At the carwash

In the modelling world, a "wash" is a term used for highly diluted ink or paint (e.g. artist oils) used for highlighting recessed details (mostly panel lines). That is NOT the subject of today's post. 

Today I washed all my models in warm, soapy water to remove all remaining oil, dirt, whatever, ... from the plastic. The idea is to remove any substance that might interfere with the paint (and glue, for that matter) clinging to the plastic. (The molds used for creating the model are lined with oil, to make it easier for the plastic sprue to be removed. We want to remove any residue.)

Sidenote: same reason why you use primer before painting, because primer has the added property that it adheres more easily to the plastic and gives something for the "normal" paint to cling to later.

In the past, I never bothered doing this, because I was always brush-painting enamel paints in relatively thick layers. Now that we're switching to airbrushing, we will be applying thin layers of paint (often multiple of the same color) and a general tip here is washing your kit before you paint it.

I'm washing it while still on the frame. I guess you could wait and wash it in sub-assemblies, but then maybe water would get to places where it would be hard to remove again and you'd end up waiting a week to make sure all the water was gone. Anyway, it's up to you if and when you do this.

Battlestar Galactica and a Colonial Viper at the carwash.

By the way : your girlfiend will LOVE it when you fill the kitchen with drying kits!