What's the best paint for painting action figures you plan on using?

My friend spent 12 hours perfecting a custom made Big Daddy V %26amp; a few days after a couple sprays of sealent, the paint chipped when he moved all the body parts. I'm trying to help him find the right paint or possibly the right sealent. Thanks.What's the best paint for painting action figures you plan on using?
A tip for painting action figures, don't paint the inside of a joint in a closed position. It does cause it to flake. I have found if you really want to paint inside the joint area you must bend the joint to expose as much as possible. Paint the inside and let it dry thoroughly then seal it and let it dry again before moving the joint again.


Most people have a tendency to move things to soon. When I say dry thoroughly I mean at least 24 hours if you live where the humidity is high or it's raining on the day you paint add at least 12 hours. It may feel dry to the touch, but paint also needs to cure. Also if painting small gaming figures made of metal, seal them with a good coat of ';workable fixative';, this is so the paint will stick better and if by chance there is any lead in the metal it will seal it so you do not absorb the lead through the skin. Many companies do not use lead any more be the ones coming from outside the US may still have lead in them. If the figurine has a felixable covering over the joints than you may have to contact the manufactor of the figure and ask them what paint to use it as it may be something not commonally available to the public and need to be special ordered. It is really worth it to spend a couple dollars more and get the ones made of anything other than metal. The other draw back of the metal figures is they will eventually rust and the life of most of the older ones is about 10 years. If you have any older ones it would be a good idea to reseal them including the bottom of them to slow the deterioration. I love the new figures as the detail is so much better and if you really want detail you can always paint with a single bristle of a paint brush. As my brushes wear I take the best bristles left and attatch them to toothpicks to make single bristles for painting logos, facial hair, and any tiny things. Another tip if you want something textured looking while the paint is damp take a piece of fine sandpaper, blot the paint when almost dry with it DON';T rub. If the paint is to fresh it will not stay and if to thin it may show the primer. It will give it a rough look like burlap and extra fine will give the look of suede. But the best tip I can give any one is let each one color dry before painting another color that touches the first. It will give you cleaner lines and no blending or bleeding of the colors. I know it's hard to be patient but it's worth it in the end. If you do a lot of figures take pix's and post them so we can see them.