JonBoy 13 May 2007 7:11 p.m. PST

"Washing
metal minis?" How important is it to wash
Topic new 15mm metal figures
(Command Decision / Old
22 Posts

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Glory)before priming them?
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expressed here are solely those
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I've got thousands to do so I
endorsed by The Miniatures
Page. want to minimize time spent.
For more information, see the
TMP FAQ.
If washing is important, then is
Back to the Painting it OK to just sit them in hot
Message Board
soapy water for 2 minutes then
Back to the Pre-Paint
Preparation Message
rinse them? Or is scrubbing
Board lightly necessary?
0
Like But scrubbing is too time-
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consuming, so is there some
4,586 hits since 12 May 2007
©1994-2018 Bill Armintrout nasty chemical I could add to
Comments or corrections?
the water instead?

thanks for your help!

Jonathan
Jana Wang 13 May 2007 7:29 p.m. PST
If your minis feel oily or sticky
you should wash them before
you prime them. If they feel dry
and clean, you don't need to.

Warm soapy water should be

fine, I'd swish them around a
little, maybe do a handful at a
time. You shouldn't need to
scrub unless you've got gunk
on them that won't just float or
rub off.

After the wash, lay them out in

a single layer on an old towel
and let them dry overnight.

 Sgt Slag  13 May 2007 7:34 p.m. PST

Mold release agent is the killer.

It is a light oil-base. Fill your
dish sink with hot water, add
dish soap, mix, then swish two
handful's of your figures
through it for a few seconds,
rinse with water, and put on a
towel to dry; repeat until
finished. You can let them dry
overnight, or, if you are in a
hurry, you can use an air
compressor (carefully!!!) to
blow dry them with room
temperature air -- the air flow,
alone, will dry them off. Harsh
chemicals are not necessary.
Special drying techniques are
not necessary, either.

As an alternative, you could

pick up the wet figures from
the towel, and place them on a
cookie sheet, pop them into
your oven at its lowest setting
(less than 200 F), and leave
them there for 20 minutes,
remove that batch, and
proceed with the next batch.
Overnight drying is the safest,
and the easiest, however.
Cheers!

 mmitchell  13 May 2007 10:01 p.m. PST

Definitely wash the figs! Dawn

dishwashing detergent is great
for lifting off oils, so it's my
personal favorite.
If you're going to do lots at one
time and you want to put them
in the sink, then considering
using a strainer on the drain. I
didn't once and had a small
part wash down the drain
where it was caught in the
garbage disposal. My hand is
too big to fit in there, so my
wife had to get it out for me.

I also suggest overnight drying

on a dish towel or towel. In
addition to soaking up the
water, the next day you can
grab the four corners and it
makes a quick "sack" to haul
your minis back to your
workbench.

 The Beast Rampant  13 May 2007 10:34 p.m. PST

I also wash, and most always

give my minis a quick once-
over with a soft toothbrush to
remove the tiny metal shavings
from 'cleaning' them with a
blade or file.
 Double Ace 13 May 2007 10:55 p.m. PST

I think it is a really good idea to

wash them, just to be sure.

 Tony Barr  13 May 2007 11:14 p.m. PST

It all depends on what has

been used as a mould release
agent. Most white metal
figures are cast with plain
ordinary talcum powder as a
mould release. No need to
wash them if that is the case
and that's what we use.

I don't think I have ever washed

metal figures before painting
and I've never had a problem.

 badwargamer  14 May 2007 12:00 a.m. PST

hmm… I've never ever washed

metal figures. I've pointed
several thousand 15mm
figures from different
manufacturers and never had a
problem.
I always spray undercoat with
matt black enamel or matt
black car spray undercoat and
then paint on from there.
Matakishi 14 May 2007 2:05 a.m. PST

Never washed a metal figure,

never had to.
Mick in Switzerland  14 May 2007 2:12 a.m. PST

I have found that if you

undercoat with Humbrol
enamel there is is no need to
wash figures.

I did have problems with

undercoating coming off when
I used spray paints and
washing may have been the
answer.

I went back to priming /

undercoating with Humbrol
black 33.
GildasFacit  14 May 2007 3:10 a.m. PST
I almost always wash figures
but having said that, the few I
didn't wash never caused any
problems, so I suppose it
probably isn't absolutely
necessary.

What I do find is that, after

washing figures that have been
filed to clean them up, there is
always a small residue of fine
metal dust. This could indicate
that it IS wise to wash.

I use spray primer and acrylics.

Tony H
nazrat 14 May 2007 4:54 a.m. PST

I can see the logic of washing

the models to get the mold
release off of them, but I
haven't ever done so nor have I
noticed any problem with
painting or it adhering to the
finished figures. And I've
painted thousands upon
thousands of models…
  jeffreyw3  14 May 2007 4:55 a.m. PST

I use the same process as

mmitchell. It really doesn't take
much time, and almost all of it
is drying. Use warm water and
the drying goes quicker.

Most of the time, the figures

look different (generally
shinier) after their bath, so I've
kept up w/it on the assumption
that something must be
coming off.

jeff
OrcTrader 14 May 2007 6:16 a.m. PST

I've never washed metal

figures and also use humbrol
#33 as the primer. Not had any
problems so far. :)
nycjadie 14 May 2007 8:11 a.m. PST

I always wash used minis.

