Painting Bricks

[CharliesDad]

My son recently got the Batmobile and Two Face Chase set and he REALLY wants to create a Two Face helicopter to go with it. My first thought was buy individual pieces from the Pick A Brick section of lego.com, but they don't have the right pieces in the bright orange and purple that we would need. My next thought was to create our own by painting bricks contained as part of the very basic police helicopter (#7741). I've found various articles online about painting bricks, but there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus (i.e., acrylic versus non-acrylic, air brush? etc.). Thanks for any help you can provide!

[markerpk]

Bricklink!

[vynsane]

^^ I think the only general consensus you'll find in the online community is "don't paint bricks"

I found a PDF from FineClonier that has some good pointers. I'd trust them as their stuff seems pretty high-quality (never bought anything from them myself, mind you, just looks high-quality from pics I've seen).

[ShaydDeGrai]

I had to customize a bunch of mini-figures as centerpieces for a wedding once and I found that the combination of a spray primer designed for plastic models (Testors) followed by nail polish and top coated with a clear coat worked well for non-contact surface (painting studs and tubes never holds up and usually isn't a good idea). It's tricky though, most nail polish is acetate based and concentrated acetate will eat the plastic used in Lego parts. The layer of primer (and low concentrations of acetate in the polish) helps minimize this, and, in the end, actually gives the color coat some pretty good durability as it's not just sitting on the surface, it's chemically bonded.

I don't know how well this sort of thing would hold up to _active_ play. The wedding was nearly a decade ago, and as display pieces the figures seem no worse for wear but my samples have been sitting on a shelf over most of that time, not the normal wear and tear scenario a Lego brick usually is subject to.

Once you go this route though, there's no turing back - getting the color off the brick usually leaves the plastic scuffed, stained and pitted. Still, if you can't find what you need on BrickLink, it's an option.

[hatcher]

I've painted mini figure torso and helmets using Testors paints, but they were for display only. I don't think bricks to be played with would keep the paint on very long.

[nick91884]

you could always buy a second two face chase and use the blue and orange parts from the truck to make a helicopter?