Degreasing/cleaning complete models

[AdriaN (MLT)]

After painting & varnishing... models go through A LOT of touching and holding. They go from a nice clean glossy finish to a finish full of finger prints and skin oil. That grease turns rusty/yellow and shows up a bit on glossy aircraft. Also when it was very cold a few years ago... mold grew on those parts which were handled the most.

My question is... how do you clean and degrease a model once its READY to be put into the showcase???

Ive tried using lens wipes.. but they can easily break off pitot's and delicate bits and the alcohol (which removes grease) dries very quickly!
Matt paints can't be rubbed much like glossy paints, because they are much weaker paints and can 'buff out'.
Regarding unpainted/pre-paint models i degrease models by literally washing them with soap under a tap.
 

Edited September 17, 2018 by AdriaN (MLT)

[franky boy]

I always wash my models in warm soapy water before painting to. Could you do the same at the end of a build? Of course very carefully.

 

James

[Steve Noble]

Wear cotton gloves whilst handling the model, it keeps finger marks and stuff to a minimum...

[AdriaN (MLT)]

On Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 4:46 PM, franky boy said:

I always wash my models in warm soapy water before painting to. Could you do the same at the end of a build? Of course very carefully.

 

James

Ooh I do the same with a bare kit. But to wash a model after having all the gear/pitot tubes/gear doors/unvarnished gear washes... and pva glue, it's not a good idea.

Edited September 20, 2018 by AdriaN (MLT)
Shs

[Bigdave22014]

I always clean my models with IPAbefore painting. After that I always wear disposable gloves when I might be handling the model.

Yes I get through a lot of gloves, but they're cheap enough.

[Stalker6Recon]

On 9/18/2018 at 10:46 PM, franky boy said:

I always wash my models in warm soapy water before painting to. 

This might be a silly question, but as a newly returned modeller after a thirty+ year layoff, how do you clean the model exactly? Do you just let it soak in the soapy water? Or are you literally washing it with a brush or sponge? That latter options would terrify me, breaking parts off the sprue, or worse, breaking the parts!

 

Thanks,

 

Anthony

[franky boy]

7 hours ago, Stalker6Recon said:

This might be a silly question, but as a newly returned modeller after a thirty+ year layoff, how do you clean the model exactly? Do you just let it soak in the soapy water? Or are you literally washing it with a brush or sponge? That latter options would terrify me, breaking parts off the sprue, or worse, breaking the parts!

 

Thanks,

 

Anthony

Hi Anthony

 

This is when the model is ready for priming. 

 

I just let the water out of the tap at a trickle and slightly warm and then get a tiny bit of soap on the end of my finger and wash it that way. I don’t have a problem with parts breaking off as this is before any of the aerials and other bits have been attached.

 

Just sit it on some kitchen roll and let it dry over night and then get painting! 

 

HTH

 

James 

[Stalker6Recon]

2 hours ago, franky boy said:

let it dry over night and then get painting!  

That leads to a follow up question, something I never considered. Two part question. I plan on using acrylic paints as much as humanly possible, so do I need to use an acrylic base coat as well? Any particular brand/version that has good overall reviews from the "wise ones" up on the shiny modelling hill, lapping at nectar from a goddess like creature with endowments? And, while doing the business of priming the main parts, in my case, the fuselage and wings etc, would it make sense to prime all the other bits that still need assembly later, but can be easily sprayed while still on the tree?

 

Back when I was modelling in my youth, I never primed anything, and the results probably showed, but I can't remember that much. I don't even know if I didn't prime because I was ignorant, or did not have the money to "waste" on primer that you can't see attitude.

 

What ever the reason, I am older now and a bit more restrained and deliberate with my approach to modelling. I look at the money I spend on the kits, paints, glues, shipping (I live in the Philippines), so a model that once cost me twelve dollars paints included, now costs more like $100 dollars, so I want to protect my investment, giving it the best chance of success, such as proper priming.

 

Right now, I have two kits on the bench, but I am moving slowly, patiently, which is not my old way, but again, I want to do it right. I have lots of tools/finishing gear on order, so I can only get so far with the builds before I hit a brick wall and have to wait for my delivery. I am taking that time to learn as much about building a kit the right way, and avoiding the pitfalls that others have shared, thankfully.

 

Your tips are valuable to me, as are so many others who reside on that hill, so anything else you can think off as a tip you wish you knew when you got started, is all the more welcome to me, either via this tread or PM.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will be giving my birds a bath before the first coat of primer grey goes on.

 

Anthony stalker6recon D'Agostino

[franky boy]

43 minutes ago, Stalker6Recon said:

That leads to a follow up question, something I never considered. Two part question. I plan on using acrylic paints as much as humanly possible, so do I need to use an acrylic base coat as well? Any particular brand/version that has good overall reviews from the "wise ones" up on the shiny modelling hill, lapping at nectar from a goddess like creature with endowments? And, while doing the business of priming the main parts, in my case, the fuselage and wings etc, would it make sense to prime all the other bits that still need assembly later, but can be easily sprayed while still on the tree?

 

Back when I was modelling in my youth, I never primed anything, and the results probably showed, but I can't remember that much. I don't even know if I didn't prime because I was ignorant, or did not have the money to "waste" on primer that you can't see attitude.

 

What ever the reason, I am older now and a bit more restrained and deliberate with my approach to modelling. I look at the money I spend on the kits, paints, glues, shipping (I live in the Philippines), so a model that once cost me twelve dollars paints included, now costs more like $100 dollars, so I want to protect my investment, giving it the best chance of success, such as proper priming.

 

Right now, I have two kits on the bench, but I am moving slowly, patiently, which is not my old way, but again, I want to do it right. I have lots of tools/finishing gear on order, so I can only get so far with the builds before I hit a brick wall and have to wait for my delivery. I am taking that time to learn as much about building a kit the right way, and avoiding the pitfalls that others have shared, thankfully.

 

Your tips are valuable to me, as are so many others who reside on that hill, so anything else you can think off as a tip you wish you knew when you got started, is all the more welcome to me, either via this tread or PM.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will be giving my birds a bath before the first coat of primer grey goes on.

 

Anthony stalker6recon D'Agostino

Hi Anthony

 

Glad to help. I still ask loads of questions too.

 

If you plan on using acrylic paints then you really should prime. You don't need to for enamels although some people do so back in the day when that was what was mostly available I expect it wasn't heard of so much.

 

I use Tamiya (quite smelly) light grey primer through an airbrush but is also available in spray cans which is excellent and is lacqour based. Hence the smell. Recently I've also tried Stynlrez primer which is made by Badger and has almost no odour and is also very nice. I think this is water based.

 

Thanks

 

James

[Stalker6Recon]

14 hours ago, franky boy said:

I use Tamiya (quite smelly) light grey primer 

Thanks for all the details, just one part is left unanswered. Do you prime all the parts on the tree, or just the main bits, ie, fuselage, wings etc? I figure, since I am there, might was well spray every thing when it is attached to the tree and I can hang dry it. Will that help the actual color paints lay down better when I brush them later?

 

Thanks as always,

 

Anthony

[franky boy]

Hi Anthony 

 

Personally I don't prime anything on the trees. I do it when the model is ready for painting.

 

James