Sarge! Man, I think that terminator future war costume is awesome. Perfect weapon or that costume IMHO.
Question for you guys, how hardy are these enamels, don't they eventually wear off the grips from holding them?
Not if you do it right. Clearcoating makes a difference too. It can give your props a nice long life. I have used both matte clear and glossy clear depending on the project. I'm a rattle can guy though. I almost never use brushed on paint for anything.
Also, getting protective paints such as BBQ paint, and the ultra flat camo paints makes a difference too. They seem to stand up to wear pretty well without clearcoating.
as a poll, which would you do more often? tape+mask it / dissemble
For me, it depends on the mods I want to do. For the "thunder strike" I posted earlier, I only have to remove the barrel shroud, and I did not have to take it apart. For the tornado strike, well, I took that sucker apart and have done heavy mods on mine to make it look like a real weapon, and to make it look like a killzone rifle.
I also putty the screw holes. I'm building mine to be displayed next to real guns as set dressing, and nothing gives away a painted toy faster than 25 screw holes all over it.
I just painted up my tornado strike today, but it's fully not assembled yet. Pics tomorrow I think.
