General customizing questions thread

Thought instead of making a thread just for my own question i'd make a thread for those who are either new to or just have a question with customizing transformers.

Onto my question
I have started taking small commissions for small repairs and repaints (either touch ups or fixing qc errors) and i find myself using a lot of paint thinner, and it isn't really cheap, I don't want to charge people more for small jobs and was wondering if theres a product i can buy large bottles of or something that would serve the same purpose?




General questions
How do i tighten joints?
Superglue, clear nail polish(acetone free), clear varnish, and other clear things that add a 'coat' to the joint will tighten the joint through friction, just be sure to keep on moving the joint to prevent anything fusing.

How do i start customizing?
There is no clear answer here and all i can personally say is start off with something you are comfortable with, don't start off with a full repaint of MP44 or something huge like that, start small with things like painting a TR Sharkticons teeth silver or giving ER Prime some nice yellow eyes like the toy, you can buy acrylic tamiya paint (probably the best to start with personally) from any hobby shop and even some Toy worlds, it is always good to do research before hand though and learn how to prep figures. It is also good to practice first, go to the Reject shop or something and get a cheap plastic toy to practice on.

How do i take X's head apart there is no screw or pin?
Lately hasbro has stopped using screws which makes it a bit more difficult to take figures apart. In most cases they use glue, to simply separate a head (for example ER Prime's) just pop it off the ball joint and put it in boiling (or just hot) water for a 30 seconds or so and carefully take it out, it can now be separated with a small screwdriver or if you are brave a thin blade.
(It is worth noting do not do this with older figures i had an energon sharkticon break as the plastic was old and somewhat brittle, the heat caused damage.)

Note to mods: If this is in the wrong place feel free to move it.

Depends on the paint your using, I use Vallejo and so I typically use Vallejo thinner. If you're using a lot of it in your process you need to factor in it's expense into your quote

e.g. You bought a $50 bottle of thinners for painting and have 50 jobs to paint, the price you charge should at least cover a percentage of the materials used, in this case $1.10 for thinners.

Also see what you're using the thinners for, is it to just thin the paint or are you cleaning the brushes with it? If your cleaning brushes with it and thinning paints see what cheaper alternatives there are for brush cleaning, have a look on YouTube and see what other hobbyists use.

Good luck

I want to add joints to my legion-sized figures, I guess I need some ball joint sets that include 3mm balls.
Where can I find these sets? Do I need to order from HobbyLink Japan, or is there a go-to aussie retailer?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mikeyc7m

I want to add joints to my legion-sized figures, I guess I need some ball joint sets that include 3mm balls.
Where can I find these sets? Do I need to order from HobbyLink Japan, or is there a go-to aussie retailer?

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3mm joints specifically?
I think gunpla kits use joints around that size so maybe get some junk kits second hand, otherwise maybe lego has something similar