Well, it's been a while since I last posted a blog, about a year I think! But I've been thinking about doing a series for beginners for sometime. Going through from start to finish working on a larger model project. There won't be any special advanced techniques here, just base coat, blending, glazing, layering etc. all the basics to lay the foundation down for those later advance ones. There may be a bit of colour mixing and going back to some of my other tutorials, like painting skin with 4 colours.
The main point of this series is to enable you to jump in at any point - so if you already know how to clean and build models, but just want a hand with painting then just skip ahead!
So for this project I have decided to use Vaelia Arra, a 75mm model sculpted by White Werewolf Tavern. If you haven't already go check out their stuff, they do some amazing sculpts!
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Image copyright White Werewolf Tavern
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I mainly purchase my 3d prints from Etsy as there are a lot of merchants to choose from. Although not all have licences for every sculptor out there, so you may need to ask around and do a bit of research for who will be best to buy from. I will be more than happy to provide some recommendations as I buy *a lot* of prints off Etsy and I have my favourite printers (UK based). So give DM me in Instagram if you need a hand.
The main difference between sprue models and 3d prints is that you do not get mold lines with prints, but you do get support stubble. Which if you are new to 3d prints, supports are like a little cage around the print that stabilise it whilst it prints. I'm not going to go too much into the process as I'm not an expert and there are enough people out there printing their own stuff that can provide better information than me.
Merchants will clean your model for you to a point, but often will leave some supports in place to help with transit of the figure and will not fully clean up the model for you as it is time consuming. You can see in the pictures below samples of support stubble:
If you are entering your model into a competition or commission you will need to get rid of this as much as you possibly can, if it is just a painting for yourself then just smooth it off until you're happy with it. The cleaning process can take a while and it is highly recommended that you use protective gear whilst doing so because resin is highly toxic.
Another key thing to note is that some resins are also incredibly fragile, it might be an idea to check with your supplier what resin they use, as technology advances the resins are becoming more flexible and robust. So that heart-stopping moment where you drop your model on the floor may not be as tragic with some resins as others. Trust me, I had one figure where I managed to knock her head off about 4 times, and once it's broken it will always be weak. You can pin resin and maybe recommended in some instances but again some can be very fragile and is something you just need to be careful with. However, most resins are robust enough to take sanding, scraping and gentle slicing with a hobby knife, and a certain amount can be hidden with a good, solid base coat.
So let's start cleaning up.
Below are a few items I use when cleaning resin prints:
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| From left to right: set of metal files, foil scraper, hobby knife, emery board for nails |
The nail file is probably the most useful for flat surfaces, but causes the most dust, so wear a mask when using this. The foil scraper is something I've had for decades, it has a triangle pointed head so is very useful for getting in nooks and crannies of a model and is my main go-to tool for cleaning models.
The files are useful for sanding areas down, any hard to reach areas I use the foil scraper in a quick motion, the same as the files, or in one direction if it starts to catch on any of the resin, and the knife I use to gently cut larger support stubble, before then using the scraper or files. At this point you can apply a certain amount of pressure on the resin to clean it up, just be careful of any delicate parts. It is also an idea to start dry-fitting any mutli-parts to make sure they will line up when you eventually come to gluing. I would also have a large flat, dry paint brush to hand to dust off any resin you clean off so you can keep an eye on what you are doing.
Take your time with this stage and work your way around the model methodically, as it is easy to miss sprue stubble, but you can always have another check before you glue the parts together. But try and catch as much as you can in this stage.
N.B. because of the way resin cures, multi-parts can often shrink/cure differently to the rest of the model, which can be a pain when it comes to putting it together. Unless I know something fits perfectly I don't often sub-assembly with 3d prints, because more often than not they require gap filling which just isn't something you want to be doing when you've finishing painting. So some forethought is required when gluing your model together.
Here is how my model looks after I finished cleaning her up:
As you can see she still looks a bit dusty and a bit rough. The next step is to give her a soapy clean. I use a soft toothbrush and any normal soap and gently scrub the model and rinse off the parts. Dab them off with either a clean kitchen towel or paper, then leave them to dry for 24 hours. This length of time isn't a given, it's just how long I like to leave them to fully dry before gluing and then priming.
Here's mine after her bath:
Once she is dry I will check her again for any support stubble I may have missed before gluing the figure together and fill some gaps, but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to glue her to her base yet, as there are a few bits I cannot get to if I do and she fits pretty well to her base without a need for any filler. It's just how to support the figure without the normal pinning I use for GW minis. Resin is too fragile for superglued pins, as I normally remove these once I've finished painting the model. But I'll figure that out later.
Anyway, I hope you found this useful!
Lisa
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