WSF postwork

Discussion in 'Finishing Techniques' started by lorddarthvik, Jan 23, 2009.

  1. lorddarthvik
    lorddarthvik Member
    So, any of you tried postwork on WSF material?

    Can it be painted by acrilic paints, or oil-based paints?
    Can the uneven surface be sanded or its too flexible?
    Can it be carved, cut, can it be scratched with a hot needle for example to create small grooves?

    Any insight on the matter is welcome!
    If you have done any of the above or any other way of postwork, I´m interested to hear about it! :)
     
  2. Whystler
    Whystler Member

    Dying with commercial RIT dies on SWF works well. Tea dying does *not* work so well on SWF.

    There is a link in the tutorials section to painting, where celebrity star Joris demonstrates painting with different kinds of paint on SWF.

    I haven't heard of anyone doing hot needle tests. What a great idea! Get something cheap and try it! :) I'd love to hear about your results.

    -Whystler...
     
  3. lorddarthvik
    lorddarthvik Member
    Thanks for the info! I´ll look into the tutorial.

    I hope to receieve my model next week, and I´ll try the hot needle carving and sanding with sandpaper. I´ll post how it went.
     
  4. lorddarthvik
    lorddarthvik Member
    I received my print today! I´ve done some finishing on it, here´s what I did:

    The model I ordered is my DwarfDarkPriest small version, an 8cm heigh character in WSF material. It´s pretty small, so lots of the very small details are missing, but nothing serious. Everything I´ve expected to show up on the model did (eventually, read on why).

    The first thing I´ve done was brushing the model with a hard brush to get most the support materal cleared. Then I washed it under tap water with soap to ready it for painting. Then I´ve taken a large (cold) steel needle to carve around the bumps and edges. While doing this I realized an important thing about WSF:


    (Not) Missing Deatils:
    Your item may look solid, and some of the very close parts fused, but that´s not always the case! Try to firmly scratch around those parts, and you may discover that it´s just the support material stuck in those places! This is especialy important before you paint your model, because that extra material may come loose and ruin your paintwork!

    This way I have discovered that a "misprinted corner" was alright, I just had to remove some extra material, and also revealed some "missing" detail!

    Painting:
    I´ve run out of good paints, so I used some cheap hobby paint, water based acrylic (I think at least). WSF can be painted very easily when it comes to large surfaces as its surface is far from smooth. Even painting with an old bad brush can result in a nice overall finish. If you want to paint details and curves though, it will be a real pain, unless you smooth the surface first. The smaller detail brushes hair will get stuck in the grainy surface and it will come apart and you will end up painting everything around the point you wanted to paint originally. So, either use lots of paint on the brush, and use the brush only to "guide the paint", or smooth down the surface.

    Sanding with paper:
    I had to realize that my sanding paper was tainted with something dark from a previus work, and it tainted my model as well! The grainy surface of WSF can get dirty very fast, so be sure to use clean equipment, whatever you are doing with your model! By the way, my 800 grit paper was too smooth to cause a real difference, but it was also used a lot before, so maybe thats why it didn´t work.

    Carving:
    No hot needle test yet, sorry Whistler! I am planning to do that on my other model, it should arrive in a few days. The cold steel needle seemed to be enough to carve some shallow grooves. (in my case to create some "hair", and to deepen the modeled grooves for easier painting)

    I´ll post some photos of the model as it got out of the box later in the "Arrived" section of the forum. I´ve finished with painting, but my camera broke down with a permanent "focus error" message while taking the first few shots so I can´t post a pic of the painted model yet :(
    (well, maybe its better this way, I´m realy bad at painting anything other then WW2 inorganic stuff, so you won´t miss much :) )
     
  5. daddymack
    daddymack Member
    I've taken my rotary tool (dremmel) to some WSF and was able to carve it fairly cleany. The only problem there is with the material melting at high speeds from friction.. Most of the melted material was loose enough to pick off but some had fused itself to the model and required further dremmeling to remove it.

    It's definitely machinable... Possibly working at lower speeds or with some water to keep it cool
     
  6. woody64
    woody64 Well-Known Member
    Here are my first experiences with painting WSF:

    I've used Tamiya and Revell acrylic paints.
    I also used some faber gloss before and after painting.
    So far I was not able to reproduce the look and feel of original hats (can also be seen in the picture: 2nd from the right border)

    [​IMG]

    woody64
     
  7. lorddarthvik
    lorddarthvik Member
    Thanks for all your input! Seems like I´ll have to get back my dremel from my father :D

    @Woody64: I don´t know if it is humanly possible to smooth down the surface of such small objects without scratchin/breaking it. I think the best way is to get such small objects in white detail material, that should have smoother surface for better finish. I will do that for my next turbo keychain thingy too.
    Nice hats! :)
     
  8. 17577_deleted
    17577_deleted Member
    Hi!
    its comforting to find so much info in this site.
    I have a question for you all:
    I have a WSF model, which consist mainly on a curved bowl with some details. I need it to look pure white, and smooth. I have been thinking on sandpapering it, spraying it (to avoid any brush marks) in some two or three thin layers, and maybe giving it some coating.
    Could you give me advice about the kind of paint (spray), or even brand? Is it necessary to use primer? which kind of coating could I use.
    Since the model is a bit flexible I'm afraid that the paint can "break" afterwards....
    Which kind of coating shall I use?
    Since it is a "big " piece, I think spraying would be the best...

    Thanks in advance!
     
  9. Whystler
    Whystler Member
    Hey Jorge,

    Check out the thread here called: "Sanding and Rinishing for Resin Casting". There is a lot of information there about sanding materials and painting them so they have a smooth finish.

    -Whystler
     
  10. daviesbobuk
    daviesbobuk Well-Known Member
    I have a few parts, currently drawn and uploaded, bt not yet printed. They form a prototype for a kit of parts.

    What glue would be best to use with WSF.

    I may also have some transparent parts printed and need to glue them to the WSF.

    Looks like I will be using a combination of acrylic paint and printed vinyl overlays for my model finish.
     
  11. lorddarthvik
    lorddarthvik Member
    I´ve used CA (instant) glue. It did hold the pieces together for long, but the pieces were very small. The glue didn´t seem to hurt the WSF material though, it doesn´t melt it like it melts other plastics, so I think it´s safe to give it a try. But don´t take this for sure, the part I glued was realy realy small, and I wouldn´t see minor surface melting/burns on it without a magnifier :)

    How about using plastic model glue, anyone tried that?
     
  12. 20138_deleted
    20138_deleted Member
    I'd try some 2 part epoxy glue, it doesn't attack the material and it dries clear.