Model Forum / General / Models / March 2006

Rich, your off to the right start.  I take of the bulk of the mold line
with a #11 blade drawing it back just as you describe.  Once I see that
I have reached a point where the blade will begin to adversly effect
the model I switch to a polishing stick.  These are found in the drug
store or department store with the fingernail care products.  They are
used to polish the nail to a smooth high gloss surface.  I use them
during build up and after painting if I have the 'orange peel'
appearance in the paint.  These polishing sticks are the best kept
secret to eliminating flaws found in plastic both before painting and
after. Give them a try.  If a seam requires deeper sanding, well then
you'd have to build the area back up with putty or CA and keep working
it until you reach the original or desired shape.  With the quaility of
the kits these days, these sticks only are needed as a light pass to
clean up the seam or mold mark.  Hopefully you are using a liquid
cement and welding your parts together rather than 'glued' together.
Hope this idea helps.

Areas that have been flattened or 'dug into' can be brought back up to
contour with putty, so don't worry about it.  I use scraping as first
attack, but also use needle files or sandpaper over worse areas, such as
mismatched seams.  I use a primer and several coats may be necessary to
fill seams and maybe even require putty.

    Try http://www.flex-i-file.com/ .  To clean up parts that are too
small for Flex-I-Files I 'melt' the mold parting lines away by lightly
brushing on Testors bottled liquid cement.