I had some detail parts 3D printed by Shapeways. Now I am wondering the best way to paint them. They were printed in the regular frosted, matte finish plastic. Am I right to assume I can prime and paint these just as I would styrene with good results? Someone with experience here help me please. Thanks.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
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I've used their frosted ultra detail (FUD) plastic on a few projects.
I started with a bath of Bestine, which is a rubber cement thinner available at artist's supply shops. Then I washed the parts as you would any plastic part in dishwasing liquid.
Finally, I sprayed on a primer compatible with the finish paint. The last parts I painted, I used Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2x gray primer, but the Polly Scale paint I airbrushed over that developed some cracks. Most likely, that's because I was pushing the project for deadline and didn't let the primer cure completely.
The FUD can be porous, so brush-painting gets tedious as it soaks up the paint. I didn't have this problem with primed parts.
Eric
I also have some Shapeways parts - I washed them in a warm soapy water and rinsed them - Then let them air dry. I then removed them from the sprue and used them on some diesel detailing projects. Another wash/rinse/air dry before I primed the model with a grey paint. Prime is always a good idea. With a mix of grey/white/black/metal detail parts, you want a good base coat so that the final finish is even across all of the different base colors of the model and it's parts. This is very important with colors like C&NW yellow and MILW orange...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Eric,
How long do you soak the parts in Bestline?
Hi Jim,
Not long - maybe a half hour or so.
But I haven't really experimented with different durations to see what works best.
The change in opacity occurs as the Bestine dries/evaporates.
And it's smelly stuff - remember the smell of those tin cans of rubber cement in elementary school?