Help painting figures

Hey, it's going to depend on how quickly the paint you're using dries. What kind of paint are you using? Honestly, you're better off painting a section instead of say the whole front and then the whole back which could leave a weird line where the paint meets. For example, if you're painting boots, just paint the entire boot on both legs, then place the figure on its back or stomach and bend the legs so the feet don't touch a surface. Then if you're painting pants, paint all of the pants, then prop the figure up on its hands and feet. You get the idea. After the paint dries, you can worry about doing touch ups like in the joints where things swivel and what not.

You shouldn't have to worry about the paint running because if it's thick enough to be making drips, you're using way too much paint. Use thin coats and apply additional coats if it's not strong enough. Another danger of applying too thick of a coat is that it will never fully cure (dry) and it will also easy flake or crumble off.

It shouldn't need to be sealed between coats. It should be dry to the touch where the paint isn't sticking to your hands and coming off which depending on the type of paint you're using could be within a few minutes. A while back, I did this one custom figure that was completely coated from head to toe in paint because pretty much nothing on it was salvageable color-wise. I left it on my desk for years. Since then, I've had stacks of paper on top of it and it's been shifted around and there's been virtually no paint rubbed off of it. I never sealed it in any way. If it falls off your shelf and hits a hard or rough surface, then yeah, maybe. I think it really depends on expectations.

Custom painted figures are never going to hold up to in ring play where you're banging and rubbing the figure against another figure or shooting it across the fabric canvas ring but for display, it should be fine. Even if it tips over on the shelf, it shouldn't rub off too badly. The main stuff would be the joints.

Even with sandpapering and sealing and super glue, it will sometimes rub off and that's just life. Ideally, you can find a base figure that is already the color you need it to be where the joints overlap so you don't have to paint it.

I use P3 paints from Privateer Press and old Citadel paints from Warhammer. They're both acrylic based which seems to work well enough but because it's acrylic on plastic, it apparently will never fully adhere but honestly, there's no such consumer grade paint that is permanent on these plastic toys. Outside of those toxic top secret paints they use in Chinese toy factories that we as regular people don't have access to which I think actually melts the plastic a little bit so it bonds. Funny side note, I noticed accidentally that nail polish adheres pretty much permanently to plastic toys. I know this because as a kid, I took my sister's nail polish and painted Tung Lashor's chest completely pink and also the base of Clawful's feet completely pink and they have never chipped off even after 10 years of aggressive play. We're talking outdoor concrete driveway play. Not saying to paint your figures with nail polish but I imagine the toxic factory paint does something similar like maybe it contains trace amounts of acetone.