White Metal

Wash them in white spirit to remove mold residue and finger grease (and don't handle them too much after that!). Let them dry well.

Spray them with a good primer. People have recommended Halfords.

Paint small fiddly bits on the sprue wherever possible.

Cut them off with a good pair of side-cutters, eg Xuron, or a sharp Stanley knife if you can support the cut joint well (eg on a cutting mat).

R.

"Richard" wrote

White spirit is itself greasy and is not the ideal medium for cleaning. Something like dichloromethane (pretty lethal stuff mind and no good with plastics) is much more effective.

Pure methylated spirits (without the dye) is also fine.

John.

John Turner said the following on 28/09/2005 12:52:

...or Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA, or rubbing alcohol in the US). I mainly use either cellulose thinners (NOT on plastic) or Precision Paints thinners for cleaning, but as John says, most definitely not white spirit.

"Paul Boyd" wrote

I've got a bottle of IPA here and find that leaves a slight oily film too, which rather surprised me.

John.

Citrus-based cleaner followed by dishwashing liquid detergent followed by rinse in clean water also works. Use cotton or vinyl gloves to prevent regreasing the bits with your greasy, chip-stained fingers! :-)

The message from "John Turner" contains these words:

Perhaps it's the wrong kind of IPA. Perhaps the kind you get in pint glasses isn't so oily... ;-)

Thanks Guys Best type of paint? Rob

Any. Some say it helps to pickle the white metal part in a bath of acid (white vinegar will do.) I find it helps to start with a light spray of metal primer, which should dry thoroughly (= no paint smell detectable.) Then you can spray or brush any paint. Avoid handling until all smell of paint has dissipated.

Well the three of you are correct in saying that White spirit leaves an oily film....but.... that film is perfectly compatible with oil paints. And your alternatives of methylated spirits or iso-propyl alcohol are awful wax and grease solvents. Cellulose thinners are fine, and smell wonderful:))

Ken.

Halfords acrylic primer in spray cans is decent stuff. The black is often good enough to use on its own for black items (need a bit of weathering away from black anyway).

Though, if using car primer cans, just check its not "gap filling" (most are not), those will fill all the detail :-(

- Nigel

Not a cutting mat; in general, it gives too much. Better to use a hard surface for most operations, unless there is a risk of damaging the surface detail during the cut.

I find acrylic sheet (perspex) to make a very good cutting surface for metal parts (both whitemetal and etched sheets). Cutting mats are good for things like card, paper and styrene sheet when cut with a knife.

- Nigel

"Ken Parkes" wrote

I prefer to prime with cellulose, and I've not found it too compatible with that.

John.

I use Index catalogues, there's usually a pile of them outside the shop which nobody wants. When the top surface is too damaged to use any more I throw it away and grab a new one.

(kim)

Maybe so but it's very bad for lampshades. If you mistake a can of body primer for white paint it will melt the glue holding the lampshade together. Don't ask me how I know this.

(kim)

kim said the following on 29/09/2005 02:49:

I knew they had to be good for something :-)

For cutting things like whitemetal or etch tabs I use offcuts of Tufnol to cut against. Excellent stuff!

What an excellent idea. However it will have to be ARGOS catalogues now that Index have gone out of business.

Alan

True. Cellulose is effectively a lac and dries by the evaporation of the solvent, oil paints "dry" by the oxidation of the oils. White spirit might cause a bloom on the cellulose, but it would buff off in extremis.

Ken.

Where did you get it please John? I asked this here a couple of months ago and was told Specsavers (Crystal Clear) and every chemists. But Specsavers only sell an alcohol-free cleaner (I've tried three branches) and the several chemists I've tried, including Sainsbury's pharmacy yesterday, have all looked at me blankly and clearly regarded it as an odd and probably slightly suspect request!