redpelon
Can anyone who builds these models tell me how to paint the sleeve connectors. They are the rubber ones that connect the arms, legs and such. I have tried acylic and it comes right off and the enamel is not better. I know it is the rubber being used but would appreicate it if you could tell me how you paint it or make it look more realistic. Thanks and have a great day.
As Real G mentioned, the material is a soft polyethelene and paint will tend to flake off. You might want to replace those poly parts altogether.
For the power hoses, you can use wire and fine springs, which are available from various Japanese model companies, among other sources; guitar strings; or my favorite, wire solder wrapped with finer beading wire from the craft store.
For the limb joints, you can use modeling putty, like Miliput, Green Stuff, Aves A&B, etc, either applied over the poly parts, or, replace the poly parts completely and use wires to connect the joints, and cover the wire with the putty. You give up being able to re-pose the model, but that's not a big deal to too many modelers.
As far as painting the poly pieces goes, when I have used those parts, I made sure I cleaned them first, when I clean all of the sprues, with warm water and a couple drops of a de-greaser (SuperClean). When it comes time to paint, I make sure I prime well. I use Tamiya's Fine Surface Primer, but for the hoses, I have applied Mr. Surfacer as a primer. I also experimented once with applying a thin layer of white glue over the hose, then priming it and painting it (worked OK, but not worth the extra effort). The joints aren't as likely to flake as the hoses are.