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I'm currently doing assembly/paint prep on the Primaris models out of the Know No Fear starter set, and I've come across a bit of an annoying problem. The dark blue plastic they used in place of the usual gray is making it very difficult for me to see both the presence of mold lines and if I have successfully removed them. Based on the contents of my stripping tub, the only way I've been able to know for sure if they are still there is to give them a coat of primer.

Anybody got any tricks to make the mold lines more visible before painting so I can make sure they aren't visible after?


EDIT: Asking the question gave me a sudden inspiration and I figured something out. I remembered I got one of those Tamiya weathering powder sets years ago, so I dug it out and gave the models a good dusting. As it turns out, you can dust for remnants from the manufacturing process.

An ink wash would show them up & not clog up any details.

I usually just wet the model down before I do the clean-up. It makes the moldlines stand out a bit more and it makes cleaning your tools a bit easier as the wet plastic remnants tend to be a bit easier to just brush off than the dry stuff.

A pencil maybe?

priming

=(

Priming white or grey can make screw ups more apparent

though personally i just try and guesstimate where the mold lines would be from the way are taken off the sprue.

it usually gets most of them.

 bubber wrote:
An ink wash would show them up & not clog up any details.

That was my first thought, but sadly it's a darker blue than it looks in photos. It's also shinier than the gray plastic is in a way that bright light causes detail-obscuring glare. The pigment dusting worked great, and it reduced the glare. It makes me want to get some cheap powder foundation makeup and see if that works as a low-cost alternative.

 Desubot wrote:


though personally i just try and guesstimate where the mold lines would be from the way are taken off the sprue.

it usually gets most of them.

The thing about these models is they defy all reason as to where the moldlines should go. It's the price you pay for minimizing the amount of parts while still keeping the poses dynamic. There are mold lines going straight across shoulderpads, ones that take very sudden turns, ones that just stop somehow. It makes you really want to see the profile of each half of the mold.

You could make a white wash by thinning down white paint. That way it'll settle in to the mould lines but still contrast against the blue plastic.

You can also try priming the model. Use a sandable primer though, otherwise cleanup will actually be more difficult. My personal weapon of choice is Tamiya's primer, wait a day for it to dry and it should make a good base for identifying mould lines that still need to be cleaned.