Plaster and Resin bits

hi everyone!

i have recently acquired some resin and plaster scenery/terrain bits.
Do I need to do anything special to them before I can paint them?

Do they need to be washed or anything? how should I prep them?

Thanks in advance!

if it is made of resin ALWAYS wash first. Dishsoap and water

Wash them as mentioned above. When working with resin, be carefull. The dust from it are not good for your lungs mate.

As the other Guys have said a good soak in dish washing detergent & a scrub (old toothbrushes work nicely) are necessary to remove the parting compound. I've found resins to be ever-so-slightly more absorbent than metal or plastic; SO washes & blending are a more hurried procedure. AND, if you sand the piece(s), do try to avoid inhaling the dust; it's toxic & doesn't even give a decent buzz.

Thanks, guys! i thought I had read somewhere about washing them before using them in any way.

They are all small bits... barrells, crates, little scenery bits like that.... would think the dust would be negligible but thanks for that reminder as well!

Does plaster rquire any special prep?

Yap, plaster requires special treatment before you proceed. First of all you have to make it stop soaking, you can do that by simpley apply a thinned laquer ( i use Nitrocelluloselaquer, but a thinned acrylic version will do the trick as well ). Do that so many times until it stops to absorb anymore. Then its ready to prime and paint.
If you want to do it the totaly unlaquery way, you can do it with gelatine, the one you use to make caketoppings, and just mix it with water, make it hot ( 50 degrees) and apply several times onto the plaster, agin until it stopps to absorb, hope ii could help!

I've never had to do anything special with my home-cast plaster bricks. Never even heard or thought of doing any prepping to them.

Theo