Hi I’m new to mini painting and have just started preparing my first Infinity minis for painting, I was wondering if I need to wash them with soap before painting. The quick guide to painting in the Red Veil and Coldfront box sets don’t mention it, but videos I’ve watched do. So, do I need to wash Infinity miniatures or not.
Hey, welcome to the Forums. You gotta remove the talc from mini with brass brush first. For washing, I recommend you to do it; otherwise you'll experience some unexpected paint scrub-off syndrome, which is quite bad.
There's absolutely no reason to not do it. Infinity minis in my experience don't have much mold release, but you handle them with your unavoidably greasy fingers. Just give them a quick wash with soap and a brush with an old toothbrush, alternatively you can use alcohol and brush them the same way. It's a good practice anyway.
Great, thanks for the quick responses, I wonder why they don’t mention it in the painting section of the books in the play sets?
Fully disagree. It's a small thing that might save lots of headaches, there's really no reason to not do it. Not like you'll waste loads of time and effort. Just wash the thingies and be done with it.
It's not mentioned on any model kit either but still it is a small step that is highly recommended for any model, whatever material it is made of. What you need to know is that any mold is cover with some lubricant product to ease the un-molding step. Without proper washing, this product will remain on the model surface and will at best reduce paint's adherence, at worst react with some paint. So, yes it is not mandatory, you won't jeopardize your life by not doing it, but by doing this really small step you will avoid some deception in the future (don't worry, there is still plenty of things that will bring you some painter despair).
Wash them after your have cleaned the mold lines, flash etc. Dish soap. Warm water. An old toothbrush. A bowl. Do not wash them directly in the sink, unless you like loosing little bits into the drain trap. It takes less than 30 seconds/mini. Afterwards, handle them by the little bars on the feet until they are at least primed.
I've never wash any metal mini and I've never had any problems but it can't hurt to do it (but to be honest I'm spending so many hours chasing mold lines and sanding that it's kinda washing them :p)
I dip my minis in hydrochloric acid for about 45 min. It etches the surface so that the undercoat holds better.
Paint chipping is so miserable when it happens because once it starts there's no way to stop it and your model is permanently ruined. Because you lose the primer underneath, any touch ups or fixes you try and do will invariably fail as well. My old Privateer Press models were terrible for chipping, that was before I learned about washing the minis. When I started Infinity I started washing all my models thoroughly and have yet to have any problems. Now this could just be a difference between manufacturers and in my case there is no way to to tell (since there are no control groups) but I fall firmly in the camp of "give your models a quick scrub".
You might get away with not doing it, but you wont know that you should have until its too late. I have some particularly bad models that completely derailed a project when i realised how easily the paint was rubbing off.
