sorry if this has been posted already...but what kind of paint do you guys use for your diy stuff? thanks

The best stuff to use is a Japanese branded paint called Irisawa V-color... It's the only stuff to use that has any real durability on vinyl with moving parts.

kaiju-taro.com has a good choice of paint.

fingerpaints from michaels!

Geez... thanks Maz... blowing all my secrets... sheesh...

haha!
all kidding aside, i admire you guys who are customizing japanese vinyl.
i havent learned how to use an airbrush yet, and all of you are killing it!

any tips on a decnet but not too expensive airbrush?
what about air compressors? is there canned air?

how about a PK/LASH/Shape/locomoco tutorial?

edit cause i'm a moron. sorry loco

how about a PK/LASH/Shape/Locomoco

there...better now?

yeah tutorials!!!!

Step 1: How to Mask:

i think step one should be: supplies

We need that customs form on DIY!

There is an okayish airbrush article at http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/57/page/1

Step 1.) Spray without protection and get a sinus infection which will last 7 months and leave you with problems that you may NEVER get rid off. Then try to start again.

Step 2.) Beg a good friend to let you borrow a REAL airbrush and compressor.

Step 3.) Buy spray booth off ebay.

step 4.) Mess up A LOT of toys and loose a LOT of money painting toys with very ugly paint jobs.

Step 5.) Ask better artist than you that actually knows what their doing to give you pointers LOCOMOCO , PAULKAIJU !!

Step 6.) Learn to use V-Color NOT regular tamiya paint.

Step 7.) Buy MORE toys BESIDES what you collect.

Step 8.) Practice, practice, practice and watch a LOT of karate kid movies to get you amped up.

Step 9.) Pray to god everyone will like your work !

Yeah that should about cover things

I thought I was the only one that watched Karate Kid movies to get amped up...

the amount of toys in custom-hell does make me sad. Can't you re-paint (after stripping the paint) the same figure to practice on?

Well it was one of the steps you told me so I'm just following instructions

That's what I do... it's too expensive to not do that.

I practice on all sorts of things... cans, bottles, rocks... better to test on worthless junk than priceless vinyl.

I think I will post a pic of the dummy head I use when I paint. I use it to spray my airbrush on to clean out the past color.

that makes me feel better.

How do you properly clean your airbrush? Just run some thinner through it?
I didn't properly clean mine and now it's fugged and I don't wanna buy a new one...

Oh, BTW - anyone wanna buy an airbrush?

dope thanks guys...i almost bought an airbrush set off of my friend..i didnt...i wish i did:(

Yes I've found just about anything is cleanable.

What paint did you use and what airbrush is it ??

How about this send it to me and I will see what I can do. And if its no good I will get rid of it for ya

I used ink, Tamiya, and Createx. I don't remember who made the brush - I bought it as a package with a compressor. Pretty cheap, but I was hoping it would do what I needed it to do. It is a dual action.
I think I might file the tip of the needle to make sure it's not bent. Ya see, when I first got it I took it apart to see how it all worked. But putting it back together was a I FART A LOT! But it worked fine the first couple times I used it. I think I just didn't clean it out well enough. And talking to someone else it sounds like I may not have thinned my paint enough - so maybe that's what's been causing it to spit.
Anyway, I figure I'll bombard it with thinner and see if that helps...and then thin my paints more!