Sorry to keep asking basic questions.... but here's another one.

I am doing my first 1/35 figures, the US Infantry assault set from Tamiya and have noticed that there are a number of quite considerable seam lines, particularly on the legs and arms of the first figure I'm doing, more so than on the M-10 I'm building. Is this normal? and what is the best way to get rid of these bearing in mind they are in what will be very noticeable areas?

Also, is it better to build the whole figure before painting, or paint the seperate parts first, or does it depend? I bet it depends!! The first one I have built has his arms pretty close to his body, making painting of the body and all the detail on the webbing etc very difficult to do well, especially at my standard of painting. I didn't realise this till after I had assembled him, but I guess that is how we learn!!

Thanks in advance.

Roger :-)

Favorisio,

The way I clean up seam lines is by gently scraping them with my Xacto knife.




You are right it depends. I usually build the figure without attatching arms, puches, backpacks etc. until after they have been painted.

Thanks Marty, I thought that'd be the case.

Do you think I will be able to "cut off" the arms, and then re-attach them later after painting?

Roger

If done carefully, I don't see how removing and reattaching the arms could pose a problem, but I'm not the the greatest figure guy. As for the seam lines, I also use an X-Acto knife and sometimes the crease of folded sandpaper.

Depending on the glue used you might be able to gently break them off. I have done it a couple of times. Then just clean off the glue residue and you should be able to glue them back on after they have been painted. Word of caution here, do not paint the joints. Figure parts don't stick well together if glue is applied on top of paint. Even super glue has a tendency to weaken with time.

HI

And welcome to the wonderful world of figures!!

I paint figures after building as much as I can. Sometimes, this means leaving an arm or weapon or equipment off when a basecoat is added. I find it more trouble to fix the obvious join lines on pre-painted parts than it is to assemble then paint. I do the same thing when building armor kits, build subassemblies, then paint, then assemble, then touch up etc.

And if the Xacto knife isn't working to clean up the seams you can use some fine sandpaper or needle files to get into the crevices and folds.

Cheers
Andy

I haven't done older Tamiya figures in a while. As others have said, when you paint depends, but with these guys, I'd assemble most body parts first, clean up the seams, prime with a light color, clean, fill and file some more, prime again then paint. The edge of an #11 blade is good, and I also use a rat tail file for the folds. Paint any packs, web gear and weapons separately, then attach.

As far as figures go I think you are much better off building the figure and leaving the extras off. Make sure that you dry fit the weapons they are going to be holding before you cement them. Then, remove the weapons and paint the figure. When you are done you ought to be able to glue the weapon into the figure's hand. It is a tough call, depending on what kind of uniform you are going to have to paint but I think you are much better off painting the figure without all of the extras on it. Paint, weather, and add those extras after the figure is done.

Once again, just my 2 cents...