It is often discussed on several forums, blogs, magazines and books, how to paint a figure - or, related to armor, how to do weathering - with other words, how to give your model the final touches, which makes it an artistic piece.
But what about, if you just started this hobby, and you have still problems with the initial steps?
In this article I want to give a brief guide, how to clean and assemble your figure.
Let's start with a bit of theory.
We usually find kits on the market made from injection moulded plastic, resin or soft-metal. In all cases the fundamentals are the same: manufacturers do a so called negative form, and they fill this form with some kind of material which gets solid and firm later. But there are a few differences between these kits, how to deal with them, and all have their advantages and disadvantages.
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Image taken from the internet.
Copyright belongs to original publisher. |
First of all, there are the
INJECTION MOULDED PLASTIC kits. Injection moulding is an industrial, high-volume procedure. They create the moulding tools with CNC machines, and with an other machine they press the heated pastic into this form.
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Image taken from the internet.
Copyright belongs to original publisher. |
This method requires a lot of investment, and has a lot of limitation. Big manufacturing companies are focusing on the most popular subjects, from which they can sell thousands and thousands. Just think about the usual supply of model shops and webshops: German soldiers in any amount from Dragon, Tamiya, MB, Miniart, etc. Maybe a few Russian or Brittish trooper, or a few crusader from Italeri...
Also it has a few limitation; as it is an industrial procedure, do not really expect deadly sharp details or a moulded head full with life and gesture... But these kits are relatively cheap, and a good point to start with.
What about, if you want a little bit more? An interesting subject out of WW2 german soldiers... An interesting pose, a character full of life, nicely detailed straps and buckles, a head with a special mimic...
Than it is time to get familiarized with
RESIN or METAL figures.
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Image taken from the internet.
Copyright belongs to original publisher. |
My personal reference is resin kits, simply because I find them easier to work with: it is more resistant, easier to repair, and I found the paint easier sticks to the resin than to the metal. I think some bigger companies use soft-metal for their figures only because it is harder to copy them... But it is a matter with taste anyway, like anything else.
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Image taken from the internet.
Copyright belongs to original publisher. |
The main difference compared to injection moulding is, that the procedure how they make resin mouldings is closer to hand manufacturing. A sculptor makes the master piece. This person is usually an experienced modeler often with artistic background and education. The manufacturer makes a moulding form around these master piece from a flexible, rubber-like material. The resin comes usually as a main component and a hardener/catalyst. After mixing these two liquids you get a honey-like fluid which you pour into the moulding form. A few hours later the material gets dry and firm, and you can release it from the form, and start the whole procedure from the beginning. It might sounds like an easy thing, but beleive me, to achieve a good quality without bubbles and moulding lines is really an art on its own!
So that's about the background. Hope it will help you to understand little bit more the whole procedure.
Let's talk about the next step. The manufacturers did they job, you have your resin kit in your hand... What's next?
CLEANING THE MOULDING MARKS
On your figure you can find the following features coming from the nature of the moulding procedure:
- BUBBLES: during the drying process of the resin the thousands of micro air-bubbles try to escape and they merge into bigger bubbles. The air moves upwards, and if it sticks to a corner you will see a circular piece missing from you moulding as an end-result. It can be eliminated by using vacuum and well-engineered moulding tools. If you buy from a reliable manufacturer, you shouldn't meet this problem.
- LUG: There is a hole, where they pour the resin into the form. After the resin gets dry and firm, it remains on the figure. You have to cut this excess material off from your figure.
- FLASH: Where the two halves of the moulding tool (let's call them male and female) joins there is always a gap between them. If you are lucky, it is only a few micron, and you can easily cut it away.
- DISPLACEMENT: this occurs if the 2 halves of the moulding tool slip over on eachother making a step on the moulding. This is a very serious failure, very hard to repair. Best you can do if you meet a moulding like this to never buy again from that manufacturer.
On the left you can see some tools required by the cleaning procedure of the figure. A good Dremel or Proxxon tool could be also a useful equipment, but they are expensive and the work with these tools require extra attention. In most of the cases I try to avoid the usage of them. Different size and grade of files and abresive papers (sandpaper) could be also a great help, but my personal preference is to do most of the job with scalpel.
You can cut most of the flash very easily with a scalpel. Just follow the lines of the figure, and try not to drive the scalpel into the body.
It is not necessary to cut all the excess in one run... You can go back later and refine it.
To remove the lug, first I do small cuts at one end..
...and on the other end too.
Than try to break off the excess material. Use moderate force, and try not to damage the rest of the figure. If it is not going easily, do deeper cuts and scrape the material along the line where you want to break it off.
Hopefully the manufacturer did all efforts to keep the connection point between the figure and the lug as small as possible, and after a few trials you will easily break the excess off.
With the help of the scalpel you can carve off any excess material.
On visible areas you have to be more careful. However you just have to follow the lines of the body, and try not to cut too deep. Repeat the cutting movement several times rather than trying to cut all at once.
If the engineer of the manufacturer company did a good job, the moulding lines should drive along clear areas where you can't damage fine details during the cleaning process.
If you are working on folds or other recessed areas; try to do a cut from one direction till the deepest area of the fold, following the form of the body, than another cut from the opposite direction the same way. In the deep of the folds you can clean any flash with slightly twisting the knife, allowing its blade to follow the curve of the fold.
The most important thing is to realize, what features are coming only from the moulding procedure (so we don't need them) and which features are belonging actually to the figure. You have to be careful with straight line along a trouser for example, it can be either a moulding line, or the sculptors intention to represent the stitching line what you can see on the original cloths too. So always think first and do a cut after that!
Next time I will continue with the assembly and other preparations.
