Finger grease, whats your opinion?

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tring

New member
Hey guys, I\'ve been painting some miniatures lately and I have noticed when I have been repeatedly holding the miniatures base after a while a layer of grease collects.
This really frustrates me because I always take pride in my mini\'s but it\'s made me think... is this just a factor I will have to live with especially when I start to game with them?
I wash my hands regularly when painting and grease still collects on the base so there’s not much I can do about it.

What are your thoughts on the matter and do you just put up with it? or does it just not bother you?
 
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Ritual

New member
I don\'t have that problem, but may I suggest you don\'t hold the mini by its base while you paint it? It is far more comfortable and easy on your fingers to attach the mini to something that you can hold more casually. If you attach the mini to the base prior to painting it you can just blutack the base to an empty pill box or basically anything that is more comfortable to hold the mini by.

I don\'t attach the mini to the base until after it\'s been painted and I always clip off the tab and put a pin into its feet. I then stick the pin into a pin vice and use that as handle.
 
Avelorn

Avelorn

Sven Jonsson
When you need to paint several at the same time you can have a latex glove on one hand or any other thin kind of glove.
 
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tring

New member
More people seem to be suggesting gloves which is really interesting because I would have assumed allot of people would just put up with the grease. Especially if these are miniatures that you are using for gaming and will be handled often (using the base).

In reply to Ritual, I had thought about using bottle caps to paint with but it seems a bit extreme because in the long run the bases are bound to get worn and greasy from use in games... although saying this I am probably going to start using this method while painting. If they get greasy when gaming I will just live with it. It\'s only the base after all. But is that your mentality? Or are you referring to display pieces.
 
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Ritual

New member
When you use them in games you will pick them up temporarily, but when you paint them you will hold them for lengthy periods.
 
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tring

New member
Good point man. So when you game and you only hold them for seconds at a time you\'ve seen no problems with grease?

Also I can paint over the grease on the base it\'s currently on and use lids from now on. Which is cool :). or will i need to lightly wipe the base with a wet peice of tissue to get the grease off?
 
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demonherald

New member
due to a combinationof greasy hands and painting for long periods I now always use a glove.. just one o those habits I\'ve picked up I think...

horse for courses I guess.. It is no part of my routine and I am lost without it...:no:
 
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Ritual

New member
Well... I don\'t game, so when I\'ve finished painting a mini it gets handled very little after that. But, I can say for sure that the base don\'t get greasy while painting the mini. :)

You can paint over the grease, but I would suspect the paint doesn\'t adhere as well as it should. Might be better to carefully wipe the rim of the base with something that dissolve grease, like washing up liquid.
 
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Rastl

New member
I\'d mount them on bottle caps to paint them. Bottle caps and some poster tack is all you need.

I find it helps me position the mini for painting as well as keeping my grubby hands off the base.

If you really don\'t want to go that route you can use a glove or something called \'finger cots\'. They look like tiny prophylactics and are finger rubber gloves in that each one covers one finger. That way your whole hand doesn\'t get sweaty.

Bottle caps and poster tack is still my recommendation.
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
glue, pin or bluetac the mini to something so you don\'t have to handle it while painting. There are several threads in the painting forum on ways to hold minis while you paint.

Finger oils (sweat) will cause the water-based paints to not adhere to the primed mini. This will cause the paint to delaminate from the mini eventually. Even gaming pieces, this makes all your work for nothing.

After you\'ve painted them, they should get some clear coat (couple of good coats of krylon then a coat of dulcoat). They will still eventually lose paint, but at the high points and edges. Those can be touched up.

Also. Quit eating doritos while you paint - and wash your hands.
 
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uberdark

New member
I bluetac it to a pill bottle or use medical sutures. you can get them from hospitals for free. especially when your wife almost cuts her finger off while washing dishes and an evil glass is to blame!!!
 
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tring

New member
Good advice here folks! Can someone explain the process of removing grease from the base using washing up liquid?

Also when you say the paint will come off of a painted area with grease on it, how much grease are we talking? I\'ve painted over the area that was a bit shinier than the area that I haven’t been holding as much it looks fine... and I wont be able to remove the grease under the paint without removing the paint which I don’t want to do!

The base is still in black primer and I will be doing a layer of dark blue in the end for my base colour. Should I worry about it being rubbed off when gaming? ???
 
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Ritual

New member
Originally posted by tring
Good advice here folks! Can someone explain the process of removing grease from the base using washing up liquid?

Also when you say the paint will come off of a painted area with grease on it, how much grease are we talking? I\'ve painted over the area that was a bit shinier than the area that I haven’t been holding as much it looks fine... and I wont be able to remove the grease under the paint without removing the paint which I don’t want to do!

The base is still in black primer and I will be doing a layer of dark blue in the end for my base colour. Should I worry about it being rubbed off when gaming? ???
Click to expand...
Just dampen a cloth with water with a drop of washing up liquid in (don\'t soak it, just dampen it), and then rub gently on the base rim. Rub it dry gently with a dry cloth afterwards. Or use the spirits demonherald mentioned.

If you have painted over a greasy spot you may find that the paint will come off the miniature a lot quicker than it would on a non-greasy surface when you handle the miniature repeatedly during games. Not saying it will happen, but you definitely run a greater risk.
 
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tring

New member
I cleaned the base last night using the washing up liquid method and it worked reasonably well. I then painted the base with a nice layer of black paint, all after mounting it on a bottle lid of course lol.
I\'m near completion now and have started to think about how best to protect the paint. I haven’t had much luck in the past with the GW varnishes as the models seem to loose detail on the highlights I painstakingly applied. What do you guys use? and do you have any example pictures?
 
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Ritual

New member
Depending on where you\'re living I would suggest Testors Dullcoat. It is the most matte varnish I\'ve come across. If you\'re in the US it shouldn\'t be a problem finding it. In the EU it\'s banned, regrettably, due to health regulations (as if modellers care about that! :evil: :innocent: ). It should be available again at some point in a re-worked formula, but at the moment I am not aware of any alternative that is as good. I was told a matte varnish from Tamiya was more or less as good, but I can\'t find that either and I suspect it may be banned too for the same reasons.

If you want examples of how Testors look on a model have a look in my gallery. Not all minis there are varnished, but a lot of them are and in most cases you can\'t see a difference.
 
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tring

New member
Aw, I do live in the UK, I tend to stay away from sprays because of bad experiences with GW crappy varnish sprays. How long do you think it will take for a new formula? It is testors right?
 
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Ritual

New member
Well, I use the spray, so it might be better if someone else told you their experiences of using the brush-on. But, I would guess it\'s pretty straightforward. A good thing with Dullcoat (or any other really good matte varnish) is that you can use a stronger, more durable, clear coat first, and then kill the shine with a layer of Dullcoat.

This one is Dullcoated (except for the metallic areas, which were painted after varnishing):
http://www.coolminiornot.com/195527

This one\'s also Dullcoated before adding the metallics:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/185345

And this one in its entirety:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/171951

And a lot of the older ones...
 
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