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Hey Dakka Dakka, I heard about the site through 40k radio, it;s a great thing you have going on!

I was just wondering if anyone could help me out with filling, I've been cutting for conversions, removing mould lines and smoothing the sprue cuts and imperfections on my wraithlord using my exacto knife, and sofar i've been quite successful an filling down the mould lines and such by gentle running the knife along it.

Today I bought the citadel file set because i thought one day the knife will slip and it will all be ruined, so I better start doing it right.

So I started filling the contours of the wraithlords head where it separates from the sprue and the file works.. but under direct light, i can see that it leaves visible scratch marks in the plastic. You cant feel them when you run your finger over them, they arent deep, but when i used my knife i got nice smooth effect. Is this suppose to be happening? When I paint will the scratching no longer be visible?

I can't find ANY guides on filing and my local games workshop is anything but helpfull.

Thanks for any help.

On a grammar note you want to be careful how you spell filling and filing, because they are both modelling techniques.

If you were getting good results with your knife, I would continue doing it that way. Most modelling techniques improve through practice. You are usually better off doing something where you are confident in your skill.

Metal files can be a fairly tough tool to use on plastic. A better method is to use a very fine type of sandpaper called 'wet and dry' paper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandpaper

I use knife edge, files, disposable nail files and wet and dry paper as required depending on the amount of extra material I need to remove.

Your filing scratches may disappear under paint if they are very shallow. If you are worried they will show through, you can fill them with a modelling putty such as Tamiya or Milliput. Green stuff isn't useful for this because its texture is wrong.

You kind of 'swipe' a thin film of soft putty over the scratches, let it dry, then sand gently with fine 'wet and dry'.

A lot of people use side cutters for snipping the parts off sprues.

Erm, didn't Legoburner say 'No posting requests here'?

Yup, moved to modeling & painting forum.

I use files and sandpaper and knife scraping on plastic - they all work fine, but do be gentle - perhaps you're just rubbling too hard with the files? I also recommend getting some steel wool to use for a final 'sanding' before painting, particularly on uneven surfaces

also with a needle file on plastic (or white metal too) a light circular type motion should help avoid scoring. also a clogged-up needle file will lead to more scoring.

The technique i use is with a knife, but instead of slicing forwards, twist the handle so that the blade is pointing towards you and push it away (make sure the thing is pointing into the plastic or the blade does nothing)
It has the same effect as a file but with no scratches