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Post by Aaron on May 30, 2005 8:23:38 GMT 12
Do people wash their miniatures before painting/undercoating?
Has anyone actually noticed a difference in quality/durability between washed and unwashed models?
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Post by c0d3monk33 on May 30, 2005 9:17:03 GMT 12
Aaron, I religiously baptise my figures before priming (scrub them with warm water + washing up liquid and an old toothbrush).
I reckon it does make a difference for two reasons:
1) Plastics (and to a lesser extent metals) are often coated with silicon mold release products. This is particularly true with injection molded plastics I believe. That's why plastics often feel 'greasy' and that can effect the priming.
2) You usually handle the pieces quite a bit before priming them, for trimming and filing, assembly etc. No matter how clean your hands are you're always leaving sweat and fat behind - again that can effect priming.
I have friends that swear a good primer will take care of all that (primers containing an 'etching' agent that means they adhere well to metals). However I spend so long painting my figures I want to make sure the paint is going to stick to them for a while!
Your mileage may vary I guess!
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MongrelFish
Scalpel supremo
Bow before the might of Chaos
Posts: 384
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Post by MongrelFish on May 30, 2005 10:28:46 GMT 12
I find that with metal and resin models a good wash in hot soapy water helps make the undercoat stick nicely to the model. Otherwise, especially with resin models, the model seems to be "paint-repellant".
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Post by PitYak Studios on May 30, 2005 11:03:23 GMT 12
As I started to reply I was thinking I only wash polythene figures. and resin. and polystyrene. and metal. Then I realised I actually do wash all my minis, I just hadn't thought about it before.
You absolutely have to wash polythene, no two ways about it. The mold release is a killer, and the plastic doesn't hold paint anyway. Resin's similar, mold release-wise anyway; once you've got the release off, the paint sticks ok. Polystyrene isn't so bad, but I generally wash them anyway, to get all the filing debris out of the crevices. (This is the main reason I wash all figures - most things I do will have some degree of chopping and sawing done to them, so washing gets rid of all the dust and greasy fingerprints.) All these I wash in soapy water. Metals I generally scrub in turps, then soapy water.
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MongrelFish
Scalpel supremo
Bow before the might of Chaos
Posts: 384
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Post by MongrelFish on May 30, 2005 11:06:25 GMT 12
what do you recommend the best way ta get paint to stick to resin is? washing helps a little but the resin is usually WAY too... unstickable
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Post by PitYak Studios on May 30, 2005 11:30:10 GMT 12
I've never had any trouble, and all I do is soapy water wash, leave to dry (as long as you can, can never be dry enough), then prime. I generally use automotive enamel primer.
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Post by c0d3monk33 on May 30, 2005 11:32:40 GMT 12
What kind of resin are you talking about? I cast with 'Ultracast' which is the white resin I believe Phil occasionally uses as well. This stuff can sometimes be greasy if you've not mixed it properly.
Failing that a good scrub and a white or black prime with GW's spray primers has always worked for me on Ultracast white resin, Flames of War grey resin, Forgeworld grey resin etc...
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MongrelFish
Scalpel supremo
Bow before the might of Chaos
Posts: 384
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Post by MongrelFish on May 30, 2005 11:39:55 GMT 12
ah so you think i should try spray undercoat and not ordinary paint? that might work i guess
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Post by karanadon on May 30, 2005 17:04:55 GMT 12
Dont go into washing mini's.....
My Legolas fell into my water pot and stayed there for a few months....(i hardly ever empty it....)
When i finally did empty it, out plopped Legolas, all the ink was gone and the colour was smudged and everything.
I now empty my water pot before every painting session to check for mini's......
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