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Just picked up Deadzone. Want to clean and assemble the minis real quick to get a game going. If I'm not mistaken the miniatures aren't plastic, but a resin? Can Mantic resin, or any resin or resin blend (fine cast) be run through an ultrasonic cleaner safely? I run it with 50/50 water/Purple Power.

Sorry if this a stupid question, but I don't recall reading yes or no, and I'm too chicken to just try it.

What say you fine folks? Thanks in advance.

On a recent podcast a guy was talking about assembling big forge world models, and one of the steps he did was exactly what you want to do. So if he's comfortable doing it with a Titan it's a pretty sure bet it's safe.

Sounds good. Don't want my dudes coming out looking like the guy who looked into the ark in Indiana Jones.

Ultrasonic cleaners are safe for most things - provided that the cleaners you are using won't dissolve them under normal conditions.

If they are unpainted though, you would probably be better served with simply using a detergent like Simple Green as opposed to an alkaline degreaser like Purple Power. Although it is relatively diluted and you will be diluting it even more - there isn't any particular reason to use the caustic chemicals to deal with mild cleaning like removing fingerprints and molding residues.

Also keep in mind that many consumer grade (and even many commercial grade) ultrasonerators are not rated for use of caustic cleaners like Sodium Hydroxide. In short order they can damage controls, the basin and other components. Some are - but you will probably want to double check.

That said - don't get taken in by the different terms like Restic, Bones or whatever PP is calling their vinyl (I think they just call it plastic). Those are just a PVC plastic - not a polyurethane resin. They have different rules for working with them than what are traditionally referred to as resins (and different rules from the HIPS that is traditionally referred to as plastic).

I use an ultrasonic cleaner for de-gunking resin models, never had any problems with it. I think the one at the studio just has a bit of washing up liquid and water in it. Seems to do the job.

But yeah, like the poster above me said, Mantic resin isn't "proper" resin. It doesn't really need washing. Very occasionally you get one that's a bit greasy. But normally they are fine. I've painted several hundred mantic minis, and only had a handful which needed a quick wash.

I use an ultrasonic cleaner with some dish soap on my FW models with no problems.

For resin, I do exactly what marv335 does in a small cleaner, take a soft toothbrush to it after a 9 minute cycle, and rinse.

Thanks to everyone for the help. Glad for the clarification as to Restic = PVC , not resin as I've only worked with hard plastics and metal thus far and was not savy to this.