Serpent Custom 2 - More Progress
When we last left our intrepid hero, almost all the parts were off the runners, trimmed, and sanded. Now, they're ALL that way.
It took quite a toll on the first round of sandpaper sticks, but hey, there's plenty more of those cheap babies left.
So what to do next? We go the extra mile. I'm going to give everything a quick wash with some lukewarm soapy water, then carefully rinse them off and dry them. Why? Well, a few reasons. Historically, sometimes plastic miniatures came with some mold release still on the part. I'm told Bandai has been really good about this not being a problem recently, but its an older kit anyway and it never hurts to wash it. Secondly, I've been sanding these parts and want to get all the little dust bits off. I probably could with just some compressed air, but this is another, slightly more comprehensive way to go about it. Finally, I've been getting my fingers ALL OVER these parts, and human skin leaves oil on things, that dont always react well with primer.
So first is the plastic bin, filled just enough so that if I put my index finger straight down to the bottom, the first and second joint would both be covered. While doing this, I add a little gentle soap in there, getting a nice soapy mix.
Now, we dump that first bag of parts in! For the next few steps, I'll be using some nice cheap nitrile gloves. not only do they protect your freshly cleaned models from getting oils and dirt and whatnot back on them from you that may negatively affect the priming/painting, but also model-making can sometimes take a toll on your hands. You're using knives and sandpaper, you've got paints primers and topcoats and maybe glues, and sometimes isopropyl alcohol. And now you're adding holding them in soapy water for some time. Sometimes my hands can feel quite dried out and/or damaged after a long session, so this me lets protect them from a bunch of that, and if I have to go somewhere right after or make food or answer the phone I just *bam* take off the gloves, instead of trying to scrub off that little bit of glue or primer or whatnot. Anyways, I give those parts just a light cleaning with a soft cloth.
A word to the wise, either use a little less soap or count your parts, as when the bin is fresh it may be hard to see whats at the bottom due to the soapy bubbles! You dont want to leave anything behind. Great! Now we need to rinse these off. I'm keeping the soapy bin for the next batch, so as I finish wiping each part and swirling it around in the soapy water I put it in this clean colander in a clean sink. Both the drain cover's holes and the colander's holes are smaller than my smallest part, I've checked, so this seems a pretty safe way to rinse things off without worrying about losing parts. And I dont just swirl the parts around like so much pasta, risking new scratches. Once all the parts from that step are in the colander, I turn the water on and first rinse off the outside of the gloves, then pick up each part and make sure the water gets into all the holes and crevices. Sometimes I've then set them back down and moved on, sometimes I kept all the rinsed parts in one hand while picking up new ones with the other.
Then its time to set them on a nice drying towel and pat them dry! Make sure to place any concave parts with the concavity down, so they drain well.
Now its time to relax and wait for things to dry. As its rather late, I'll wait till tomorrow to prime. I wonder if there are any good shows I can watch to help pass the time....
Also, I've been experimenting with color scheme mockups. I saw a paint job on reddit I liked, but then I used that to mock up the digital blue scheme as well. Tell me what you guys like, your ideas, etc! I might fiddle with the details more, like I don't know if i like the red on the head, and maybe the vents should be something that "pops" more, but the digital blue camo looks pretty solid. Maybe the armor should be a dark blue too. But I haven't decided yet, I may go with more of a dazzle scheme or even the flat colors. Who knows! First I have to get to priming, so we'll see when I next have time for that when its a good temperature and not too humid, as I prime outdoors.
As always, let me know your thoughts, tips, and tricks!
It took quite a toll on the first round of sandpaper sticks, but hey, there's plenty more of those cheap babies left.
So what to do next? We go the extra mile. I'm going to give everything a quick wash with some lukewarm soapy water, then carefully rinse them off and dry them. Why? Well, a few reasons. Historically, sometimes plastic miniatures came with some mold release still on the part. I'm told Bandai has been really good about this not being a problem recently, but its an older kit anyway and it never hurts to wash it. Secondly, I've been sanding these parts and want to get all the little dust bits off. I probably could with just some compressed air, but this is another, slightly more comprehensive way to go about it. Finally, I've been getting my fingers ALL OVER these parts, and human skin leaves oil on things, that dont always react well with primer.
So first is the plastic bin, filled just enough so that if I put my index finger straight down to the bottom, the first and second joint would both be covered. While doing this, I add a little gentle soap in there, getting a nice soapy mix.
Now, we dump that first bag of parts in! For the next few steps, I'll be using some nice cheap nitrile gloves. not only do they protect your freshly cleaned models from getting oils and dirt and whatnot back on them from you that may negatively affect the priming/painting, but also model-making can sometimes take a toll on your hands. You're using knives and sandpaper, you've got paints primers and topcoats and maybe glues, and sometimes isopropyl alcohol. And now you're adding holding them in soapy water for some time. Sometimes my hands can feel quite dried out and/or damaged after a long session, so this me lets protect them from a bunch of that, and if I have to go somewhere right after or make food or answer the phone I just *bam* take off the gloves, instead of trying to scrub off that little bit of glue or primer or whatnot. Anyways, I give those parts just a light cleaning with a soft cloth.
A word to the wise, either use a little less soap or count your parts, as when the bin is fresh it may be hard to see whats at the bottom due to the soapy bubbles! You dont want to leave anything behind. Great! Now we need to rinse these off. I'm keeping the soapy bin for the next batch, so as I finish wiping each part and swirling it around in the soapy water I put it in this clean colander in a clean sink. Both the drain cover's holes and the colander's holes are smaller than my smallest part, I've checked, so this seems a pretty safe way to rinse things off without worrying about losing parts. And I dont just swirl the parts around like so much pasta, risking new scratches. Once all the parts from that step are in the colander, I turn the water on and first rinse off the outside of the gloves, then pick up each part and make sure the water gets into all the holes and crevices. Sometimes I've then set them back down and moved on, sometimes I kept all the rinsed parts in one hand while picking up new ones with the other.
Then its time to set them on a nice drying towel and pat them dry! Make sure to place any concave parts with the concavity down, so they drain well.
Now its time to relax and wait for things to dry. As its rather late, I'll wait till tomorrow to prime. I wonder if there are any good shows I can watch to help pass the time....
Also, I've been experimenting with color scheme mockups. I saw a paint job on reddit I liked, but then I used that to mock up the digital blue scheme as well. Tell me what you guys like, your ideas, etc! I might fiddle with the details more, like I don't know if i like the red on the head, and maybe the vents should be something that "pops" more, but the digital blue camo looks pretty solid. Maybe the armor should be a dark blue too. But I haven't decided yet, I may go with more of a dazzle scheme or even the flat colors. Who knows! First I have to get to priming, so we'll see when I next have time for that when its a good temperature and not too humid, as I prime outdoors.
As always, let me know your thoughts, tips, and tricks!
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