Prepping with Mindy Berg

I don't know how it happened, but somehow we have reached the end of November. This means - among other things - NaMoPaiMo is coming. Or perhaps I should say, International Model Horse Painting Party is coming. I haven't really decided yet, but either way, this much is clear: Pretty soon a whole bunch of people are going to be painting a whole bunch of model horses. Which also means, we should all start prepping those model horses. To that end, here's a really nice prepping tutorial by Mindy Berg. This was originally published on her Spruce Mountain Studio Facebook page and is shared here with permission. Thanks, Mindy!

Prepping 101

by Mindy Berg

Here's a short little tutorial for absolutely no reason other than it is prepping day, and I'm taking you with me! This is Lynn Frailey's Torran, and he is my victim of the day. What I have here is sandpaper, carbide scrapers (from Rio Rondo and Kelly Sealey), studio rag for my lap to catch dust, and nitril gloves. I'm going to dive right into it!

First I identify where the seams are. Seams are marks left over from the molding process. I always start with the biggest seams first and then work my way to smaller ones. Once you find the mold seams, you can basically follow them along the body of the horse.

I start by using sandpaper to get the big, heavy, easy marks out. I will admit I am using a fairly strong grit at this stage, but also, I can control it by using my fingers and applying different degrees of pressure. I am very careful and try to be extremely specific as to where my paper is hitting. This goes for any sandpaper ever on models, as it can destroy small details in a flash, which you do not want.

Sometimes a couple small swipes with sandpaper is enough to knock off the flashing or dull a misaligned seam, especially on the back and front of legs.

The bottom line is: BE CAREFUL. If you have never used sandpaper before, I would recommend going with a much finer grit and practicing on an old Breyer. 

I am always oh so careful not to sand down those beautifully sculpted details!

Once the big easy seams are sanded, I find the smaller marks. I have a plethora of carbide scrapers to choose from to apply to any point I might need. I highly recommend them, as they are great for painters as well to coax small imperfections from paint. A muzzle is a fine example of where you don't want to use sandpaper. These scrapers are sharp, so it's light pressure. This scraper is from Rio Rondo.

More seams in the mane. Since this is a detailed place, I will use my scrapers to both remove the seamlines and also put the details back into anywhere that may need them.

Once I find all the obvious areas, I turn the horse this way and that to see what I have missed, paying special attention to the back of heel bulbs, hooves, armpits, under tails, under heads... The seams hide, I swear! I know I will have to go back and do this again after primer, but still, I really look for them and get everything I can. This scraper is from Kelly Sealey.

Bath time! This is so so important, because it removes the molding release, fingerprints, skin oils, etc. You may have noticed I am wearing gloves though this whole process. I actually don't handle my horses without them until they are finished being painted. I don't want to contaminate them in any way, especially after washing.

I have an abrasive as well as soap, with an old toothbrush and scrubber.

I rinse off the horse first to get all the dust off from the prepping.

I use Comet for this part of the process, but I have also used Ajax and Barkeepers Friend. I think they all do the same thing, which is act as a mild abrasive. I start with my big brush to get in all the cracks and scrub!

Again, working my way from larger to smaller, I make sure I get every iota of this resin scrubbed in some way. A little water makes more of a paste.

Finally, I grab my sponge and really rub the body with the abrasive paste.

Rinse!

Next, it's time to slather some soap on. Okay, a note... I have always used Dawn for this and keep a bottle on hand specifically for the purpose, knowing it is a fairly effective detergent. I go big to small with the soap, scrubbing the horse with my sponge first.

Working my way smaller now and really scrub those cracks for a couple reasons. Occasionally, I will find that I didn't get all the Comet out of the cracks, so I have learned you really have to go back and make sure you have hit everything with the soap, especially horses with deeper pits. I finish with the toothbrush.

Rinsed off, scrubbed clean! I am drying with a rag or paper towel. At this point, I would recommend not touching the horse barehanded. I have just scrubbed him clean and fresh, and once he is dry, he is ready for the first layer of primer.

I dried the horse the best I can, but it is always good to wait at least two to four hours, if not overnight, to put on the first layer of primer!

This is where prepping time comes in.

• Initial prep, wash, wait
• Primer.... wait a day
• Reprep.... wash*, wait
• Repeat as necessary!

* if you don't, get all the dust off between primer layers, you can cause problems down the road such as bumpy primer from dust trapped. I have also seen some small crackles form from a layer of dust left on. Again, this works for me, and I would rather prevent a problem then have to clean one up after the fact.

And there you have it! Thank you for coming with me! There are so many different ways to do this, and this is super simplified because I was working with a very clean cast resin. That said, this is straight up how I do it every time. I mean, a rougher cast of course has more intricate restoration work (pinholes, bubbles etc) but with so many castings being so beautifully clean, this will work as often as not.

I know many people have their own methods and secrets, but I hope I can help some of you get started on prepping your own horse, or at least understand how this whole process works before even thinking about color!

Thank you for reading!