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Am I really the only person that doesn't care about them? OK, that's a rhetorical question, but I really don't understand why people always insist on removing mould lines and telling others to do so (P+M blogs). I recognise they can damage how good a miniature looks, but when it comes to 1" high, plastic soldiers I don't find them looking realistic, with or without mould lines.

I admit, I can understand high-quality painters removing mould lines - and hell, maybe that's why I dont - but I don't really see the point otherwise; I feel the extra effort to remove them simply isn't worth it. They really don't spoil the appearance of a model IMHO. So I'm wondering, why is it dakkites atleast care about mould lines so much?

It depends on the mould line.

Most people care a bit too much, arguably, because they are used to looking at figures in close-up, either by picking them up or in the super-high resolution images that are posted on websites.

I don't care so much because I am mainly worried about how my figures look in mass on the tabletop. I remove the obvious and easy to get rid of marks.

I find that a dremel with sanding end gets rid of most mold lines and blends in really well because some mold lines are really noticeable even when you take it off with a hobby knife. It really depends on the person with mold lines as gamers tend to not care as much while the hobbyist does care. Honestly it only takes me an extra 20 mins. to take mold lines off 10 guys so i take the extra time to do so because i think they look better.

Pretty much everything said by Killkrazy.

Kilkrazy wrote:It depends on the mould line.

Most people care a bit too much,

Like me

can't help it as it is a carry over from my plastic kit modelling.
Seam lines bug the hell out of me.

That said as long as you consider more of a nuisance to remove every last trace, than it is to see them on your finished models it is your call!
Removing the seams of lots of figures is not my favourite part of the hobby, but I find it irritating to see a seam line staring me in the face when the paint goes on.
So for me it is worth the commitment to remove them.

I try to catch the most obvious ones; on heads and areas that are to be highlighted etc. but it's not worth it to me spending a lot of good time that could have gone into painting on carefully shaving the armpits of my marines.

They seems a relative small amount of effort to remove to make the model much more appealing.

Depends on the model.

I put a lot of effort into my Trygon because it's the six inch tall centrepiece of the army.

I didn't bother much about the 80+ Gaunts and Gants.

For me its a factor of where the line is. Like the mould line along something flat, like an SM leg, irks me. Some times, in smaller places, or if the line isnt too bad, I can deal with it. But for the most part I try to get rid of them because its not that much work really.

I think I'll have the attitude of Killkrazy with the rest of my Gors.

It just seems so tedious for a model that is so small and will be ranked up.

Some of them are really drastic and easy to see, and because they're often a straight, uninterrupted line the eye is attracted to them. They're an eyesore and must be destroyed.

They're an eye sore, plain and simple.

Brother SRM wrote:Some of them are really drastic and easy to see, and because they're often a straight, uninterrupted line the eye is attracted to them. They're an eyesore and must be destroyed.

Hm, by your logic, I must destroy all the large, ungodly large things that peruse my GW, not to mention the smell...ugh.

Lol

If you use washes or drybushing both make mould lines become even more visible (they both leave a shadow on the low side of the line).

Got to go on everything! Even if it does end up taking longer to assemble than to paint....

Until recently I used to just throw minis together and not worry about the mould lines.

Now I take some care to remove them. i don't want my expensive minis to look like 99p army men.

I think I also agree with KillKrazy, when it comes to big ol' centrepieces then even I try to remove them, but I really don't feel the need on your standard model.

Admittedly I am like the anti-thesis of a perfectionist, but I still like them to look good but a mould line doesn't really change that for me...

Scott-S6 wrote:If you use washes or drybushing both make mould lines become even more visible (they both leave a shadow on the low side of the line).

Got to go on everything! Even if it does end up taking longer to assemble than to paint....

QFT - dipping is also quite unforgiving on mold lines

I've both hated cleaning mould lines and zealously done it for a long time now. In the last couple years I've also felt the need to green stuff (as in gap fill not individualize) just about every model as well, which sometimes makes me gripe about GeeDub's plastics a bit too hard. Yes I 'had' to GS all the fur gaps in 40+ chaos warriors last summer ... but I suppose I could have left that alone, and not cleaned off the mould lines either

- Salvage

Just Dave wrote:Am I really the only person that doesn't care about them? OK, that's a rhetorical question, but I really don't understand why people always insist on removing mould lines and telling others to do so (P+M blogs). I recognise they can damage how good a miniature looks, but when it comes to 1" high, plastic soldiers I don't find them looking realistic, with or without mould lines.

