Have seen posts on how to paiint figures and ones on painting structures. The ones for structures often recommend washing the parts before painting. I have never seen this recommended for figures. Do they need it? If so, just put in a pan of soapy water, stir and rinse or do they need to be individually brushed?
Thank you,
Richard
I have painted many of the Model Power unpainted figures with the acrylic paint sold at Michaels. No washing or cleaning necessary. IMHO.
Wayne
I agree, I've painted many dozens of Presier figures with what ever paint I have that looks right. Just go ahead and paint them.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Don't know how important, but I wash all plastic parts before painting. Gave this crowd a bath in the soapy water and rinse.
Kept them on the sprue while cleaning up the mold lines and flash, (which I should have done a better job at). Then gave em' a light airbrush coat of sand colored paint. Makes for a nice primer/base coat for the brush on paint, and also saved a lot of hand painting of the flesh areas. In retrospect I think a light India ink wash would give them more depth.
I know it's a bit early in the season for cycling pics reruns, but I like bikes.
regards, Peter
The need for washing plastic before paint is driven by two things. First, mold release, which helps the person pop out of the mold without sticking. Second, to clean off the grease, etc that gets on it by handling.
How much mold release and handling happens makes a big difference in paint adhesion. I'll confess to being one of those modelers who rarely washes stuff unless it obviously needs it. It can't hurt.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Washing and priming aren't required by any means, and you will certainly be able to paint without doing so.
I would consider it a best practice to do so, however. I do it for everything (no scrubbing required, just slosh them in soapy water for a few seconds, rinse and dry). Apply primer. Let primer cure 48 hours, then paint.
It helps with adhesion, and the primer helps you get a more consistent color.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Thank you for the thoughts and ideas. About what I expected, but it's nice to confirm before barging ahead and then having to go back and redo. Always takes longer.
Thanks again,
Well, you know what they say, "There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over." I've never suscribed to that. I try for first pass success.
I will add, though, that I have been painting 25mm (1/72 scale, or British OO) fantasy and military miniatures for about 40 years. These get handled a lot, and I can tell you that there is a clear difference in the durability of the paint job on figures that are washed and primed and those that are just primed.
CTVRR,
Do you brush each figure or just stir and rinse?
When priming, do you do enmass, laying down then flip over or small groups at a time, standing in place in position to paint?
I have been building plastic model kits for about 50 years. I have never needed to wash the parts before painting with enamels. I am currrently trying to switch to acrylics and washing the plastic before painting may be more critical with acrylic paint. I have not experimented enough yet though. Has anyone out there had any issues with acrylics not sticking to unwashed plastic?
I've often wondered too...if you just put some parts in soapy water for a few seconds or minutes, will it really remove any grease or do you have to actually physically wash it like you would a greasy dish? I'm sure washing helps, but to what extent do you have to go to make sure a part is grease free?
Jim
I just dive right in and paint mine. I like to do the flesh tones first, and then the clothing. I use acrylic craft paints, but my best advice is to use a magnifying lens and light. I often find that a second coat is necessary, but I'm never in a hurry.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
cowman CTVRR, Do you brush each figure or just stir and rinse? When priming, do you do enmass, laying down then flip over or small groups at a time, standing in place in position to paint? Thank you, Richard
Depends on whether they're white metal or plastic. In either case, though, I just swish them in the soapy water for about 10-15 seconds, then rinse and dry.
Plastic figures are often attached to the sprue by the stand, and in this case, I do them en masse, one sprue at a time (I clip the sprue in a clamp to keep any figures from touching anything until the primer has been drying for a couple of hours). For white metal or individual plastic figures, I attach them to a 3' piece of scrap 1x3 lumber with a dab of hot glue, generally 18-20 at a time, and prime them all at once.
To paint, I pop them off of the sprue or the scrap wood, reglue them to a 1"x1" block of wood and paint them individually. In some cases, like soldiers in uniform, for example, I will paint a dozen or more in assembly line fashion. For figures with unique paint jobs, I do them individually.
JWARNELL I have been building plastic model kits for about 50 years. I have never needed to wash the parts before painting with enamels. I am currrently trying to switch to acrylics and washing the plastic before painting may be more critical with acrylic paint. I have not experimented enough yet though. Has anyone out there had any issues with acrylics not sticking to unwashed plastic?
I do paint with acrylics, formerly ModelMaster and Polly Scale, but now (for 7-8 years or so) with Vallejo. Haven't used solvent based paints for years, ever since I developed an athsmatic reaction to the smell, and by years I mean about 25.
However, people in this discussion keep saying "need" to wash. I would call it a best practice, not a requirement. I have certainly never seen paint refuse to adhere to an unwashed model. What I do see is that the unwashed ones frequently need to be touched up, whereas the washed ones rarely do (except in the case of particularly aggressive handling). I'm to the point where I just do it. It takes so little time and costs so little, what's the harm?
I prefer to wash all figures prior to painting - normallly inital wash and scrub, let soak in some dish washing liquid/water mix for a while, then rinse in clean water. I then prime, usually a light grey, as all figures I have painted have molding lines, flash, or even grooves and divots (let alone modification of figure poses)- even after I think I've sanded off or patch such imperfections, the primer usually reveals a few more place that need touch up sanding/patching (then another rould of primer).I think the usual painting tips have been covered in this thread, but I do prime as I find the acrylics (particular craft store acrylics which I am starting to like for painting figures) don't adhere as well to the surface, and so may wear off.This is an incentive to not handle the figures too much between final touch-up and dull-coating -I always clear coat, and since people really aren't shiny, dull-coat it is. I find the dull-coat actually tones down gloss metals like gold and silver so it looks a nice semi-gloss sheen adjusting for viewing distance. What I'm saying is...for human figures (and dogs and cats and birds, etc.), always dull-coat (stuff like metal statues or mannequins, semi-gloss is good).
Good tips from the modelers above.
My preference is to take the safe route by washing plastic figures in warm, soapy water (Dawn or Ivory) and scrub with a toothbrush. Takes less than 2 minutes.
I did have one experience years back where an acrylic paint didn't adhere well to the plastic surface. Likely due to either the mold release or the presence of silicone on the surface.
Instead of priming with gray, I take the Brifayle technique and paint the figures a flat black first. The result is that, after painting, the figures' clothing appear to cast shadows within the folds (as in real live) giving them a realistic appearance imho.
http://www.brifayle.ca/2bshadowstheory.html
http://www.brifayle.ca/2c.paintintro.html
A good starting practice subject would be the engineers and firemen in the older run Life Like Proto 2000 diesel locomotives. Those figures are already molded in a flat black finish.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Rather than prime my figures in black, I prefer to give them a light wash of black after their psinted. The wash drops down into the details and really makes them pop.
I find that some brands need to be washed first while others are good to go. I think the difference is they type of plastic they use. With Preiser I haven't found the need to wash them or use a primer. Airfix uses a softer, flexible plastic which tends to be very greasy. Paint will flake off of them when they bend so wash them good.
Thank you all for the additional ideas and comments. If I can't figure out how to get good results, I can't blame it on lack of information, rather lack of skill. Expect I can improve that a bit once I get going.