Washing a new model
- Thread starter durangod
- Start date
Pantherman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2022
- Messages
- 3,090
I have been building now just over 3 years and have never washed a kit, never had any issues so far. Pantherman
the Baron
Ich bin ja, Herr, in Deiner Macht
- Joined
- May 12, 2009
- Messages
- 2,072
I still wash the sprues, but not every time. Just warm water and a couple drops of a de-greaser (SuperClean).
And as the others have pointed out, while it was a wise and necessary step years ago, to clean mold release agents from injection-molded styrene, it's not today. But I do it some times to remove skin oil from handling the sprues.
It's really more of a meditative act for me, like looking at the box art is. It's about thinking about the build, the anticipation, before I start removing parts and assembling the kit.
And as the others have pointed out, while it was a wise and necessary step years ago, to clean mold release agents from injection-molded styrene, it's not today. But I do it some times to remove skin oil from handling the sprues.
It's really more of a meditative act for me, like looking at the box art is. It's about thinking about the build, the anticipation, before I start removing parts and assembling the kit.
RocketRanger
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2024
- Messages
- 6
I always wash sprues before building.
I had a few previous bad experiences with acrylic paint beading up & fisheye-ing and removing all the sprue mold release grease prevents this. You also need to watch for the fingerprints you leave on the bare plastic before painting (but that's a different issue).
One of our IPMS members gave a presentation about his tour of the Eduard factory and showed a photo he took of a mold machine operator spraying the inside of the mold with a can of release lubricant so the stuff really is on the mold and likely on the plastic sprue too.
I soak the sprues, sometimes overnight, in a container filled with water and with a very small amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid then rinse the sprues in another container filled with fresh water. Usually the sprues look the same in the water after soaking, but occasionally, I've seen some thin misty wisps of grease that have been removed from the sprues. One time on an old SMER MiG-17 kit, I looked in the container after soaking overnight and it was filled with lumpy white-colored masses that came off of the sprues! After this experience, I always wash my sprues before building. I know it's extra work that most of the time is unnecessary, but I like to give myself the maximum opportunity to minimize my build and painting problems.
I had a few previous bad experiences with acrylic paint beading up & fisheye-ing and removing all the sprue mold release grease prevents this. You also need to watch for the fingerprints you leave on the bare plastic before painting (but that's a different issue).
One of our IPMS members gave a presentation about his tour of the Eduard factory and showed a photo he took of a mold machine operator spraying the inside of the mold with a can of release lubricant so the stuff really is on the mold and likely on the plastic sprue too.
I soak the sprues, sometimes overnight, in a container filled with water and with a very small amount of Dawn dishwashing liquid then rinse the sprues in another container filled with fresh water. Usually the sprues look the same in the water after soaking, but occasionally, I've seen some thin misty wisps of grease that have been removed from the sprues. One time on an old SMER MiG-17 kit, I looked in the container after soaking overnight and it was filled with lumpy white-colored masses that came off of the sprues! After this experience, I always wash my sprues before building. I know it's extra work that most of the time is unnecessary, but I like to give myself the maximum opportunity to minimize my build and painting problems.
