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It takes me around 20 minutes to build a human-sized miniature (including cleaning mould lines, not including basing). I'm thinking of going pro - and to go pro, I need to be faster, 3-4 times faster.

Any tips?

Happy Easter everyone!

Know exactly what parts you'll need for the mini and keep them in a place where you don't lose any of them.

Using a mould line cleaner, rather than a hobby knife, speeds things up immensely. Also, you can do a lot on many pieces whilst still on the sprue, and you don't need to search for them as they will all be going in the same direction.

Edit- also, look after your glue so you don't waste time unclogging application points.

20 minutes isn't actually all that bad to prep many human sized models to a good standard.

Most people don't bother to time themselves so don't realise just how long they take or simply prep models roughly.

As for techniques, try and be methodical, mould lines are obviously a single line that goes all the way around the model, so just track your way around the model cleaning off the mould line rather than jumping from one spot to another, if you require different tools to clean the mould lines on a model try to keep a mental note of the areas as you go around so that you don't waste time hunting for mould lines.

I find if I give up trying to clip models off the sprues closely, I actually work faster. Clip them off roughly and leave plenty of plastic on them, that way you can clip them out faster and the stubs are quick to clean up with a knife.

Oh, and make sure your blades are always sharp. It's much faster cleaning up a model with a sharp blade rather than a blunt one, buy blades in bulk and just swap them out frequently.

But overall, 20 minutes isn't all that bad depending on the model. I've timed myself and it takes me 10-15 minutes to clip, clean and assemble a basic guardsman. I use a lot of the push fit models largely because they're quicker to clean up (~5 minutes instead of 10-15).

EDIT: Another thought, if you're using a knife to scrape mould lines make sure it has a stiff blade, Testors make some where the blade is moulded in to the handle, they make for good scrapers because they're quite rigid. If the blade isn't rigid it will want to bounce and you won't be able to control the pressure as easily, you can somewhat mitigate it by using your finger to rest against the blade (without cutting yourself!) to effectively increase the stiffness of the blade and absorb any shuddering.

1) Make sure you're using clippers to get the stuff off the sprue. No point in using an x-actor knife.

2) You can use hobby emory sticks to finish off large sprue joins etc.

3) Only clean the mold lines that'll show up.

 Elbows wrote:
3) Only clean the mold lines that'll show up.

If you're looking at going pro make sure you aren't sacrificing quality to do that. Yeah, on my Tyranid Gaunts and Gants I tend to assemble them before cleaning the mould lines and only clean the ones that are visible from the top.... but.... they're Gaunts, they're worth 4pts so saving a few minutes per model on a horde is worth a slight reduction in individual quality it to me

Going pro...well that throws everything out the window. Do you need to clean that small mold-line on the inside of the pant leg of Guardsman #106? Probably not.

Thanks guys!

I'm using all advice and practising. I got below 12 minutes on a crypt ghoul, I've never been faster.

Still, all tips welcome!

And again - enjoy your Easter!

Sharp knife and practice.

A lot of the building process for minis are very basic, repeating tasks that would go smoother with a sharp knife. Once you've gone through it enough, the proceedure will be second nature and you'll be through them much faster.

 Elbows wrote:
Going pro...well that throws everything out the window. Do you need to clean that small mold-line on the inside of the pant leg of Guardsman #106? Probably not.

For all you know that could just be the inseam on his trousers!

I would say my thought on using a hobby knife on clearing the mold lines is to use the back of the blade as opposed to the cutting edge as a sharp blade can chatter and get stuck sometimes, the mold line cleaning tool is a good idea as well, I have the citadel one from a couple of years ago and while I wasn't overly impressed by it (the blade tends to get bent) it does have its uses as unlike a sharp hobby knife I can get some angles or hollows where a knife would just remove material where I didn't want material to be removed.

All tools have their advantage/disadvantages so give yourself more options rather than fewer.

 Elbows wrote:
Going pro...well that throws everything out the window. Do you need to clean that small mold-line on the inside of the pant leg of Guardsman #106? Probably not.

Depends on how many angry customers you want. If I pay for something and I find mold lines that haven't been cleaned up I'm going to expect a full refund, including the cost of shipping the garbage back to the painter if they want it back. And I'm going to be perfectly happy to escalate to a paypal/credit card dispute if I don't get that refund. So if you want to send out unfinished garbage you'd better be willing to deal with the consequences.

Or you can be like me and use a razor blade for everything. Everything. Cutting pieces off spruces, trimming mold lines, layering, drybrushing, inks/washes, conversions, proxies....


Edit: I was being serious for the first two

Peregrine has the right of it. If you're going to be ordering a pro service, do a pro job.

I pointed out a mold line (several actually) that someone had left on their space marine's legs, of which a picture was posted on the local-ish GW shop's FB page, to wit the person's reply was that they, "didn't want to spend three hours to build the model." I replied, "it shouldn't take that long to clear the mold lines off a model, I believe in you; you can do better!" Then I was threatened with being banned from the page for "being exceedingly negative."

So yeah, clean the mold lines, you may miss one or two here or there but I agree with Peregrine, even though an inseam mold line is pretty funny.

xraytango wrote:
I pointed out a mold line (several actually) that someone had left on their space marine's legs, of which a picture was posted on the local-ish GW shop's FB page, to wit the person's reply was that they, "didn't want to spend three hours to build the model." I replied, "it shouldn't take that long to clear the mold lines off a model, I believe in you; you can do better!" Then I was threatened with being banned from the page for "being exceedingly negative."

Probably because that would have come off as quite condescending. Once you'd pointed out the flaw and the painter acknowledged it, unless you were adding information on techniques to improve there was nothing to gain from further responding and the "I believe in you" is more than likely just going to come across as patronising. The person knows they left the mould line and even told you why (even if they may have been a bit hyperbolic in their explanation).

Some people aren't targeting golden daemon but are just trying to get their armies painted so they can play a game, but still want to share their progress and whatnot.

The OP said they were wanting to go pro so should probably be aiming to make a portfolio of well painted models that have been flawlessly prepped. Some customers are going to be happy saving $1 per model if you take shortcuts on the prep, but other customers are going to abhor the idea of a professional leaving a mould line and will be critical regardless of whether it was a $500 model or a $5 model, so in that context it's best to be thorough and clean the model well regardless.