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Hey all,
I was wondering what your method of removing the lines from putting two cylindrical pieces together forms. Like the Leman Russ Battle Cannon, Any Hull mounted weapon that comes in symetrical pieces, or the barrels from the hellhound storage tanks.

I've tried filing it down so that the line is barely noticeable, but its still there. I'm gonna try using green stuff as kind of a filler.

What do you all think?

I run xacto knife along it

Same. I haven't had any problems. Use a knife, and go slowly.

Fine sandpaper.

Testor's sells a little "blister" pack of really fine grade sandpapers, something like 5-6 sheets for $4.

LunaHound wrote:I run xacto knife along it

what he said , but with a scalpal knife.

If you are using plastic cement put the line of cement near the outside edge of the area to be glued when you squish them together some glue will come out let this dry till hard then file and sand till you can't feel the gap with your fingernail

Yup. As sonofruss says, slightly overfill the join with poly cement then file and sand.

Another way is to make the join worse.
Sounds crazy, but by giving yourself a decent sized gap to fill and overfilling it with GS you can file back down to a perfectly smooth join.

3rd option is to replace the two pieces with a single piece of brass or pvc tube.

When sanding down use a very fine grade paper to get a smooth finish.

There are fine sanding sticks on the market specially for use on plastic models.

Hi Affli

it sounds like there is a slight misalignment of the two halves when cementing- which is easy to do

If i have understood the problem correctly, i would say forget using greenstuff.
There are other alternatives in the form of fillers that could be used, but some alternativs are readily available in the home. I do a lot of model making so here are some tips that i hope will help:

Some people use Tippex (correction fluid) though i find it not so good myself

CA superglue is a good filler - but make sure you sand within 5 minutes of applying as it will go much harder than the plastic.
If you mix some talcum powder it makes it easier to smooth down and there is no problem wuth time either- will be much easier than greenstuff to smooth down.

I also use Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer which can be applied thickly and painted over the seam. It dries quickly and has properties similar to Tippex but seems easier to use.

There are loads of modelling putties out there such as Squadron but for this i wouldn't bother.

For sanding i use a range of wet and dry grades from about 600 to 1200 which is the finest i can get. If i want to polish smooth I have some abrasive cloths. However it is possible to get similar results from those multi buffing type nail polisher thingies- being a bloke i don't know what they are called (but my nails sure look good now )
just noticed Killcrazy's post- those will last longer but are more expensive

HTH

For my figs, I use those thin metal files. A light touch and you get some pretty clean miniatures without any deformation.

Just scratch at it lightly with an x-acto knife, That's the easiest, most effective way to do it, and you don't need any fancy gadgets.

Kilkrazy wrote:When sanding down use a very fine grade paper to get a smooth finish.

There are fine sanding sticks on the market specially for use on plastic models.

Don't buy those expensive things KK buy nail sanders and buffers they are cheaper. Ask the wife where she gets hers

Wow, I was having just this problem today and was thinking of asking Dakka for the recommended way to avoid it or sort it.

I've used some very fine sandpaper but I'm not sure that it's going to sort the small gap and the standard modelling clays won't really be able to get into the gaps as they are too small.

In the future I'll use more glue to get a file off overspill but for the one I've made it looks like I'll have to try the superglue method. Thanks for all the top tips on here.

sonofruss wrote:

Kilkrazy wrote:When sanding down use a very fine grade paper to get a smooth finish.

There are fine sanding sticks on the market specially for use on plastic models.

Don't buy those expensive things KK buy nail sanders and buffers they are cheaper. Ask the wife where she gets hers

I get mine from Boots. They don't sell a superfine nail buffer in the kind of small stick shape you can get the modelling sanding sticks -- it's a kind of big thick stick. However I don't use them often enough to worry about the cost.

The thick one is fine for a lot of purposes.

IIRC, LBursley had a nice little video on gap filling using CA glue and baking soda. Coat the gap with superglue, then sprinkle on/dip in the baking soda (think it was soda, but it might have been powder - video will confirm). Glue cures almost immediately, then just file/sand smooth. If the problem is flash or slight misalignment, not gapping, then I'd recommend gently scraping it down with a sharp blade (SCRAPING, not carving, cutting, etc.) for minor problems, files for more serious ones.

Trick I picked up from doing historical models isn't too bad:

Using a polystyrene cement, coat it along an exacto knife blade. Wipe most of it off so there's the slightest trace.

It essentially 'melts' the excess off, and leaves no residue.

I use a hobby-knife held perpendicular to the surface, and just "scrape" it off. Not ideal for metal models though.