| Spartan63 | 06 Sep 2014 9:23 a.m. PST |
I am looking for some advice. I recently picked up a box set of Conte's WWII German infantry really cheap. Now I have loads of Paragon figs and TSSD which are hard plastic and therefore easy to clean up any mold line. However, with Contes being a softer plastic removing any mold line or surplus plastic that has leaked out of mold causing a slight frill effect isn't so straight forward. I am using a scalpel knife but it doesn't work properly. What am I doing wrong |
| Cyrus the Great | 06 Sep 2014 11:30 a.m. PST |
Get one of these. link It's one of my best hobby purchases ever! |
| 45thdiv | 06 Sep 2014 11:31 a.m. PST |
You are doing nothing wrong. conte soft plastic figures are the worst to work with and there is no glue that will hold them together. I have the WW2 figures too. A fresh sharp blade it about all you can use to remove the mold lines. I have heard of people using a soldering iron to just melt them away, but I thank that would need a lot of skill. |
| 45thdiv | 06 Sep 2014 11:32 a.m. PST |
Cyrus – thanks for that link. I had not seen these before. I am not share how well it will work on soft bendy plastic, but it is worth a try. |
| dBerczerk | 06 Sep 2014 12:05 p.m. PST |
Unless you plan to enter your painted figures into a painting competition, just leave the less obvious imperfections (mold lines) alone and paint over them. They really do not show up that badly once the figures are painted. Sometimes, trying to remove them makes the problem worse than leaving them in place. |
combatpainter  | 06 Sep 2014 5:59 p.m. PST |
Ignore the lines on the delicate parts. The tool above is a partial answer only. It will help but not foolproof. |
79thPA  | 06 Sep 2014 6:58 p.m. PST |
Some people heat up a pin or a paperclip end with a lighter and then run the hot end along the mold line. Personally, I don't spend a lot of time on them because, as mentioned above, it is easier to make them look worse while trying to fix them. |
| allthekingsmen | 07 Sep 2014 3:28 a.m. PST |
Conte's early, "rubbery" figures were spincast using resin rather than injection cast using harder plastics. That means the resin probably doesn't respond well to being melted and produces fumes. I'm a big fan of approaching flash and seam lines with a cigarette lighter, but won't use that technique on Conte's early stuff. If you must try, do it outside. A very sharp scalpel is your best bet. |
| Pan Marek | 10 Sep 2014 12:55 p.m. PST |
Glue- Locktite (in the US) has a soft plastic glue set.
It comes with "prep" substance in what looks like a small felt marker. Apply that, wait a minute, then use a small amount of superglue (included). The prep works with any superglue. I've used it on Conte figs, and it works for gluing on the arms, etc. |
| thehawk | 13 Sep 2014 9:39 a.m. PST |
the early figures can break if dropped |
