Working with white metal figures

anyone have any tips they can offer? they don't seem much different than any other medium but for some reason, working with them bugs me. One thing is the different finish they give off. I was thinking of priming the parts before even touch them to give a standard look to the parts. When you start filing, scraping, etc with metal you get shiny and flat surfaces and you can't tell what you are working with.

What other things do you find helpful working with white metal?

thx - Craig

Reply to
Musicman59
Loading thread data ...

I find Jasco metal prep indispensable. It puts a light etch, removes oxidation, and leaves a dull layer on the metal that inhibits further rust or corrosion. Just swab it on w/ a Q-tip and rinse.

Cheers, Dave Ambrose

Reply to
Dave Ambrose

OOPs meant to sent to the whole group,

Craig,

Whole books written on this. The older figures had lead and when painted with artists oils - chemical reactions turned the figures to white dust. Finally primers where introduced to prevent this. Today's figures are different but in general are primed before painting. Typically I will assemble and file the figure as required to remove seams, smootth filings etc. Then wash with thinner to get any skin oils, remaining mold release off. Also clean mold release before assembling, epoxy or crtazy glue. I then spray a coat of Floquil primer and let the figure dry for about a week. I use washes of artists oils to paint and shade etc. Some paint in acrylic sets, other paint in acrylics then highlight and shade with artists oil - among other techniques. Again there are whole books on techniques.

Val Kraut

I think we've all had the experience of cleaning up a figure, applying the primer and finding a rough spot, thin seam or other problem that had to be filed, filled or whatever and then reprimed. I like to let the final primer cure completely for a week before commencing. I also use different primers for different final effects - normallly a light gray, but if I want a bright look like fancy dress uniforms I prime with Reefer white. Some colors like yellow have poor coverage - so in onme case a oversprayed the yellow area in reefer yellow then proceeded with the brush painting after it dried for a week.

Val Kraut

Reply to
Val Kraut

The low temp casting metals (frequently called white metal) do hold on to oils (including fingerprints) pretty well, so they must be cleaned well before priming. I use either Krylon or Rust-0-leum primer. Then they finish normally. These castings can also be polished with metal polish for a good "polished metal" appearance but they then dull rapidly. A clear lacquer or polyurethane coating, however, does hold the shine.

Reply to
Don Stauffer

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.