Hi All I am new to these forums and need some help. I have been building models for about 13 years now but this is the first time I’m coming across this issue…I have a ton of models and they have a large amount of dust built up on them. What is the best way to clean the dust off with out ruining the paint or decals? What is the best way to prevent dust? All suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
Makeup brush, a can of air and patience. The only way to prevent dust that I can think of is by putting it in a case.
I use my airbrush. I take off the paint container, run it until I am sure there is no thinner left in the brush, then use it to dust models.
I just hold them under the shower until they are washed off, and then let them air-dry.
I use my airbrush @ 40 psi.
I sometimes brush them with a small paintbrush…obviously without the paint.
I prefer soft brushes, the best being an old fashioned shaving brush. The only problems with them seems to be the fact they have gotten to be very hard to find and when you do find one, the price is a shocker!! (back in the day - 50 or 60 years ago, you could go into any drug store and buy one for a couple of bucks or less)
Store them in stackable display cases if you decide to use a diorama set up.Basic 1/48 and 1/72 scale models.I have about 600 stored in these types of cases which you can get from imex corporation.
I’ve found that eventually despite all your dusting you get a “film” that develops on the surface of the model to which dust will stick and cannot be removed by a simple dusting. I assume the film comes from fumes put in the air by cooking, smoking, fireplaces, aerosols, and just general air pollution.
That’s true .By then it may be to late or I think so.Display door type wall cases might help.
Sometimes if the dust is really sticking to a surface, I gently brush the area with a soft brush, like a sable one, while I am shooting air from my airbrush over the surface.
I use ladies make up brushes from the dollar store. Very soft bristles and cheap.
Thanks for all the great ideas…you guys haven’t had any trouble with a brush or spray guy ripping off the decals?
Not if the decals are properly-attached! I try to avoid getting dust on the kits in the first place. These help:
http://www.squadron.com/Trumpeter-Display-Case-TR09809-p/tr09809.htm
The pros are that it keeps the dust completely out, and they are usually stackable. The con is that you almost always have to stay within a brand (Trumpeter in this case, but there are others) because each brand will have their own size and own mechanism for stacking. It’s annoying that way.
I use one of those old timey shaving brushes that I pickded up at the drug store for $8. It also works great for dusting current builds, the bench, etc.
I generally seal my decals with a clear coat. The only time I don’t is when the finish is alclad. And decals really stick nicely to alclad, so no problem with loose decals.
Has anyone tried using an airbrush and distilled water to wash a model (mini-power wash). Haven’t tried it myself (yet) just thought of it as I was reading this chain.
I don’t see a benefit of power washing a model with an airbrush. Water will splash everywhere, leading to unexpected consequences.
The bottom line, as I quickly learned in my first few days on the job at a museum, is that once a model (or any other artifact) gets dust on it, it’s almost impossible to bring it back to exactly what it looked like before the dust settled. The only genuine solution is to stop the dust from settling in the first place: keep the model in a case of some kind.
I like to build cases for my larger models. (My choice materials are cherry and plexiglas.) for the smaller ones, my wife and I bought, about 20 years ago, a “curio cabinet.” It’s wood and glass with a hinged front, glass shelves, and a built-in light. Twenty years ago it cost about $200 in a furniture store. (The same furniture store where I experienced the biggest humiliation of my life: I got seasick lying on a waterbed.)
The curio cabinet does a good job under normal circumstances. The day we had a carpenter in sanding the spackle on the ceiling, and forgot to cover the curio cabinet, was another matter. A couple of those poor little 1/700 warships are never going to be the same.
None of this does any good for a model that’s already dusty. For that, about the best you can do is blast it gently with an airbrush - after doing the best you can with a soft brush. You can also try putting a little clean water in the airbrush.
I’ve found that you can remove some of that film that can develop on models by lightly wiping with Windex or other bluish window cleaner.
Test it first, since some final clear coats might be too sensitive. I’ve used Floquil’s RR Flat (now discontinued) and it worked fine; the stuff is pretty resistant–but I can’t speak to other proprietary brands like Dullcoat.