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it seems like every time I work on a model with a ribbed hose or an ammo belt or some such, there's a fat mold line running right down the center of it. I've never had much luck cleaning up that line. I get the worst of it with a knife, but it's still visible; more so once there's paint on it, naturally. I'm afraid to really go to town with the knife or files for fear of removing all the detail along with the mold line. does anyone have any tips for cleaning up areas like this?

cheers,

v

I usually do the same as you, use a knife edge to get those mold lines. If you scrape along, its usually doesn't take to much of the detail. I'll also use the back side of the x-acto knife, to go through the in between areas to get the mold lines there, or use a half round file edge to get those areas. It just takes some extra time to get the best out of your models.

Hope this helps some.

A knife to get most of it and a decent needle file to get between the ribs. Really you just have to take your time and be careful tho, no easy answer im afraid

Just looked on the Tutorial section and seen a video on making power cables using wire. Could be an alternative for some of the cables with mold lines on them.

Here is the link - http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/439224.page

If you scrape lightly, you can get most of the flash off without harming the ribs of a hose, appreciably. At least, that would be the case if there was ever a simple cleanup to be done on the damned things. Seems the more complex a surface, the more egregious a stepped shift line I find. For these, I almost always end up having to do some major reshaping, then recut the grooves with a fine triangular file. You'll never perfectly match the pattern of the original, but I've found that a reasonable approximation is good enough to give the illusion of continuity from anything more than a foot away. I'm willing to make that compromise.

You can get a triangle shaped or square shaped micro-file. Then using the corner of the file use that to get into tight spots and cracks.

Ashton