Help with metal figure prep

[Robert Merz]

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[Lancer]

Hi Robert
Shenandoah figures always seem to have that problem, especially the older ones. I always give them a buff job with my dremel and the brass and nylon brushes and finish them with the buffing wheel. If your carefull you shouldn't lose any detail. A good coat of metal primer finishes it off. Never had any problems once they were painted!
Cheers
Mark

 

[thegoodsgt]

Yep, some buffing with steel wool will help. You can also appy a rather thick coat of primer to "smooth" it, too, although not so thick as to obscure any detail.

 

[Robert Merz]

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[Lancer]

Hey Robert
The brass is the worst for cutting into a metal figure, the steel brush will smooth the brass but can still polish off detail. I use these ones in areas such as clothing folds where seam lines are hard to file. The nylon brushes will smooth any scoring from the metal ones and let you do the detail work such as buttons and equipment. The felt buffers will smooth and shine for final detail. A side note: the felt buffers will turn the metal a black iron color which I find perfect for simulating metal helmets, armor, blades etc. polished but with a darker tone!
To be honest I've never tried household cleaners, the dremel works and I've had no reason to try other means!
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Mark

 

[poetwarrior]

Hi Robert,

I've found that cleanup of metal figs can be a lot more tedious than resin figs, but also metal figs can be a lot more forgiving. Whether it be metal or resin a good thorough prep job sets the foundation for a successful end result. I used to get teased a lot for the amount of prep work I put in to figs, but the results pay off in the end.

I've always started clean-up on metal figs by removing seam lines using both an Xacto #11 and #16 blade. The straight #11 is great for large areas like along the outside of arms and legs. The small curved #16 is good for detail areas like inside legs and arms, folds and around detail work. I find by running the blades over seams and sprue marks in a revearsed whittling motion works well.

After I remove seam lines, I use a mixture of liquid hand soap and ground pumice stone powder. This mixture is something I stumbled upon sometime ago while doing some furniture restoration. As a final step in restoration, in order to get a nice smooth surface on shellacked surfaces some antique furniture restorers use dish soap and pumice. So, I took that idea and applied it to cleaning up metal figs (it doesn't work on resin). Ground pumice stone is available in some hardware stores, but you may have to go to a local wood working supply store, like Rockler Hardware. You're in Ohio, so I think Rockler should be in your area.

I mix 1:1 ground pumice to clear hand soap, Ivory works well. With an old toothbrush scrub the fig and all components and rinse really well. The really fine pumice powder is abrasive and the soap acts as a lubricant, coupled with the scrubing action it works great to remove that white patina common on Shenandoah figs and it also removes small tooling marks. You'll find that the pumice will darken the metal a bit, but the patina will be gone. After I've washed the fig, I use a fine Dremel nylon brush to buff it out. I honestly don't know why anyone would use a brass brush to cleanup soft metal figures, but people do it and it works for them. Like everything else I guess its a process of trial and error to find what works best for you. I do this everytime I prep a figure with great results.
I hope this works for you.

Regards,

Dave Neary

 

[PJ Deluhery]

Like Mark, I use the dremmel steel brush to remove flash and polish a figure before priming. It will remove details if you are not careful, but a light touch and relatively low rpms has always worked well for me. The dremmel can leave marks, but these are easily covered by primer or poilshed out with the brushes or a little 0000 steel wool.

After this process, the figure is washed in liquid dishwashing soap, allowed to soak in white vinegar for 20 minutes and then washed again. After a hand wipe with a paper towel and a hit with the hairdrier, it's ready for priming. Good prep is worth the trouble, IMHO.

I know from my toy soldier experience that the white powder is sometimes the result of oxidizing lead. You need to get it off before you paint, or it can sabbotage your work from inside. I would follow the above advice about buffing it off but I woudl also be sure to use the white vinegar soluton to neutralize any chemical reactions on the surface of the metal. This, followed by the sealing affect of the primer should solve the problem permanently.

 

[Robert Merz]

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