I admit, I can understand high-quality painters removing mould lines - and hell, maybe that's why I dont - but I don't really see the point otherwise; I feel the extra effort to remove them simply isn't worth it. They really don't spoil the appearance of a model IMHO. So I'm wondering, why is it dakkites atleast care about mould lines so much?

It not only depends on how anal retentive the modeller is but it depends on the game as well.

Mass ranked infantry such a s WHFB? Even as anal as I am, I am willing to let a lot slip by since cursory inspection wont reveal a whole lot during game play.

A skirmish game with only a handful of models such as mordheim or LotR SBG?? Those puppies gotta be clean and smooth.

What! even with that all seeing eye?
In any case, where is your sense of pride, man!?

yours sincerely
Chibi von Buttclencher

Well I guess it kind of has to do with how much I enjoy the game as well.

I think WHFB is full of fail, so I treat the models with the same regard I have for the game. Hardly any at all. Barely enough to scrape the mold lines of the tops of their heads and thats about it.

40K is fairly intensive however, even if I think that game breeds twits. Its just too easy to see the models on the table and any imperfections that happen to be left on them.

Boss_Salvage wrote:

Scott-S6 wrote:If you use washes or drybushing both make mould lines become even more visible (they both leave a shadow on the low side of the line).

Got to go on everything! Even if it does end up taking longer to assemble than to paint....

QFT - dipping is also quite unforgiving on mold lines

I've both hated cleaning mould lines and zealously done it for a long time now. In the last couple years I've also felt the need to green stuff (as in gap fill not individualize) just about every model as well, which sometimes makes me gripe about GeeDub's plastics a bit too hard. Yes I 'had' to GS all the fur gaps in 40+ chaos warriors last summer ... but I suppose I could have left that alone, and not cleaned off the mould lines either

- Salvage

I also have been GSing my chaos warriors =D

I think mould lines get an especially bad rap because it seems to be the quick-n-dirty techniques that make them the most obvious, and the painters that just want to get their army on the table as quick as possible use these techniques and don't remove the mould lines.
A friend of mine has an enormous guard army (close to 500 infantry) but the rest of the group think they look quite bad as they are all dipped and drybrushed, making the huge mould lines across their helmets... turns us off mould lines and makes us treat tehm like the plague.

I take them off my models as best I can, but I don't go overboard. I also didn't know to do it until after I primed like 40 dudes, and I'm not going to go back and file them all down.

So I've got tons of models with mould lines, and a few metal guys that I just didn't trim as well as I should have.

But yeah, I don't care that much, but I do try and constantly improve my models, so new models get their lines taken off (for the most part).

People here yell at me if I even forget to drill out a single bolt pistol barrell

But yes I kill all mould lines, they must die!

Roleplayer wrote:People here yell at me if I even forget to drill out a single bolt pistol barrell

But yes I kill all mould lines, they must die!

Haha, that reminds me, I need to drill out my barrels too

Too lazy to go get that darn pin vice.

Helmets are a good example of where you should take the time to sand down the mould lines. They show up very badly because it is a smooth area right on top of the model. However the mould lines between the figures' legs will never be seen in normal gaming.

Yesterday I cut up a secondhand Carnifex to convert into a Tervigon. Once the model was off its base the mould line down the underneath of the tail was very obvious, but you would never see it while the model is on its base.

Mold lines are a symbol of all that is EVIL AND UNHOLY!!!

They must be purged with hobby knives and sand paper.

GG

I hate mould lines, flash and resin blobs - I spend about a third of all time modelling/painting removing them. It is incredibly annoying. One normal imperial guardsmen grunt takes me about 25-30 minutes to clean :(

Mold lines must go.

And gun barrels need to be drilled out.

At least for me. It doesn't bother me if someone else doesn't do this, but when I look at my models on the table it really bothers me if I find I missed a line or forgot a barrel. Even though most people would not even notice. It's all up to what you are ok with.

It just depends on where the line is, in between the legs a quick scrape of the hobby knife. But the top of a helmet, shoulder pad, or any other obvious spot its time to break out the dremel and files.

When I started assembling gaunts I cleaned them up nicely.

After the first dozen, I realized it took WAY too much time for something that would be on the table for about 10 minutes.

I clean up everything else, but not my gaunts.