It sounds like something Velma from Scoobie Doo would say, but it's actually an apparently failed toy line that I found on clearance at Target. They seemed like something that could work for my peculiar purposes, so I took a chance and bought a couple packs.
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| The Alien Zinkies in their original package. For under 3 bucks, I figured 36 minis and other paraphernalia could be worth the money. |
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| In addition to the minis shown, the set comes with a magnifier, a storage capsule, a vehicle, a pair of plastic tweezers (shown above), and a capsule for the "Top Secret" figure included in the set. |
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| The "Top Secret" figure, revealed. I'm not sure if this guy is in every pack, or if he is one of many chase figures. |
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| All the Zinkies I bought. The bottom rows are the minis from the Robots set I purchased, which came with similar extras as the Aliens set. There is also a green Soldiers set available that is similarly outfitted. |
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| Zinkies compared to Sven. As you can see, they would probably be more suitable for 6-10 mm gaming, if it weren't for their squat proportions. As it is, I imagine I can come up with some use for an army of squat little xenomorphs or mechanoids. |
Zinkies are made from a very squishy, rubbery material, and they aren't terribly detailed. I have no idea how they'd look if painted, or if they'd even be able to hold paint without cracking. I wonder if there's a way to make them less squishy somehow. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them!
I don´t think there´s any way of hardening them up, maybe leaving one in direct sunlight to see if the chemicals (the softners) would evaporate. To paint them and prevent cracking paint a thin layer of PVA on them first.
ReplyDeleteYou could try experimenting with a few things like bathing them in ammonia (I think this hardens some plastics, and etches other, either effect could make it easier to paint them), or maybe a coat or two of nail polish before painting.
ReplyDeleteA latex primer keeps some flexibility as do certain "tacky" PVA glues but some PVAs like Elmer's Glue seem to get pretty brittle.
Lastly I've heard that some people prime soft plastics with spray adhesive.
So basically all the usual tricks for soft plastics ... maybe one of these will work on squishy plastics too.
I'd also be tempted to just try a simple wash on those buggers to bring out the details, such as they are, and let them be mostly blue or red.