"Do I need to wash these before painting?"

By keltheos, in Runewars Painting and Modeling

Floating this as a bit of a question for myself and for new painters out there...

I'm an experienced gamer/hobbyist and would always recommend that a player takes the time to give their model parts a quick gentle scrub with some warm water and dishwashing soap (others will recommend other products, but this is what I use). It helps remove any residual releasing agents, film, dirt, dust, crud that the parts may have picked up during production and helps the paint adhere better. Also a great time to straighten any bent weapons/parts.

I did this with my first Runewars box...now the question for anyone who knows...do we need to? :D I'll be picking up a second core box on Saturday morning and then helping run a store release event at lunch time. Will I or the participants find issues with gluing or then painting the models if we don't wash them first? Anyone know?

I didn't wash any of mine.

I think they turned out okay. No issues with adhesion.

I was just being lazy though. Washing can't hurt.

11 minutes ago, Tvayumat said:

I didn't wash any of mine.

I think they turned out okay. No issues with adhesion.

I was just being lazy though. Washing can't hurt.

Agreed, I'd recommend everyone wash them. But I'll be working with players tomorrow for the event that's intended to be from like register to table...so the question may come up. And I might want to get my second set assembled without waiting for them to wash/dry...lol

Just primed my first set of skeletons and it went ok with no pre-wash, but I'm not an expert.

The answer to "should I wash?" is always "yes".

The answer to "do you wash?" is "sometimes".

The answer to "do I need to Wash?" is "depends..."

If you don't wash figures (of any type) there's always the chance that there will be a chemical residue that will make painting difficult (or downright impossible) or react with paint and get a bit tacky. Could be oil from an injection molding machine, mold-release agent desgined to keep the fig from sticking to the mold or just some chemical secreted from the material after casting.

I didn't wash my figs and I sprayed my Daqan with green satin paint (solvent based, not water based) from the hardware store. A few figs did come out stickier than I recall, but a week later most of that has gone away. Don't know if it was just the PVC reacting to the Paint, the paint reacting to the PVC, or the paint reacting to some chemical on the mini.

Probably should have cleaned the figs first but it probably won't be an issue in the end anyway. As an asside, I ALWAYS clean resin figures.

I used the citadel base abandon black and it went on no problems, no need to wash

I have just got into the habit of washing everything. Resin and Metal are a must, plastic is not required but can help.

A spray matt sealer or varnish as a final layer is a must to keep paint from chipping over time and play.

With all the time that is going to be spent assembling, painting and playing with the minis, the take it takes to wash them is neglegible. So always recommend it!

i did not either, army painter rattle can primer stuck, no problem

As someone who's worked with a lot of Forge World Resin which is probably the most notorious for needing to be washed, you usually will be able to know by touch. If it's kind of slimy wash it.