I have never washed my models in soap and water before putting them together, I was curious if it really helps, and if so, what it does help.

Prep of your model is a must . Just the washing of the model with soap and water
removes mold release and if the plastic seems oily (some are ) it will
clean it. Washing will keep contamints from ruin that paint job that is critial
to the look of your model.

ponysoldier

The Horse The Gun The Man

It also helps give a nice clean surface for the primer to "bite" into. Additionally, and dust left by sanding, and fingerprints, excess or residual microscopic floatsam, is quickly wiped away.

My 2 cents worth

Jack

Gotta' 'fess up - I have never been a firm believer in washing kits prior to assembly Until recently. I started to about a year ago and will continue to as part of the ritual of a new kit.
I cleans off any oil, residue from the production cycle and it does give a nice clean surface fr paint to stick to.
It only take a couple of minutes and is worth the effort. And if you don't think you see a physical difference - there's the mental edge.
Wash'em up, glue'em up, paint'em up!

....Always do, have so for years. Also, after a warm water, dish detergent wash, I air dry for the most part, and I'm very carful to a) not touch the model with fingers and if I have to...b) keep my hands/fingers very clean.

Thanks,
Kevin Keefe
Mortars in Miniature

Also as was discussed in a recent post, paints can get finicky on dirty or oily plastic or resin. I now tend to wash after the sub assemblies are built. This allows you to get those fingerprints as well as any sprayed accelerator of the parts.

Josh Weingarten
aKa shiryon

Can only say two things.......

1) Read the above posts......

2) If you do not, go back and read the above posts......

Dave
" Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition......
Chief weapons are......."

Yes it does it makes paint stick better. Plus removes grease from skin oils. Washing gets a big thumbs up.

OK, I have to put in a question too.
I'm also one of these "never washed my kit before painting" type of guys.
My Q is simply this:
Do you only rinse the kit in a mix of water and soap or how do you go about?
What kind of soap should I use?

Thord

Hey Thord,

Yeah, been there-done that. I too was a non-beliver until I had a horible time gettign some paint to adhear to a model (that model met a terible end....).

What I do is after I have the model aside for a couple of days (after completion, this is done to assure that all glue and softened palstic is dry), I make a medium warm water solution with a little soap (not massive bubbles) in the sink (kitchen). I place the model into this solutiona nd gently swish from side-to-side, up-and-down. After this, the other sink next to it has some clean warm water that is the rinse (pouring water out of the tap can knock delicate PE off, trust me on this! )

HTH

Just a small post script to all the above posts. after washing and leaving the parts or assemblies to (at least 24 hours)Dont go touching the clean part Either use cheap exam gloves or stands with alligator teeth to hold parts while painting. I like to glue rods or sqaures to the inside or backs of pieces so that i don't get more skin oil moving the parts around during painting. some Companies actually make prep solutions Like "Poly S Prep solution". I've got it on the shelf but have never used it.

Josh Weingarten
aKa shiryon :-)

Thanks for the reply.
I shouldn't use my toothbrush to scrub with then :-)

Thord

I wonder at what stage(s) of building to you wash your models

I usually wash it with a mild detergent solution after I fully complete the build. But it never happened to estimate precisely the last building step. Since I build mostly aircrafts, I avoid washing over Parafilm (I use this to mask the canopies) - I believe it will ruin the mask.

So i first wash then I mask the canopy and of course the part around the canopy gets greasy from my fingers. I clean this part using a q-tip and some very very mild detergent.

Is there a better approach?

Am I the only one who has his kits in the bathroom and when I shower I take a kit in there with me for a good wash

"Kills two birds with one stone", or is it "cleans two birds in one bath?"


MSW