Mold lines
- Thread starter Jkaen
- Start date
Valander
Member
This is a toughie. It\'s a little easier to do on metals than plastics (IME). For metals, I use my trusty dremmel with a brass brush. It usually doesn\'t mar the fine detail too much, and does get the mold lines off. I can usually do a little \'touch-up\' with my needle-point files or x-acto, to reshape some detail. Needle files work well if you don\'t have a dremmel (get several shapes, they all have their uses!).
Plastics are a bit more complicated, in that my dremmel would just eat them away, even if using a plastic bristle brush! So, I\'ve had to resort to x-acto and files, and just being really careful.
Something that I\'ve found helps both of these is Vallejo Plastic Putty. This stuff is just frickin amazing! It\'s a filler, but you can thin it with water, and brush it on (comes in dropper bottles, too, so no need to mix). A little practice with this stuff has resulted in me being able to fix over-filled hair, chain, or folds in cloth with very little effort. The stuff is also handy for filling joint-lines, and small buildup of some areas. You can easily feather it out so that you get a nice, smooth joint. I\'ve also used it to fill a moldline in places I can\'t get a file (like some armpits); here, instead of trying to get the mold line to go away, I just lightly build up either side so that the mold line is not \"sticking out\", but has a smooth surface.
Plastics are a bit more complicated, in that my dremmel would just eat them away, even if using a plastic bristle brush! So, I\'ve had to resort to x-acto and files, and just being really careful.
Something that I\'ve found helps both of these is Vallejo Plastic Putty. This stuff is just frickin amazing! It\'s a filler, but you can thin it with water, and brush it on (comes in dropper bottles, too, so no need to mix). A little practice with this stuff has resulted in me being able to fix over-filled hair, chain, or folds in cloth with very little effort. The stuff is also handy for filling joint-lines, and small buildup of some areas. You can easily feather it out so that you get a nice, smooth joint. I\'ve also used it to fill a moldline in places I can\'t get a file (like some armpits); here, instead of trying to get the mold line to go away, I just lightly build up either side so that the mold line is not \"sticking out\", but has a smooth surface.
I agree about the Vallejo Putty. The stuff is great and you can get some really nice results using it.
Another thing to think about regarding plastics is using a brush on plasics glue on the mold lines in hard to reach places. You have to experiment with it a bit to get it right but once you figure it out, it is a real time saver. for the most part I use Tenax 7R for this sort of thing or Plastisruct\'s Plastic Weld.
Another thing to think about regarding plastics is using a brush on plasics glue on the mold lines in hard to reach places. You have to experiment with it a bit to get it right but once you figure it out, it is a real time saver. for the most part I use Tenax 7R for this sort of thing or Plastisruct\'s Plastic Weld.
