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Hey everyone,

Still kinda new to the hobby and had a few questions after mostly finishing my assembly of a Redemptor Dreadnought that took about 10 hours? That seems a bit long and it wasn't because I did anything fancy or over the top. Aside from a few parts I may have damaged in the process and a pose (which isn't complete) that seems to be shaping up with the dread looking at the sky I think one of the things that seemed to eat up a lot of time was cleaning up the rough parts that where left over from the spurs. I used a semi fine sand paper to sand each spot from where the spur connected is there a better way to do this? I saw the modle line remover from GW on amazon for around $16 and another brand model for $10. Would those tools work and be an improvement and time saver over the sandy paper? I am not looking to do some pro grade show case model but still want them to look decent and am really only looking to remove the crap that is left over from the spur. Any other tips or tricks on assembling models in a timely manner would be appreciated as well thanks in advance!

A few thoughts that should help
First up know that GW tools are good quality, but often (very) overpriced for what you get, so do hunt around ebay and local hardware stores as you can often get some items just as good for a lot lot less

1) A scalpel. This is probably my MOST used tool during assembly. Careful practice and use and it can do a lot of what you need. First up you can use it to help chip away at chunks like where you've taken the model off the sprue. In addition careful scraping using either the blade edge or the back of the blade; can be used to clean away mould lines and other marks on the model. The fine tip of the blade is also ideal for getting into tight spots that often a thicker tool - like the mould line remover - can't get too.

2) The mould line remover from GW is good, but its thick metal makes it less versatile at getting into tight spots. I use mine, but often end up just sitting with the scalpel in hand.

3) My second most used tool is a diamond file. Diamond files are sold in "grits" like sand paper - hunt around and find yourself a 900 grit small file (I had to do a fair bit of hunting to find them in the UK). If you only get one file then a "half round" works great; you've got a pointed tip for getting into small areas; a half moon curve for curved spots and a flat side for - well - flat areas.
The bonus of a file over paper is that its easier to get into tight spots and you can clean it off and get more use out of it.

To clean a diamond file get a normal rubber and file over the rubber. This will clean out the soft plastic/metal/gunk. Note do circular patterns not just a back/forth motion. Plastic is soft as is white metal so you will clean fairly often.

If you can't get 900 then 600 is a very good option too - though will cut more easily into soft plastics.

A file can be used to, again, clean off mould lines and a 900 grit can be used to smooth over many areas quite effectively.




As for time spent cleaning this varies person to person. Some can't see mould lines and clip the model off and stick it together - others go for every single little mouldline they can find. You'll find your happy point on your own for this. It's a personal thing.


Ps these two articles I wrote might help you - note that whilst one deals with resin the general methods displayed (such as filling gaps etc...) are still very valid for plastic and metals
https://warminiatures.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/relthoza-vaxiss-ground-attack-leviathan-assembly-guide/

https://warminiatures.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/blood-angels-of-khaine-a-conversion/

Thanks for the reply! I'll have to check out those links and start the hunt for some good looking files.

Take as long as you take dude. I sometimes wished I took longer over certain parts of the modelling process and not rush as much.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Take as long as you take dude. I sometimes wished I took longer over certain parts of the modelling process and not rush as much.

These days I find that I like to undercoat spray models twice. Once for a light starting of coat that will typically reveal a billion errors in cleaning up which can (when the paint is 100% dry) be cleaned up before a final pass of the spray. Two thin light coats for an undercoat is better than one big coat and then spotting those nastly mould lines or marks that didn't get hidden with the paint and which require scraping off a chunk and then dabbing back white with a brush.

I'm fairly quick with assembly, but don't usually bother with cleaning moldlines or sprue-spots. I really only deal with those when they're in a very visible spot and a lot of newer gw kits seem to make an effort to place them in less visible places once assembled.

I do however take a long time to paint. If you enjoy what you're doing - take your time. Personally, I'm cheap, so my thinking is every hour spent messing with a model is an hour of entertainment. If a 60 dollar dollar model takes me 30 hrs to paint/assemble/magnetize, then that was a bargain price for entertainment. Then after that, it's usage on the board is just a bonus.

