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Ok, how much time does everyone spend on trimming models and to what extent do you trim?
I have been trimming all the mold lines over lots of detail, smoothing off the clip spots, etc and it takes a lot of time per model.
A friend of mine told me that paint will cover up most mold lines and such.
Does every one else do this much trimming, or do you just look for the bigger things?
I have like 47 models to go, and then I get to start painting. Ugh!

imo it depends on the painting style you choose.

lots of dry brushing = makes the mold line jump out.

if you paint on the shades manually layer by layer, then it could easier mask the mold line.

generally i use xacto knife to run over the line once or twice thats it :/

Ok, first off, your friend who told you that paint will cover up most mold lines is either lying or has poor eyesight. If you post pics of your minis on Dakka with mold lines that will be the number one comment you get on it. I mean, why spend all that time painting a mini if it's going to be ruined by mold lines?

That said, the time I put into mold lines is roughly proportional to the amount of time I'm going to spend painting each model. If I'm just going to throw a quick coat of paint on it, then I'm just going to do a quick scrape of the mold lines, making sure I get all the obvious ones. If I'm working on a character model or vehicle, I'll spend a lot more time as these will be centerpieces of the army and receive a lot more attention than your average line trooper.

The other thing I've found lately that really helps speed up the process, particularly for line troops, is a dremel with a rotary wire brush attachment. If you use it on high, you'll melt/sand into plastic models and scrub away detail from metal. But if you use it on a low setting, it's just about right for getting rid of mold lines - especially in between spikes, horns, other fiddly bits - you just have to be careful about it.

I spend as much time as needed clearing away every single conceivable mold line that I can possibly get to. How long does it take me? Well, I tend not to look at the time when I'm doing anything related to Warhammer. It causes depression/utter disbelief.

Note (if you haven't already) that it works much better if you point the exacto knife blade backwards and run it along the mold line multiple times than if you point the exacto knife forwards and take it off in one clean slice. The latter is my friend's preferred method of doing things, and I have to say that it would probably look better if he just left the mold lines on there. Sure, it's faster, but it's just...bleh.

Mold lines can make or break a paintjob though, so I'd say definetly get rid of them somehow.

Chrysaor686 wrote:I spend as much time as needed clearing away every single conceivable mold line that I can possibly get to. How long does it take me? Well, I tend not to look at the time when I'm doing anything related to Warhammer. It causes depression/utter disbelief.

ROFL


All good pointers. With character models spend alot of time on the mould lines, foot sloggers not so much. I spend a massive amount of time on all my models: washing, scraping, basing, painting, etc. But thats just because I am more into the hobby aspect then the gaming aspect right now. If you're just going to game with the models, who cares. If your worried about mould lines that means you will be painting the models (hopefully). Having any paint on them at all is better then the "grey armies of death" which every 5th grader in town seems to bring to my FLGS.

Paint has the special property that it will easily cover over important fine detail like vehicle engine hatch mesh, while emphasizing unwanted detail such as mould lines and fingerprints made by glue.

The amount of care cleaning models should be proportionate to how much you want to show them off. Don't bother too much on groups of squaddies, and put a lot of effort into your army's major centrepiece models like the leaders and the big vehicles.

Thanks everyone. I want them to look nice so I'll continue trimming like I have. I only have 47 models to go. ROFL.
So what is the dremmel # for the rotary wire brush attachment? I asked for a Dremmel Minimite for Christmas so Ineed the accessories too, right? Hehe.

Depending on the minimite that you get for Christmas, it may come with it. When I got a new one recently, the wire brush attachment came with it. If not, you'll want the 530 Stainless Steel brush here: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=530

Although that said, I haven't tried any of the others, but they look like they might work as well.

I've been building a necron army. First thing I did was remove the mold lines from 30 warriors and 18 destroyers.

It sucks. It's horrible. I really despise doing it. But honestly I think it goes a long way in making models look better. This is especially true if you paint skills are only decent. Taking the time to prepare a model, and base it properly can make you models look 100% better on the table.

Both basing and removing mold lines are easy to do well, but time consuming.

My final word is I think it's worth it.

And if you're drybrushing/inking, you MUST do it.

Oh and I found the most effective way to do it without hating your life is to watch a movie while doing it. If you're really going to be doing it for a while, I usually pop in an epic movie like star wars or lord of the rings. Same with painting.

A friend of mine told me that paint will cover up most mold lines and such.

Wrong wrong wrong. Worst advice given. Ever. So wrong. Wrong. Wrong wrong.

Paint only serves to amplify the appearance of mold lines. Everybody else has already stressed the importance of trimming, I'm just here to voice that your friend is absolutely wrong.

I have to have a movie or music in the background, mold lines are the arduous part of an otherwise delightful hobby. It's a total PITA but in the end it's worth it. Two models side by side, identical paint jobs, a cleanly trimmed model is better looking by leaps and bounds.

I picked up a dremel and it has the 428 and 403 bits that are similar to the 530. Unfortunately, the 403 and 428 seem to strip off the detail to quickly. Any suggestions? I couldn't find the 530 at 2 stores I looked.

Death By Monkeys wrote:Depending on the minimite that you get for Christmas, it may come with it. When I got a new one recently, the wire brush attachment came with it. If not, you'll want the 530 Stainless Steel brush here: http://www.dremel.com/en-us/AttachmentsAndAccessories/Pages/AttachmentsDetail.aspx?pid=530

Although that said, I haven't tried any of the others, but they look like they might work as well.

pavonis wrote:
I have like 47 models to go, and then I get to start painting. Ugh!

This is exactly why I would advise doing what I'm doing. Don't get an entire army, and follow "cut... glue... prep... prime... paint...". Organize up your squads, and do them all individually. It may seem silly, when you get on a roll, but when you end up getting discouraged from continuing to prep group number 3, you have your shiny group #1 and #2 sitting there, to encourage you, knowing the end results. Also, switching between painting and assembling, it doesn't get quite as old as you haven't been scraping mold lines for 20 other models right before you get in to your new squad.

I think I bit off more than I can chew trying to get a full army done at once. ROFL. My problem is I waited to trim/assemble some of the models I want to use while a friend was dragging his feet to order magnets. I'd really like to use the magnets on my termies, and on sergeants and a couple models where the unit has configurability (like assault sqd with flamer, plasma pistol, etc).
I got a Dremel for Christmas so if I can figure out how to use it to trim models, I'll be set. LOL.