Miniature Tip of the Week – 1

Wash Your Models

Before you start priming and painting a model, take a few moments and wash it. Just a little dish soap and an old toothbrush will do. Rinse it off and let it dry. Here is why.

There is a lot that goes into the process of making a miniature. When the process is done, contaminates can be left on the miniature after its made. Usually some kind of mold release is used, the curing process, just people handling them, etc. (They could have been eating fried chicken. You don’t know.) All of which leave different chemicals or residue of some sort on a miniature. Then you open the package and start working with the miniature. When you assemble a model, glue can leave residue behind. Super glue accelerator leaves residue all over a miniature.

It is very easy to dismiss these and just jump right into painting your miniature. A good portion of the time it does not have any noticeable effect on your outcome. Sometimes though things happen. It can affect how well the primer/paint adheres to your miniature. Primer may bubble or never dry, just remain sticky. It may even change the overall color of the paint by having a chemical reaction. Lots of things can happen. When they do, you always wonder what was on the model that caused it. Washing them removes those contaminates and gives you a clean slate to work with. It helps to minimize the factors that will ruin the time and effort you put into painting an amazing miniature.

I once had art teacher tell us in canvas painting, “You can use oil paints over watercolors but you can’t use watercolors over oil paints.” This same concept applies to miniature painting as well. Once you have washed it, don’t be touching it! Affix it to something so you’re not constantly touching it with your fingers. Those fingers leave oils behind and water based acrylics don’t like oil. This also keeps you from rubbing paint off the model.

Just a quick tip to think about!

Written by Justin