Best Material for Painting

Hello,

I'm using shapeways to produce a series of 'Greens' that will later be used to produce a line of pewter figures for a tabletop game I'm making.

The first batch of prototype figures I ordered was made from the White, Strong, and Flexible material. While I was able paint up these figures using a line of tabletop war game paints(see attached picture), the flat armor surfaces were somewhat bumpy. This made painting the figures a little more annoying then a typical game figure.(Its tolerable though)

I was considering ordering some made in the White Detail material since this material is rated as smoother then then the White, Strong, and Flexible, but I wanted to get some feedback from people who have used this material before I pay twice the price of the WSF material.

Also, is there something special I can do to reduce the bumpiness on my flat armor surfaces?

Edit: I just wanted to clarify one thing: Bumpy is not the best word. The surface is just rough enough to make it difficult to apply paint.

I actually find WSF really good for painting; I tend to apply a thinned coat of paint first to 'stain' the piece (letting the paint soak into the plastic), then applying a slightly thicker coat or two on top. The thicker coats (plus a topcoat of varnish) enrich the colour, and also help to smooth out the bumps.

But yeah, for a static piece like you're printing, Detail ought to work just fine. Probably a good idea to wash the piece first with a little warm water and detergent to get rid of any support material, then let it air dry.
But that's good advice when you're painting almost any model.
For the record, I haven't actually had any Detail models printed myself yet; this advice is based on what others have said about the material, and my own painting experience.
Your ships look really cool, by the way.

Andy

Thanks for the information. Since I was going to order two sets of my figures anyway, I'll order one in WSF and the other in White Detail and find out which one is better.

Please keep us posted
I was wondering the same thing, for the thing I have in mind I need the detail material but not sure if I can paint it.

Richard

Tamiya acrylic paint worked well for me on detail material...