SirWeeble wrote:

I do however take a long time to paint. If you enjoy what you're doing - take your time. Personally, I'm cheap, so my thinking is every hour spent messing with a model is an hour of entertainment. If a 60 dollar dollar model takes me 30 hrs to paint/assemble/magnetize, then that was a bargain price for entertainment. Then after that, it's usage on the board is just a bonus.

That is very ture, I tend to enjoy the painting and playing of the game the most and at times just find the modeling frustrating, as I just want to get it assembled and to the good stuff and honestly don't mind how long it takes me to paint them. As to your point about some of the points where the flash being attached end up hidden I did notice that a lot as well (This is my first non easy to build style model) and I did spend a lot of time cleaning up spots that no one will ever see any way.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Take as long as you take dude. I sometimes wished I took longer over certain parts of the modelling process and not rush as much.

That's good to hear, I don't mind spending a bit more time on it just thought maybe I was doing something wrong when I realized how much time I had spent on it especially for the rather amateur job I ended up doing. Based off the comments so far I feel more confident that I am on the right track and ready to get some more practice in

I spent a good few hours clipping and cleaning each part on my baal predator, but even after putting it together I still see imperfections

 Overread wrote:
2) The mould line remover from GW is good, but its thick metal makes it less versatile at getting into tight spots. I use mine, but often end up just sitting with the scalpel in hand.

Another benefit of Citadel Mouldline Remover is if you're working on any of the 'Easy To Build' kits, you can put the tip of the remover in the hole and rotate it a few times and you'll find it much easier to get the pegs to fit without applying excessive pressure which may damage the model.

I've always just used the backside of a hobby blade to remove casting lines and burs. Really the GW mouldline remover is just a bit of hard steel that's shaped just so. It's really nothing special.

 Overread wrote:

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
Take as long as you take dude. I sometimes wished I took longer over certain parts of the modelling process and not rush as much.

These days I find that I like to undercoat spray models twice. Once for a light starting of coat that will typically reveal a billion errors in cleaning up which can (when the paint is 100% dry) be cleaned up before a final pass of the spray. Two thin light coats for an undercoat is better than one big coat and then spotting those nastly mould lines or marks that didn't get hidden with the paint and which require scraping off a chunk and then dabbing back white with a brush.

I really should do this my self. i hate seeing post 70% finished mistakes.

honestly debating making a big tube o wash to dip my whole spure in to catch all the mistakes, then strip before assembling.

Yeah I hate mould lines! Sometimes I feel that GW should really remove them for us at the prices we pay.
But unless you're on a time limit for a commission, just try and take your time. I just finished my duel for the upcoming golden demon and it took almost 6 weeks, painting 2 hours a night and a little more on weekends...and I'm still not happy with it! Ha

Don't forget to get some filler for all the joint lines. Especially on GW vehicles...*shivers*

I use an Xacto knife to remove injection vents from models and drag it sideways to remove mold lines. As the blade dulls it becomes a little easier to remove mold lines, it won’t bite into the plastic as much.

The GW mold line remover wasn’t useful for me except on a few resin models because resin is so soft.

Take your time with assembly but 10 hours on a dread seems like a long time. You will get faster, trust me. One other thing you might find useful is using blue tack from the office section of Walmart to help you dry fit models. It’s really useful for chosing poses and I use it to stick pieces on toothpicks for spraying. If you get into painting sub assemblies of models blue tack is also useful for blocking off the parts where you’ll be gluing them together so you don’t get paint there.

Also as with everything practice makes perfect. You will get faster. Also not sure how you calculated 10h. Working on model non-stop? In practice I find myself waiting glue drying up so for that it helps to have several models in process. Thus you can assemble 2nd or 3rd while first is gluing thus cutting down assembly time per model.

I did 2 warlord titans this way and even with final assembly added in(armour plates were glued after airbrushed to ease painting process) I'm pretty damn sure it didn't take 10h effective time per titan.