"Crystalline growth on Shapeways models" Topic

I purchased some ships from Shapeways last summer and am just getting around to setting them up for painting. As I was cutting them apart, I noticed there is a white crystalline growth on some of the ships (some more than others). What is it and more importantly, how do I clean it off so I can prime and paint them?

Is it lead rot?

On printed plastic?

If you mean rough surface texture, that's a known "feature" of the 3d printers (assuming you didn't use Frosted Ultra Detail).

I'd give the models a wash in hot water and soap.

It's not just a rough surface – it's actually powdery and it doesn't cover the entire model. Seems rather random in where it has settled.

I used to soak my starship minis in a mild acid with a copper coil to plate them.The copper coil developed both
green and white nodules.

"(assuming you didn't use Frosted Ultra Detail)."

This phenomenon seems to be unique to Frosted Ultra Detail as I have had no such problems with any of my ships in other materials including frosted detail materials (which is weird). I have approximately 60 ships of various materials and the FUD ships are the only ones to suffer from this problem. I'm going to try scrubbing with a toothbrush in mild soap and warm water and see if that fixes the issue.

I'm guessing it is some sort of residue, from the build process.

There's detailed info on the 1/4800 Yahoo Group on how to clean, treat, and seal your minis made of this stuff, so it's worth checking out.

Another reason why I don't buy these, and prefer metal minis, though I know in many cases they aren't available from anywhere else.

Washed mine with warm water and soap, using a clean tooth brush.

Cleaned them off perfectly.

Dan

Have you tried communicating with it? Could be first contact.