Before priming and painting a mini, it's often best to prepare the surface by removing the mold lines and cleaning the gaps.
Step 1. Remove mold lines and imperfections
Mold lines are small seams left from the plastic injection mold manufacturing process.They are easy to miss, but once painted, they become very visible. For 3D prints, you might need to clean support marks.
Use a hobby knife, sanding sticks or files togently remove them.
Step 2. Fill visible gaps (if needed)
Sometimes there are small gaps where parts meet. These can be filled using modeling putty. Apply a small amount and smooth it out.
Modeling silicon tools are quite handy toapply putty cleanly. Once the putty is dry, sand it off so it becomes smooth.
Step 3. Clean the mini
Before priming, it's a good idea to remove dust and sanding residue.
This can be donewith a quick rinse in water or lightly brushing off with a dry old paintbrush. Then let it fully dry.
Step 4. Final check
Take one last look before priming. Are there any obvious lines or gaps left? Once primer goes on, these become harder to fix cleanly.
If you would like more step-by-steps like this or have mini painting questions, you can check out our mini painting guide. We have: