Ok everyone we now have an official Campaign if you go look at the Campaigns Page (Black tool bar to the right of the MG logo). I'd like you all to enlist, if you haven't already.

We have previously discussed the following topics
Kit selection and research,
Kit preparation and pre building processes

This new discussion will be a bit longer we'll alot two weeks for this one.

I'm going to call it Part Prep and Fit. Lets take a close look at how to ready an individual part for assembly. This will involve different styles and types of removing a part from the associated casting support. Then there is part clean up and subsequently fit

I'll kick off the discussion around my primary kit on the bench - Revells Big Boy steam engine.

First part is removing the parts from the sprue. There are a few things to consider when removing an injected part from the sprue.
1. Sprue bar connector locations
2. Sprue bar connector point shapes
3. Sprue connector point access
4. Sprue material

When removing a part you need to examine where the spure connects the piece. Consider at least these things - how delecate is the part where the sprue attaches, is it thick or thin, Consider if the end location will be visible when assembled.
Beyond just the location you need to consider the shape of the connector. Is it a simple straight 'pin' or a wide sprue bar.
Also consider how much free space is available around the piece. Is the sprue closely molded around the part, are there other parts next to the 'target' part.
One last thing to consider is the material of the plastic.

All of these factors affect how and with what you will remove the part.

My favorite tools to remove injected spure parts are - #1, Side Cutters, #2 razor saw, #3 exacto #11 blade, #4 exacto razor saw.

Side cutters are my primary tool. They typically are small and can access the majority of location. They are fast and easy to use.
The downside of side cutters is the way they cut the part off. They can distort and bend parts fairly easily. If the part is delicate or the plastic soft, they can leave you with a 'fix' on your hands and not a 'fit'. The softer the sprue and the wider/larger/bigger diameter the connection point the more likely you are to have damage.
One way of avoiding damage is to position your side cutters in the proper 'direction'. Position them parallel or even with the longest connection point. Also consider positioning the cutters to minimize de-formation. In my photos below you can see what I mean



I'll talk more later on other tools and other mediums, resin, plaster, paper....
I'd like you all to weigh in on your consideration when removing parts, tools, techniques etc.

I'm scratchbuilding so that make my job easier

my tools are as follows swiss army knife (scissors), homemade PE folder, needle nose pliers, shears,side cutter,file/rasp, square, stamp thongs and tweezers, white and clear tacky glue and paintbrushes.

my materials are old floppy disk plastic, copper foil, pen ink tubes, ESCI molatov cocktail bottles( for modding/kitbashing), small beads stripwood, copper wire, beading wire, clear sprue, paper, and assorted metal pieces.



my parts are ready to be remove from the layouts. I've drawn out the writing desk parts layout on a floppy disk with a sharpie. I'm working on the layout of parts for a bookcase, a wardrobe/dresser, a plain desk, and a safe.
The cuts to be made for the trays are marked on the copper foil. The wire handles are ready to be bent. Maps are ready to be cut out and glued onto
the desk when the desk is done. File folders are yet to be printed. Eyeglasses ready for assembly. Shotglasses are ready to be cut off clear sprue. Molatov Cocktail bottles ready to have rags cut off and be painted. Pen ink tubes are ready to be heat-strechted into bottles and painted.

I use the tools I showed in my previous post based purely on situation. I work in all injected plastic, so I don't have any speciallized tools for PE or Resin or anything (although I did buy a single resin figure from Verlinden, so it will be of great interest to me when you do discuss that).

If the peice has a thick connector on it, I use my cutters (like your side cutters, but much smaller, which also reduces the area in which it can cause deformation).

If the piece is very delicate, I will actually cut the connectors from the sprue using my cutters, then use my scissors to part the peice from the connector.

If I peice is really close to another, or to the sprue, I will use my scissors to try and get at the connection point, but if I cant, I use my exacto knife to cut it loose.

Basically, the integrity of the peice is most important to me. I like to do as little repair as possible. I would sit there with a nailfile if I had to, just to get a single peice off without breaking it. Modelling I find is as much learning as fun. You have to learn through experience what kinds of parts you break, using what techniques. Learn enough ways to break the peice, and you will eventually find the one that removes it safely. Once you do, you will be able to identify by sight which peices need special treatment, and eventually, it will come automatically just to grab the correct tool without thinking about it.

With resin kits the clean up is usually done a bit differently. There is usually a larger block of excess resin left after the pour.

I have gown into using a dremel with a cut-off-wheel to remove the majority of the block. I do this for a few reasons. First off, it's fast. It reduces the amount of time spent in clean up which reduces the amount of time resin dust is flying around. That's key, the more control you have over the dust the better off your lungs are. Secondly, a cutt off wheel can be manuvered into some tighter spots vs. a long razor saw.
If there is a concave location I'm cutting off I make sure I cut off high enough to miss the part . This results in a second level cleanup. I use a diamond bit in my dremel again for this. The size shape and access to the resin block dictates the shape of bit I use.

The big key in resin clean up is safety, wear a mask. I try to vacuum often and even will rig my shop vac to suck out the dust as I am cutting or ginding.

Thanks for the heads up on that one Scott. I'll have to wait until I can get at my dremel again, so that figure probably won't get started for a few weeks. Luckily I have another two possible kits lined up for this.

Ok guys, a couple of responders where is everyone else?

Any fit issues - de-spruing, resin block cleanup .

How about white metal - what's it take to clean that up?

Hey Scott,

Guilty as charged... I've taken Thursday off from work to try catch up on a few modelling things and a bit of R&R... but until then will have limited connectivity...

As I'll be doing a white metal figure for this I'll post then... again, apologies...

Rudi

As you know the white metal figures come in generally without sprues. In my case only the small pieces have a small sprue. I cut the pieces away using an exacto blade. Fortunately I am trying to buy and paint always some good quality casted figures. This one is "almost" one of them. Every piece has molding lines and these are cleaned up using a #11 surgical blade. I fix the blade to an exacto handle. Then I use #800-1000 sand papers. The white metal can be shined by simply rubbing with an inox instrument. I sometimes use this shining procedure for swords, iron helmets and chainmail armor details.
I check for several times the fitting of the pieces. Commonly I have no problems with the high quality figures, but this time I saw that I have to do some minor putty work.
I made the necessary measurments (by eye ) and thought of my little conversion ideas for the figure and then I converted the figure's left hand to hold the spear. He was holding a shield actually.

That's was all before the assembly.

My figure is already finished but I will share the steps as I entered the campaign with this figure. Sorry Scott, but my figure modelling is a little bit more faster then the other modeling subjects. Couldn't wait to build it simultaneous with the campaign topics.

A day off - what's that? Just kidding Rudi... Glad you got some time to yourself. No problem.

Alguhan, how many blades do you go through on average? I've done a couple of white metal kits and I leaned toward files vs. blades for clean. My thoughts were that the blade would dull too quickly. Now my idea of files is not without its pitfalls. After the kit cleanup with files you have to clean up the files. The soft metal gets lodged in the grooves of the files and I use a wire brush in my dremel to 'wipe' it out.

Well scott, a good quality figure does not need file work But if it does wire brush it and its OK.
The #11 surgical blades I can say that I use one of them at two well casted figures.
And after the whole assembly of figure I also gently wire brush the figure and this helps to solve the scratches made by a pile or blade.