear with matte spray.
Something dark foe eyes,flesh Colour to fix eyes, then clothes. When the eyes do not look right ( often) I apply a wash of flesh over the top so the eyes are only just visible.

[Mr Modifier]

This thread has inspired me to dig out the figures I have been acquiring over the years and paint them.  I have lots of cheap acrylic and when shopping today I found a 250ml bottle of matte acrylic medium which you add to paint to give a matte finish.  Apparently it also improves the flow of the paint - which will probably help with the detail. Only GBP7.99 so I will give that a go and see what happens.

[UshCha]

I just cheat and use Lego Figures, Lego Clone and 3D printed equivalent figure a bit small but ideal for Grandkids.  No need to prime 3D printed just paint in acrylics.    The surface is a bit rough but as many of them get "run over" too much paintwork does not help.

[Anthony B]

See now what you did - was made me get out my boxes to see what I had 

                           


After dropping a box and scrabbling around picking them up, I found a few more boxes, and decided to leave them alone at this point