Skip to content

Modeling How-To: Detailing Part 3

This is part three of a multi part series on detailing scratch built starship models. Part 1 | Part 2

Cleaning Up Kit Parts

You can’t just clip off model parts from their trees and glue them directly to your model and expect it to look good. Model builders all know that removing the part from tree is only the first step. Parts don’t come out of the mold without mold lines. These lines have to be removed or else the part will look like it was molded. Sometimes the real part is case from a mold and the line is supposed to be there but that rarely is the case. So you have to remove this mold line without changing the shape or texture of the part. This can be done most efficiently by using a small, jeweler’s file.

You can also use sanding sticks of various grits. You generally want to use the file in one direction, not back and forth. Plastic is soft, so only a few passes will remove most mold lines. This same procedure is used to remove the post of plastic that remains on the part after you cut it off the tree. Most modelers use either a hobby knife or special clipper to remove model parts from their trees. Forever and a day I always used a sharp knife for this task. Recently I’ve taken to using specially designed hobby clippers to do this task. The idea is to leave as little of the post as possible on the part you are removing. So that you don’t have to file as much to remove it.

After you file, as seen in the image above, you may have some plastic built up on the edges. You can remove that with your finger nail or some light sand paper. As you may have guessed, this is a huge time sink in just removing parts and cleaning them up. Models are not built quickly and the best looking models take time to complete. Take the time to clean up your parts and you will immediately see better results in more realistic models.

Using Stock Styrene

I’ve found the best brand of stock styrene to be Evergreen. You can find it in most well stocked hobby stores in a display like the one pictured above. It’s also available on line from hobby web sites. The display’s like the one above are ideal because you can see all the variations in thickness and shape. Each package will run you about three to four dollars US so chose wisely and only get what you need. I’ve always joked that I should just buy this display outright and that would be cheaper.

Evergreen strips of plastic are the scratch builder’s best friends. I use them extensively on every model I build. Most of the time I build the models from sheet plastic and use the thicker strips for bracing. Then I wind up covering the models with cut bits of plastic to form shapes and combining them with model parts to include raised panels.

I always use sheet plastic for building or boxing in the shape of a model. The model pictured above has a wooden frame but that is covered with plastic. Then I used sheet plastic to shape or box in the engines and cockpit area. Depending on how large your model is, sometimes you can just use the plastic for the structure.

When creating the panels that cover the model you can use various sizes of Evergreen and even cut them to the sizes you need. Below is the top of an engine from the same model showing various sizes of Evergreen used. You can vary the thicknesses to achieve a layered look.

Sometimes you can change the shape of your panels by sanding off the edges and using a file to create notches as in this panel from the same Renoke model.

Evergreen also comes in tubes both hollow and filled in various sizes. Below are some examples of using Evergreen tubes for pipes. I bend the plastic by using a fireplace lighter to soften the plastic.

Pipes made from stock styrene and from model parts.

Sometimes you can combine square and round tubes as on this starship’s main body.

Scratch built landing gear from Evergreen tubes.I’ve also developed a style for using strips of Evergreen for deck stubs on my Alliance starships. Some examples are shown below.

As you can see from these examples, I’ve used Evergreen extensively and in many different ways to detail my models from starfighters to starships.

Reference Pictures

It’s always a good idea to have are folder filled with pictures from other models to get ideas from. I have collected images from movie models and other hobby modelers to see how they are detailing. The thing to remember is that you should always consider what your details are replicating. The parts should look like they actually do something. Don’t just randomly slap them onto the model without any thought. The best models look real and don’t look like they are simply covered in tank parts that anyone can identify.

The Best Model Kits to Use

I have found that the best model kits tend to be tanks, ships and trucks or other mechanical vehicles. I’ve used just about every kind of kit made for parts. Motorcycles are also good, although I have yet to try them. One unlikely kit that I found had perfect parts for my Votainion warship model. It was a big wheeler truck accessory crane kit.

Part of the fun of building a larger starship model is searching the internet for images of kit parts to see if there is something that would fit with the model I’m building. I literally spend hours of my free time searching for the right kits. I usually have to purchase two to three kits per larger model in order to have enough interesting parts. Many kits have lots of parts that I wind up never using, like tank wheels. The trick is to never buy a kit for just one part. Try and make use of as much as you can to justify the huge price of the model kits. The best kits often cost between $35-$70 and it’s hard to spend that much when you don’t even build the models you’re buying.

I usually don’t use every piece in a kit and as a result I often wind up with a bunch of model trees with missing parts on them. I’ve found no good way to store these extra parts. I usually strip them off and toss them into plastic bins but that process takes time and if you want to use two similar parts later, you have to cull through the boxes to find it and that takes time. Depending on what stage of modeling I’m in, my garage could look like a complete mess.

Speaking of messes, your workbench will become completely overrun with bits of plastic, model trees and cutting tools while you are detailing. I’m a pretty neat person but I just give up trying to be tidy during this stage as evidenced below.

 

 

 

 

3 thoughts on “Modeling How-To: Detailing Part 3”

  1. Thanks Ken for the tip on the Italeri 1/24th truck crane accessories kit. I found several of these at clearance price at my local hobby shop and snatched them up.

  2. Pingback: Tuto : Le détaillage des montages en scratch (3ème partie) ; par Ken Mc Connell | Cyber-Mecha

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *