"Question about mold release agent? Affects model?" Topic

Hello all.

Getting back into wargaming again after being after being away for quite some time.

I bought several Warhammer armies, terrain and accessories back in 2012 and have kept them all safely in storage up until just this past month when I finally started to pull them out and get to work on them.

I bought two resin medieval building kits from Stronghold Terrain. I used an epoxy gel-type glue which worked really well for holding the pieces together and it set up quickly which worked much better than a thinner super glue would.

I primed them in black primer and they look fantastic and are really solid. But I just remembered today that one of the basic rules of resin kits is that you clean them first to take off the mold release agent. I simply forgot to do it.

I know of course about cleaning metal minis with soap and water before assembling, for the same reason, but in this case it just slipped my mind. Won't happen with the rest of my resin kits now that I made a note of it.

Can it affect the model in any way? I'm thinking that after two years in storage that maybe the release agent dissipated enough that I lucked out and it won't be a huge problem?

Only effect would be the primer not adhering, if it's not easily flaked or scrapped off – you're good. And welcome back to the hobby.

Just rub the undercoated models with a rough cloth. If the undercoat stays in place, no problem, all happy.

If the undercoat rubs off easily from the high spots then you will have problems – strip the undercoat with your favourite poison and start again – chances are that the stripping will remove any stubborn coating.

Depending on the caster, they may have used anything from thinned soap thru detergent or Vaseline to 'silicon oil' as a release. Soap & water for the first two, petro-chemical 'paint thinners' should work on the rest. Unless they used something really exotic.

Some resin casters use baby powder, talc, and it leaves essentially no residue and does not interfere with the paint job. RAF & bsrlee have the right answer, if the primer does not come off, it will be fine.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog