ahh those darn seam lines, from the ones on the barrels to others on the tires! how do i get rid of them, i tried sanding but they still showed, but didnt protrude, and i tried cutting it down w/ my hobby knife...but no results!
any tips would be much appreciated, this is the one are i havnt been confident in yet!

When I glue the two halves of a gun tube together, I always use liquid model glue. I use Ambroid myself, but the other brands should be just as well. I put some glue on one of the halves (be sure you have test fit the parts and that they fit). I then put the halves together and squeeze. Hopefully, some of the glue and plastic will ooze out a bit. I then apply glue to the seam where there is still a gap and let capillary action flow the glue through the seam. I squeeze the gun tube as the glue sets to try to get some of the softened plastic to ooze out of the seam that the glue was just applied to. I then sand this all down. Any further gaps are filled with putty and again sanded. This is then given a primer cover and sanded yet again. If any of the seam is still showing, repeat the priming and sanding as needed until the seam is gone. Long process but worth it.

Mold seams, or glued seams???? That is the question..... :-) :-) :-) :-)
I have personally found that even though a mold seam may still look like it's there, it may not be, but just a characteristic of the plastic. So a coat of primer is needed. This primer will do two things. 1. show up the seam, and 2. help fill the seam.
Silver plastic is famous for this ghosting effect. (makes it really easy to rescribe your panel lines after sanding them off) with certain olive drab plastics a close second. (I find, to my eyes at least, eastern Europeans olive drab shows this rather easy)
For glued seams, I find the easiest way to deal with them is the old squash and squesh method of gluing works rather well. I use enough cement so the plastic softens and then squash and squesh until a little bead on melted plastic shows up, maintaining pressure until the cement dries using clamps, or weights. Then simply trim the bead off. A little primer, checks the seam.
A lot of time this primer is simply a brush load old thicken paint along the seam, shows up any flaws, usually fills the flaws the first time, and a little light sanding removes whats not needed. Mr. Sufacer is excellent for this, but when building at work, I use the old thickened paint, since the Mr S is at home.
I also have found that wet sanding is best when removing seams. Leaves a finer surface for you finish coats.

thanks, just the answers i needed.

Now me the sanding takes to long, and I still do, to finish up, but a lot of the time if your real careful, I use my hobby knife to shave the mold lines off, it is a lot faster.

Now like I said, if your not real careful, you can cut into what you don't want to, but I have been doing it so long, that it is second nature to me, I just about use it for everything, even on the spokes on the BMW R 75 motorcycle.

This is just something that takes a little pratice, and be real careful, cause them blades are so sharp, and could be easy to slip and cut yourself.
Oh and what Grummpy said about the shooting some primer on it, cause it might have the ghost effect is right, that could save you a bunch of work. Cause your sanding anyway, why do more work then you haft to.
Always remember safety first

Kerry

I wouldn't know how to remove the seams on gun tubes without my trusty Flex-I-File.

Shaun

Linkage:

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=60619

In agreeance with straightedge, 19k, and Grumpy, I use a combination of techniques. Glue seams are a result of the glue you use. I use Tenax to melt the plastic which then instantly (and I mean instantly) fuse together the two plastics, therefore giving a bond that is as strong as the plastic rather than other glues whose bonds are only as strong as the glue.

When you bond two pieces together with the "melting agent" (for lack of a better description), what you get are bubbles that harden when the chemical dries. These are very easy to swipe off with a sanding stick (however sometimes these can look convincingly like weld lines [echnically they are]).

If it is mold lines, I use a combination of knife swiping and old fashioned sanding. It depends on the size and angles of the mold line. If I can't get to it with my sanding stick, I go to the knife. But like Straightedge, be careful with this. I've made many a mistake with it, but you get better after awhile.

Good luck.

Jeff