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Hello Dakka, I'm trying to learn about the correct tools and techniques for adding scriptwork and symbols on armored plates of space marine, chaos warriors, and the like.

I've tried using a hobby knife but the lines aren't really noticable.

I've been searching around online for a while, and maybe I'm pressing the wrong buttons, but I haven't been able been able to find any tutorials about engraving the surface of plastic miniatures specifically.

Anyone able to help me with this? I'd prefer methods that can be done by hand without expesive tools, but at this point I'll take whatever knowledge I can get.

Mostly posting to keep track of this thread because I don't know either.

Have you tried using a tiny drill, heating up a pin or making a little chisel out of some wire?

Or though not something I have done on miniatures before, I would imagine wood working tools like this http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB12HdTGFXXXXXzXFXXq6xXFXXXd/201338772/HTB12HdTGFXXXXXzXFXXq6xXFXXXd.jpg could work

Start by using your knife to get the design and create a cut that these tools can follow (avoids slipping). The triangle shape would probably be best as you can control the depth and width easier.

I think this would be the cheapest option. I think beyond that you would be looking at pretty pricy engraving tools used for metal engraving.

Source - I use this method when detailing terrain such as paving stones and metal plates.

You might try panel line scribers. Alternatively, you could use a fine sewing needle in a pin vise.

Dremel with some small cuttin bits at relatively slow speeds?

If by 'scriptwork' you mean teeny-tiny bits of dog-latin inscribed into space marine armour, I think it might be neater to skim over a thin layer of putty and press into that.

Otherwise, I have three things that make scribing lines a bit easier. Been using them just recently, as it happens. They are:

A paper piercing tool - a kind of fine-pointed miniature awl for - guess what - piercing paper. Found in the papercraft sections of craft shops, along with paper embossers. (Tools with ball-shaped heads, which can be occassionally useful for sculpting and modelling too) Not to poo-poo the suggestion of a needle - I've used that myself - but paper piercers are at least as sharp and are sturdier. A bit less skipping and jittering, which is handy for tiny details on tiny minis.

'Stencil' blades. At least that's what Excel calls them. Other tiny blades are available - I have a stock of Impex branded examples, and there's Swann-Morton etc.
I love these things for winkling in around mini details, nicking out mould lines in awkward crannies, scraping putty surfaces smooth, and most knifework lighter than cutting plasticard or lopping limbs off. Couldn't do without them. Throw a finger out to steady that skinny neck and draw the point across the surface.

As Gordon suggests, a Tamiya plastic scriber - a thing made for scribing plastic. Cuts a fine groove so easily, it's almost like dragging your fingertip through water. In fact I'd say that could turn into a disavantage: you need a steady guide or grip to stop it wandering off, especially at our small wargaming scales, where subtle wobbles stand out more.

If you find a good way, let us know!

I've never been able to successfully engrave text at a scale that looks good on a model. Scribing panel lines? Sure, use a scribing tool or the back of a knife (you want to actually remove material, using the sharp side just causes the material to part without actually removing anything, so you use the back side of the knife to scrap material away).

You can also buy scribers that basically just have a pointy pyramid type head, they scrape better than regular pins which I find aren't stiff enough to be useful.

I actually used the pointy end of a cheap compass once and that worked okay but it blunted after a while.

But that was all scribing lines, as in, straight lines or at most very gently curving. Engraving actual text I've never had any luck.

You can buy an engraving tool and it can work to enhance and sharpen detail that already exists, but to free hand text is really tricky.

I imagine when professional sculptors want to make text on a model they probably carve away some of the surface, build it back up with putty and then put the text in to the putty. Unless it's really big text then you can probably make a stencil and use an engraving tool.

Have you tried a hot needle? We are talking about plastic, after all.

I wonder if a dremel and a needle would do much of anything?

Dremels have specific engraving bits. If you brought a dremel or rotary tool kit, they probably came with some engraving bits.

Good luck trying to free hand text with it though, it's hard enough to create a smooth line of consistent depth with a dremel.

You can buy rotary tools (dremel branded or otherwise) that are specifically designed as engravers, they tend to be a bit smaller and fit in the hand better, I don't know if they work better for engraving or not though, not tried one myself.

I've found plastic is actually a difficult material to engrave, I think the soft elastic nature of it makes it hard to smoothly remove material free hand. I'd sooner try and engrave wood or metal.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 treslibras wrote:
Have you tried a hot needle? We are talking about plastic, after all.

You could try, but hot-anything has the problem of controlling the temperature. As soon as it hits the model it starts cooling and then you have to try and heat it back up to the same temperature. It's also not removing material. But you could try, I've not tried it specifically on plastic, but from experience trying to use heated nails for other stuff and after a few minutes gave up because of the temperature control problem.

You could try a temperature controlled soldering iron, I've never tried it myself, but I know some people who have used them burn designs in to wood.

There are any number of ways to add ACTUAL engraved detail to minis. Are you more concerned about the physical depth or the final look? You might be better served by painting techniques, if you're only after a cool effect from tabletop distances.

If you actually want to scribe/engrave, DO NOT touch the rotary tool and abrasive bit. It's theoretically (and practically) possible to get good results, but the odds are stacked so heavily against you, I'd bet my life that you wouldn't be happy with the results without practicing until I died naturally, anyway

A real graver/burin will cut plastic like nobody's business, but it also tends to dig in deep. They're designed for metal, after all, and there's a general assumption that the end-user will tweak and hone the edge. On plastic, resin, or pot metal, they're basically just chisels/knife edges (depending on shape).


My advice: Sketch the pattern on the model in pencil, then trace it with a knife tip to set your lines. After that, you'll have a 'track' to keep your tool of choice in line, be it a sewing pin, sharpened nail, bespoke scriber, or whatever else works. Also, be aware that, depending on how the tool works the material, it may make a full, clean gouge, or it may carve a furrow, creating raised edges that need to be sanded down.