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Hello people,

I was just wondering if anyone washes their models before they start to put them together?

I've done it with some models and noticed it was a bit easier to apply my paint to the models.

Oh and I was looking through the Index: imperial 1 to start to build my Dark Angel army and noticed no more upgrades the Squad Sergeant to a Veteran anymore?

Is this true? No more Sergeant with Combi Weapons?

Washing models isn't that necessary for normal plastics; prime them and the paint sticks just fine.

It's a lot more important for Forge World resin since their mould release is pretty gloppy and will impede the primer's bond with the resin.

As for squad upgrades the distinction between Sergeant and Veteran Sergeant is pretty much dead; all Sergeants are Veteran Sergeants with wargear options now. The "Wargear Options" section where you're not seeing the option to upgrade the Sergeant to Veteran Sergeant should include a line reading something like "The Space Marine Sergeant may replace his bolt pistol and boltgun with items from the Sergeant Equipment list".

Resin/finecast sure, plastic nah.

Yeah thanks for the reply, I had heard the resin models need a good wash and that, but I don't have any yet. Just a lot of Plastic and metal...

Ahh my mistake I wasn't looking properly, the wargear list for a Sergeant has been split, and now says either two weapons from the list e.g. bolt Pistol, Plasma, Grav, Power sword, lighting claw, thunder hammer....
or one weapon from the list for a Bolter, Storm Bolter, Combi Weapon... No melta bombs though.

I just wonder how long and what, if any new stuff they have for another Dark Angel Codex?

Resin yes if they have flat areas never plastic though.

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Resin/finecast sure, plastic nah.

Indeed, resin, finecast, and metal yes, but plastic not.
Plastic glue is applicable immediately.

I always wash any model that I build. Just makes sense to me that you should have a clean surface to glue/paint.

I generally wash all of my models before building them, plastic or resin, but there have been a few times that I forgot to wash plastic models and they stay together and hold paint just as well as the ones I did wash.

Generally scrub resin with a toothbrush and detergent, soak in water overnight. Plastics, I don't really do anything - not really noticing a difference. Thoughts?

 temoinlanuit wrote:
Generally scrub resin with a toothbrush and detergent, soak in water overnight. Plastics, I don't really do anything - not really noticing a difference. Thoughts?

Long term I have found that a washed plastic paint job seems to survive longer. I have two Notable Guardsmen models that I painted the same day, one of which fell in my toast and had to be cleaned off. 4 years later, the one that didn't fall in the toast has almost all of his edges bashed down to the plastic, whereas sgt. butterythighs is still has the same level of paint coverage.

Metal and resin/finecast, wash on principle. Plastic, probably a good idea to wash if you're using GW basecoats.

Someone doesn't?

No need to do on plastic or metal, resin however is mandatory.

ALWAYS give FW resin a GOOD scrub. It's not needed for plastics or finecast.

Plastic usually gets mould lines filed down anyway, but not on all parts.
Washing models is always a good idea. if only before undercoating.

Just resin, not plastic.

 Skinnereal wrote:
Plastic usually gets mould lines filed down anyway, but not on all parts.
Washing models is always a good idea. if only before undercoating.

Ding ding ding.

I wash all of my models personally. I usually combine the washing with filing down mould lines though as I find it makes the files perform a bit better.

I'd wash plastic after building, to get rid of any oils etc from my hands before painting. Not much more than a swish through some warm soapy water and a rinse off though.

Hello People,

It's seems not many people wash their plastic models then,

I personally for plastic and metal wash the whole sprue/model first in warm water and some washing up liquid to remove any oils/dust from the plastic/metal, before I start to clean and build the models.

I think if you really want your paint jobs to not chip then a quick wash might help out in the long run. (Sargeant Butterythighs seems to be a good example of this!)

For me personally it makes sense to clean the area that you want to paint, it would be the same if you where painting anything else e.g. A Canvas, A wall, Car Parts.

But then I am more of a Collector/Painter more then a game player, so I know a lot of people just want to get stuck in to the games more then faffing about washing and cleaning their models.

I wash everything. Finecast, FW resin, and GW metal all have to before anything will stick to them. I wash plastic too, cause... why not? It's not like it takes a lot of time. I even wash myself once a week whether I need it or not.

Crispy78 wrote:
I'd wash plastic after building, to get rid of any oils etc from my hands before painting. Not much more than a swish through some warm soapy water and a rinse off though.

That's what I do, too- just a quick dunk, scrub with a toothbrush, and a rinse in really hot water to get rid of finger-grease. I've had problems with primer on unwashed plastic models before.

I usually wash everything; resin, metal, and plastic. It isn't hard or time consuming, other than waiting for everything to dry (usually overnight).

I only wash resin models before priming. However, if a model has sat on the painting shelfs for a while I give it a good dust with a soft brush to stop any gribblies getting into the next coat of paint.

My stuff is always removed from sprue, mould line removed and sorted into proper bit box.they exist like that for time with me handling them ad I mix and match until I gather what I want for assembly and painting. Once I'm ready to begin I wash all my finger oils off them and only handle them with nitrile gloves until they are finished and sealed.

Resin, especially the Forge World resin, is incredibly porous. Don't soak the resin in soapy water. Soapy water has a much, much lower surface tension then regular water and will just soak into the resin. I've soaked a chunk of resin (in an experiment- you get a lot of extra resin from a FW model) for an hour in soapy water. I dried it, and set it on some tissue paper. Over the next day, it oozed soapy water. My suggestion: limit the amount of exposure to soapy water for your resin models, and let it dry for a long, long time before you work with it after washing/rinsing it.

It's always a good idea to wash a metal model, as superglue just won't stick or it'll break easily.

Plastic? Meh. If I'm using plastic glue, I don't care as the glue chemically melts the two pieces together. Paint wise- if the paint isn't sticking to the model while I'm painting, it usually has something to do with the paint, and not some "mold release agent" that may or may not be on the sprue. GW "washes" sprues after they are made to get rid of that stuff, so it shouldn't be an issue for GW models. Other companies, I don't know. I also seal all my models when I'm done painting them, and haven't had any paint flake off a model yet.

Washing a metal or plastic part doesn't hurt, but I'm not convinced its worth the effort. Resin- it's tricky and complicated. I've heard of "paint bubbles" forming on a resin model, and I've had issues painting on a resin model before- but that had more to do with incomplete primer coverage. I'd say don't soak your resin bit. I just use an old toothbrush, dip the brush in warm soapy water, lightly brush over the part, then rinse the part and set it aside to dry for several hours.