Never washed new ones.
Going 20 years and counting
now.
Chris V 14 May 2007 8:31 a.m. PST

I always wash mine. I'm

obsessive about scraping and
filing off mold lines, so there
are always plenty of metal
filings on my figures before I
wash them. I'm assuming it
would be bad to leave those
on.
quidveritas 14 May 2007 12:29 p.m. PST

Well, I've got thousands of

painted 15mm figs, painted
them over 27 years, never
washed one of them and never
had a problem.

Now I do prime my stuff

(acrylic primer in the past) –
(now I use an automotive
metal primer).

And I do seal my figs

(Varathane + Testor's Dull
Coat).

mjc
Campaigner1 14 May 2007 1:30 p.m. PST

I've never washed a metal mini

in my life, going all the way
back to the 1980's. I have
several thousand fantasy and
historical painted miniatures,
and they have all been properly
primed, painted, and sealed.
Even the oldest miniatures,
probably painted in 1986-1989,
are in perfect shape.

I was told by a hobby store

owner once that mould release
agent dries out and dissipates
within a relatively short time.
So if you buy a blister pack that
was put in its bubble, and then
it's shipped, then shipped again
off to the local retailer, and
then it might sit for weeks or
even months in many cases
before it's actually purchased
and finally painted. By that
time most minis are pretty
fairly free of the agent.
Honestly I don't know how
much truth there is to this or
not. I've certainly never come
across any miniatures that I've
bought that are "oily" like was
described above. I have seen
miniatures that appear to be
"less powdery" I suppose than
others, in other words, some
like more like silver jewelry
when you take them out of the
package, while others look
more like powdery pewter or
lead, but both were dry in any
case.

Is the fear here that the

paintjob will dissolve or
somehow fall off or not
adhere? It would seem to me
that if a mini is dry, and you
prime it properly, how would
mould release agent residual
have any effect at all? I don't
get it. Wouldn't the primer mix
with and seal up any residual
mould release? It's not like
when you buy a blister of
minis, there's oil dripping off of
them. Every single mini I've
ever purchased has been
completely dry. Some of the
older Grenadier and early
Citadel stuff from the late 70's
and early 80's seemed to be
more "powdery", they had this
fine dusting to them. That
must have been the talcum
powder the other fellow
described above.

Now I COULD see if you were

one of those ghastly gamers
who paints minis WITHOUT
even priming them(shriek),
now you're playing with fire –
applying paint directly to the
metal surface, which, even
without a mould release agent,
would be risking your paint job
to partial or complete flaking
or failure and falling off over
time.
Maybe this is sort of like
"degreasing" metal parts in
fabrication shops before they
are painted or powdercoated?

Now I DID used to wash those

old MPC and Airfix plastics
military miniatures, I forget
where that idea came from to
be honest, but I do remember
some kind of instructions way
back, on the back of those little
boxes, saying to wash plastic
minis in detergent before
painting. I guess that was due
to a mold release perhaps, but
I think their instructions were
more along the lines that the
paint would simply adhere
better if the figures were
washed?

I don't know, but I'm in the

"never washed a metal figure in
my life crowd", and years later, I
have ten and fifteen year old
paint jobs that are as perfect
as the day I completed them. I
don't know!
Mike
Campaigner1 14 May 2007 1:41 p.m. PST

Wait a second? Now here's a

question – someone posted
above that mold release agent
for miniatures is a "light oil
base". If it's oil based, how
would soap or detergent and
water take it off? That wouldn't
break down the oil! You would
have to wash minis in paint
thinner or turpentine! Now I
REALLY don't get this…..

I think it's more along the line

of what Tony Barr said above –
he uses talcum powder in his
casting lines, and according to
him that is what's used most in
the minis business. And well,
since talcum powder wouldn't
have any effect on priming or
painting, I think there's some
false panic going on here.
Somebody's gotta be right
about this!
I could see if you handled your
metal minis excessively before
priming, and you got skin oil
and grease all over them
during assembly and basing
maybe. But even then, priming
would still seal the mini.

Anybody with me on this?

Mike

 Flashman14  14 May 2007 5:53 p.m. PST

I clean off the flash, sharpen

bayonets, file down the base
and glue (individual) figures
down to their final base THEN
wash. Dry with a hair dryer and
prime same day.

I do use a toothbrush lightly on

each model, more so if the
figures are paricularly dirty.

Campaigner1 Mike and others

have been lucky! :)

 Sgt Slag  15 May 2007 7:29 a.m. PST

Tony is correct about metal
mini's being cast with talcum
powder as a mold release
agent. I got my wires crossed
when I posted about a light oil,
or a light grease -- I was
thinking about plastic figures
(this is what I've always read
about being used for plastic
mini's, not certain about it,
though), not metal. My
apologies.

Within the past few years, there

was a discussion on TMP
about professional molding. It
mentioned that they use a
cotton tube sock, I believe,
filled with talcum powder, to
tamp the molds with, to impart
release agent to them. As
many have stated above, this
shouldn't affect the painting at
all. I will have to remember
that, as until now, I've always
washed them, then primed --
even the ones I molded myself
with PA molds with talcum
powder as a release agent! I
think I've been reading TMP
too much, it's all running
together: TMI, TMI! (TMI = Too
Much Information) Cheers!
JonBoy 15 May 2007 5:01 p.m. PST

Wow, a lot of great responses!

Thanks guys. I think I'm going
to go with not washing for now.
Doesn't seem like it's
necessary enough to bother
with.

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