when I first constructing my first kit 2 decade ago, someone told me before assemblying ,try washed the plastic kit with warm soap water to get rid of silicon oil.
curious question,do anyone of you ever washed your kit with warm water? or absolutely no need,just spray it with primer?

Conventional wisdom says yes, wash off mold release agent, finger oils, stray cat hairs, blood stains...
I used to, but don't bother with it much these days unless it's been sitting for a few years before finally seeing the paint booth.
No ill effects as of yet...

Short answer: Yes! I'm washing all my models after opening the box as I had more then one case where paint was not adhering or being pulled/rubbed off very easily.

Take a big bowl, put a blob regular dishwasher in it then fill with warm water (should be cool enough not to burn your hands!)

A bit of care needs to be taken with resin and _really_ soft plastic as these might deform in hot water.

Hope this helps!

Cristian

Unless I have done a lot of sanding and want to make sure no dust remains, I do not use to wash it. However it makes sense to remove fingerprints and in any case it will make no harm so... up to you

I don't find it necessary to wash my kits,if I use resin after market pieces,the resin usually needs wahing,but never have I washed my plastic.

Haven't had a problem yet not washing the plastic. That said primer has not been used on my aircraft and first diorama so far, all of them having been brush painted and if I can help it the future ones won't see an airbrush either because the maintenance aspect is something that turns me off bigtime. Resin pieces will be washed as those (in my experience) feel greasy more often, the plastic will just receive a sanding with very small grit wherever sanding is an option.

I've never washed the plastic either before or after building. I don't use primer either, my "primer" layer is whatever the predominant colour is going to be. And it might be acrylic or enamel, but I prefer enamel.

Washing before assemblying does much not sense... most of the dirt will come from manipulating the model during building....

I normally spray alcool on the model when it is built, with the airbrush. It removes anything that could interfere with paint.

Hi, I wash my kits before just to clean it if some oil residue left.
Here my Opel truck at the shower. ..



Regards from the south
Alvaro

That's one thing I never did, whether plastic kits or resin after market products. Never got an issue.

I go over the built model with alcohol before I start painting. This removes all the oil left by handling the model during the build process.

I will wash the kit prior to assembly if it has a lot of mold release on the parts. Most kits such as Tamiya, Dragon etc. don't really need it. I do however wash all my models prior to painting. I want to make sure the primer and paint don't run into any issues in regard to adhering to the model's surface.

thank's for the reply

In some cases, washing is A MUST. Old ICM kits, for instance (I am thinking on their 1:48 MiG-3) where soaked in mould release agent.

I have been building models since 1957. I have never washed them nor have I had any problems.

i wash resin figures ect to clean the releasing agent, but not plastic kits

I soak in dish soap water and wash prior to building. I also use an old, soft toothbrush and give a light scrub to the kit especially hit the road wheels and other deeper recessed parts a bit harder while rinsing off the plastic. I know, I know it's overkill but an extra 15 minutes of prep work could never hurt.
Was it Polly S that made a plastic wash ? Somebody must of felt that there was a need at one time.
Glad that nobody has had issues painting unwashed kits !

Tom

I seldom if ever wash any plastic kits out of the box. As someone else mentioned above, I always wash resin kits, as the mold release agent tends to be very heavy on those. That being said, I purchased a Revell of Germany re-pop of the original (1960s) HMS Bounty. I didn't wash that kit and after painting the masts in white acrylics before assembly, I noted the paint peeling. So I went back and stripped them and started over after a thorough washing in warm water and dish soap. A day or two later, I noted the paint peeling and splitting again. Again, I stripped them back to bare plastic and switched paints to Model Master enamels after priming. I thought I was done, but when I started to assemble the masts, the paint popped off in several places! Very frustrated by this time, and facing a deadline, I used oven cleaner and sandpaper to take all the paint off. I switched to Floquil lacquers without using the barrier, and repainted. As I started assembly, the paint split lengthwise along the mast! I finally gave up on the paint, and coated the whole thing with a flat lacquer over the paint and pressed along the split lines with the handle of an Xacto. That worked. So, there is no guarantee your paint will always stick even after washing. This was the only model I've ever had any trouble with in over 50 years of model building--I think it was the plastic itself and not the mold release agent. Its funny, but the rest of the kit was unaffected, only the masts were a problem. I occasionally see the model on display, and paranoia demands I look closely to see if there are any cracks appearing--so far so good!
VR, Russ

I've had kits that were dripping in mold release in their plastic bag. A Maquette Wellington had pools of it stuck in crevices in the kits parts. I wash as necessary. Sometimes I have started kits thinking I was safe only to find my hands getting all greasy and slippery handling the plastic. Off to the washrack.

I envy those who have never needed to.

I often wondered about those old kits-- especially from the East European manufacturers, if it was mold release or poorly cured plastic in the first place. I haven't built many of them, but we used to sell them in the LHS I worked in, and I noted the same thing in the flimsy plastic bags they were in-- but it didn't always look like mold release, in some cases it seemed there was a brown liquid actually "perspiring" from the plastic-- and it was sticky more than slick.
VR, Russ

I think it just depends. I washed my Fine Molds TIE Fighter because there were just a few trees, I didn't know how old the kit was, and it cost me a pretty penny-why take chances?
Most of the time I don't wash before assembly but I always wash after assembly, before painting. I usually wash the built kit before going to bed. Hopefully it's dried by morning. Dawn dishwashing detergent works great most of the time, it takes off dust, dirt and oil. Be careful, I've washed paint off when using Dawn.
Hope this helps, doesn't seem like there's a wrong way as everyone has pointed out.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

You shower with your new kits? Kinky