Clean or not clean?

[John]

just out of curiosity do you clean your sprues before painting or just crack on with it.

[papa 695]

There's been too many times when I've put paint on and its pooled up on me. But then I don't always buy top end kits.

[PaulTRose]

erm......need a third option of 'sometimes'

i try to but often i just forget so its probably 50/50

[R_G]

I clean the parts after they are assembled/sub-assembled right before I start priming and painting. A quick cleaning with 90% rubbing alcohol is usually sufficient.

Ralph

[dave]

I very rarely clean sprues, unless I am dealing with Resin in which case I clean with vengeance.

I have had almost no problems with paint on plastic, but I have had some really bad experiences with paint not sticking to resin even after washing.

[Guest]

If I have a large surface area, then sometimes I may use my AB and spray with Iso. Another point I will mention, is that every time I go to work on a kit I always wash my hands first to remove grease from them.

[peterairfix]

I do on the odd occasion but its very rare that I do

[zuludog]

For years I never cleaned the sprues & component parts, but that was when almost all my paints were Humbrol enamels, and they stuck & covered very well

As a returnee I still use enamels, many of them years old, but some of the other brands I have purchased recently are thinner, as are the current Humbrol enamels, and I have also acquired a few acrylics. Although I haven't experienced any pooling or non - adherence, some of them don't seem to cover very well, so I have started washing my sprues

I have two shallow plastic trays, one containing water + a few drops of washing up liquid; and one plain water. Fairly obviously I wash in the soapy water first then rinse; sort of swish it about and also use a soft brush, actually a make-up brush begged from my daughter
If there has been a lot of filling & sanding I carefully wash/brush in a similar manner
Then I spread them out on kitchen towel or a soft tea towel to dry overnight

I suppose I could use a mixture of meths & water for the rinse, and keep it in a jar for the next time

I only do brush painting

[james pithouse]

I never clean the spruce, that's part of being a model maker it proves your doing it right plus, if you drop the part you have painted it's easier to pick it up again without touching the part you have painted

[Ian M]

Depends on the kit, if there is a lot of release agent I will, otherwise it's a quick wipe with IPA

[Mr Bowcat]

Nope.

[PaulTRose]

is that every time I go to work on a kit I always wash my hands first to remove grease from them.

ditto

[Guest]

Never.....

[John]

When I first stared this forum quite often other members would always say to clean first if someone had issues with painting, it looks like it’s not the case anymore.

[BarryW]

Only wipe with ipa over the main airframe before painting. I don't bother with small details or the interiors.