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Dunno has this been asked or not, but I haven't been around as much

In any case, I have craploads of bits and pieces that are waiting for me to clean them up from mold lines *sigh*
The only working tech I know is that you draw your knife 45 degree angle towards yourself, like scraping.

Is there a fastest way for this? I can never tell has the mold line been removed or not, unless I touch it.. But still afraid to apply pressure not to scrape the minis too badly :(
I was thinking like if there's a mini sanding papper plug you can attach to drill for example, and sand it slowly ?

Some hobby shops sell sanding sticks, they are about the size of ones used for manicures but there are a variety of grits. I have a couple ranging from somewhat course to a polishing surface that i have cut into strips a couple millimeters wide that can fit into tight space. A couple passes with them and the surface becomes nice and smooth. I would recommend using them after a nice scraping with a hobby knife just to plain down any roughness that might be left. There is no “easy” way really without sacrificing quality. Hope this helps. Happy modeling

I recommend sticking with the hobby knife. Using a Dremel Tool can lead to very bad things.

Removing mold lines is painfully tedious, but I don't think there's a way to short cut it.

I've heard people swear by jeweler's files.

I love using a pair of fine silverworking files - one triangular one oval. Knives are versatile, but files are safer and require less concentration.

For finecast or plastic?

I use a seam scraper tool - very fine and I find it gives me more control than a hobby knife - with less chance of damaging the model too.

Cheers,


IK-Painter

I recommend filing as well, it's much safer and there are many files too choose from.

Get a small file set from a local DIY home improvement store or the like, for decent prices:



They should have a round, flat, square and rounded/flat, those are the 4 most useful shapes I've found, not only for filing mold lines but converting, etc. I used to use a hobby knife for it all, but the files allow you to be more precise and get a smoother finish IMO, especially because you can carefully round out the mold lines, etc. Of course, sometimes you'll have to combine both filing and cutting, always use your best judgement.

The best method depends on the material and the depth of the mould lines.

Plastic is usually best dealt with by the knife scraping method and/or sanding stick.

Metal, being harder, usually requires the use of the file.

As mentioned above, though, you can use all techniques in combination.

Sorry folks, I forgot to input its mostly plastic by now.
I have seen those files in my local store, but they're bit overpriced by my standards.. I could get 5 paints for them :(

Do they go by any specific name so I could look up some deals on ebay?

Maybe its just lack of files I'm missing, and knife is a pain to use.

Cheers

In addition to what Killkrazy said, I like to use really fine sandpaper on the plastic models.

The best solution (that I've found) is the Micro Mark seam scraper. The tip is made out of tool steel so it's harder than the metal usually used for minis, which means you can use it for metal figures. It really shines on plastic though (since that's what it's made for).

Scraping with a knife, especially with a new blade can sometimes cause even worse problems when the blade bites into the material/mini. Not to mention that it dulls the blade.

If its a really fine mould line you can sometimes get away with just brushing it with fine plastic cement.

Soft sanding sticks are generally better than jewelers files, but don't last as long.

YMMV etc.

Tyris1013 wrote:Sorry folks, I forgot to input its mostly plastic by now.
I have seen those files in my local store, but they're bit overpriced by my standards.. I could get 5 paints for them :(

Do they go by any specific name so I could look up some deals on ebay?

Maybe its just lack of files I'm missing, and knife is a pain to use.

Cheers

Needle files is what to search for. They are not very expensive. You can get a set of about 10 for about £10 and they'll last for ever in modelling use.

I've been working on a huge army, and 90% are new kits. Been using a needle file set and scraping with the knife edge. It takes time to make a model look good. Just figure, the more time and attention to detail you do at the beginning, the better your paint job and overall model will look in the end.

Just looked on eBay, seen a 10 piece needle file set for 5 bucks and free shipping. You will get your moneys worth out of them in the first day.

So needle files, cool -I've been wondering, do you guys asemble your models and then clean them or the other way around?

edit: In any case, I've got myself 5pcs of jewlery files, that thing better be razor sharp xD (not to mention shipping was way less than the metal ones, even if it was 3 or 5 pieces more) -5 pieces is all that I need
And got myself exacto knifes set, should be good to go which anything I get thrown at. Except the authorities questioning me why I am buying weapons all of the sudden

A sharper blade will make the mold line scraping a bit smoother, and if it tends to "flatten" out the edge I'll smooth it out by scraping it around to curve the piece again.

Well, it depends on the shape and how they fit together. I usually file the mold lines off before assembly, because bad mold lines can prevent joints fitting properly, plus sometimes you can't get under a leg, etc.