Wash before glue?

By Ywingscum, in Runewars Painting and Modeling

I plan to paint this weekend. I have already glued my minis, played 6 games too.

will washing in warm soapy water be an issue? I think I will skip the wash "cycle".

or should I take the time to wash?

If you used some type of superglue, not plastic glue, you should be fine to wash them if they've had that long to set. I'm still assembling mine and will give them a wash tomorrow or Sunday. It never hurts to wash your ministry before priming, especially if you're using Army Painter primers. I've had those peel/lift/flake more than others but they do cut down on basecoat time.

Soapy water will not harm the glue. You are safe to wash away.

5 hours ago, Ywingscum said:

I plan to paint this weekend. I have already glued my minis, played 6 games too.

will washing in warm soapy water be an issue? I think I will skip the wash "cycle".

or should I take the time to wash?

2 hours ago, LongShawnSilver said:

Soapy water will not harm the glue. You are safe to wash away.

And it's generally recommended for all figures because most manufacturing processes still have a film of release agent on the models from the molding process, and it's been know to interfere with paint adhesion and base coats.

Any decent superglue will be unphased by a warm water bath. Just give your figures plenty of time to dry after if you're going to be painting so that no hidden pockets of water make your paint run.

Now I have on occasion had glue be a bit slower and sloppier to dry and set if I didn't wash the figures prior to assembly. It differs from material to material, but you might consider bathing your bits before gluing. But with this line of plastics, it's probably not necessary to wash before assembly.

Edited by Deathseed

And there is a shelf life for all glues. I try not to let a bottle stay more than a few months on my shelf. I can't give you actual times for different types of glues but there is some level of breakdown in the chemicals that increase time to set and heighten fragility.

Thanks, washing seems tedious but if the paint were to lift or flake off I would be p***ed

a washing we will go

It does not have to be tedious depending on how you do it. I make a hard pass out of the box (on the sprue if possible) using a small potato brush. this is a hard scrub to get rid of oils and release agents. Then model and build everything. Then a quick rinse with a toothbrush to make sure the surface is ready for paint.

Work in patches of 4-8 models. Don't do the entire army at once or it will be tedious.

1 hour ago, Ywingscum said:

Thanks, washing seems tedious but if the paint were to lift or flake off I would be p***ed

a washing we will go

I just fill a sink with warm water and take an old toothbrush to them for a quick rub on each side and call it a day. It doesn't take much effort.

Just make sure you've retrieved all your bits before draining the sink :P

I didn't, and haven't ever washed my models before painting and it's never been an issue.

20 minutes ago, Elliphino said:

I didn't, and haven't ever washed my models before painting and it's never been an issue.

With modern plastics you don't have to but it is a requirement when you get into metal or resin. Best to get into the habit with everything. It gives you a chance to inspect for mold lines, miss-nolds, bends, and other defects that need to be addressed.

Yeah, I used to wash metal models, but it's been years since I had one of those. I've washed resin as well.

Honestly though, paint sticks as well to bare, unwashed plastic as it does to the Army Painter colored primers.

I'm not sure washing needs to be a habit. I think it's easy enough to know when you're working with a material that actually needs it. I guess I've been in the hobby long enough to think of the difference as second nature.