Strong&Flexible materials - stain

Hey there,

some weeks ago I made a pendant for my girlfriend and ordered a testprint in WSF.
She loved it and wears it a lot but now I encouter a problem.
Because of the rough surface the pendant has black stains (especially where it touches the black leather neckless).

Will that happen with other colors of the strong and flexible materials, too? I wanted to print some red pendants for a leather cord. But if it will get black stained, too, thats the wrong material for that purpose.

I have no problem at all with the color change of the WSF print. It was a testprint as came out great! It is a very tough material, better then I expected. But the red ones should stay red as they would be the real pendants and not only testprints.

If you have made any experiences or suggestions please let me know!

Regards
C

The strong & flexible materials are porous and will stain. The coloured S&F materials are WSF that is dyed, the dye stains the plastic, but does not seal the grain.

Ana uses a dishwasher to clean WSF.

And some suggestions for sealing S&F materials. Ordinary artists acrylic paint also works well to colour & seal WSF. My preferred method is to dilute the paint and dip the model several times, allowing the paint to dry between dips.

Paul

Thanks a lot for your quick reply.
Hmm a dishwasher, never thought of that but I'll give it a try

Sealing methods:
I'm not sure if thats suitable for models having permanent skin contact, like a pendant on a necklace. Do you know if that could cause problems with the skin as floor polish, acrylic paint or urethan glue have strong chemicals in them?

A quick google reveals a pretty comprehensive guide for paints on http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/artsafety/sec10.htm . I use Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylics, the safety sheet is here... looks a bit scary, but personally I've not had any issues in my 25+ years of using the paints.

Not sure about urethene glue though, that might vary by manufacturer and the same goes for the Klear (acrylic based) floor poish - probably best to check manufacturers safety sheet for those.

Again, thanks a lot!
May I ask you what experiences you made with the polished finish?
As the surface is a lot smoother it should not stain as much as the rougher version.

The surface of the polished WSF is almost sealed, mostly the outer regions I'd say are 80-90% sealed, but any areas that are in grooves or details are much less sealed. I can try an experiment with some Humbrol silver acrylic spray paint on a piece I have if the weather improves (its raining & I spray outdoors use due my son's asthma)

No need to 'waste' your models for tryouts. I'll check out a shop today to see if I can find something suiteable as I know what to look for now.
Worst case scenario: she will have to add something to the dishes sometimes :laughing: or I'll desing in silver again.

No worries, its a worthy experiment, and something I've been meaning to do for a while.

The ordinary WSF model below has 2 coats of Tamyia fine surface primer, followed by 2 coats of the Humbrol silver acrylic, it will be a good comparison


Bowie on the balcony by stop4stuff, on Flickr

Ok, then lets see what your model will look like after painting.

Regards

Hi caesar

Sorry for the long delay.

The horn on the left is plain WSF dipped in diluted Daler & Rowney system 3 Silver acrylic. The horn on the right is polished WSF with 2 coats of Tamiya Fine surface primer followed by 2 coats of Humbrol Silver Acrylic.


Larger image here

Paul

very nice, now I know what to deal with.
Thanks a bunch for your help!

I'm thinking of building a model boat. How are these paints applied? Brush, spray, dip, sponge? all of the above? I'm new at toy and model building.