Kaladrax body: three parallel flash lines - is that absurdity normal?

[Arkady]

Having started with some small Bones at first, I decided it's finally time to paint up a big one, so I got out Kaladrax.

 

And while prepping, I was in for a nasty surpirse: the main body - which during stocktaking looked fine enough at first glance - really looks like a shoddy piece of work.

 

1. There's three parallel flash lines along his spine. Seriously. Three parallel flash lines. How does something like that even happen?

 

2. The main body is not, in fact, a single piece. It's a pre-assembled two-parter. And upon close examination, the pre-assembly wasn't - as so often for Bones - done all that well. I guess I'll have to whip out the putty for Kaladrax after all...

 

How was everybody elses experience with the big fellow? Is he alway this "fun" to prepare, or is the three parallel flash lines bit at least a stroke of bad luck with a bad cast?

[smokingwreckage]

Hmm. I've done a bit of assembly and some thinking, but haven't got into the mould lines or anything yet. Fit so far looks better than a large metal, not that that's necessarily saying much.

 

EDIT: re-checked. Mine has a very faint mould line visible along each of the three ridges running front to back along his spine. The two parts of his thorax are well joined, maybe a tiny bit of scraping and trimming if I was looking for a totally perfect fit, but the part that's slightly misaligned will be invisible.

 

That really isn't relevant to how well fitted yours is, but I can see the same mould line. It's mild on mine. And there's another mould line roughly at right angles to it, and another along the fleshy part of his neck. I'd guess that makes it routine for this model unless yours is really bad? I certainly don't know anything about these high-pressure steel moulds, sadly.

Edited November 14, 2013 by smokingwreckage

[Arkady]

The reason I'm so curious about it is because if this is normal, it doesn't bode well for Dragon's Don't Share 2. The multiple mold lines (which are fairly pronounced) are a pain on a material that doesn't really allow filing or scraping.

[dwarvenranger]

I think you got a bad one. I only have one mold line that I can see on mine. As well, it took me a while to notice where the two halves of the ribcage join. Or that the ribcage was two pieces at all.

[dsmiles]

I haven't really looked at it, except to inventory the contents of the box. I'll have to have a look this evening...

[TaleSpinner]

The reason I'm so curious about it is because if this is normal, it doesn't bode well for Dragon's Don't Share 2. The multiple mold lines (which are fairly pronounced) are a pain on a material that doesn't really allow filing or scraping.

 

<Ghostly Voice from Above> Get saaaanding neeeedles from Hobby Lobby. They remove the lines. Get bluuuuuuuue and white.</Ghostly Voice from Above>

[Loim]

Also, when removing mold lines from Bones Wren in all of her infinite awesomeness (her name we praise, in her light we shine) discovered that it works best if you move the sanding needles in one direction, rather than back and forth as one would a standard file on metal. I've discovered that this translates to needle files as well. If you have diamond files you can push or pull them in one direction across the Bones to quickly remove material. Then follow up with the sanding needles to remove the "fuzziness" left by the file. I would only use this in extreme situations where the mold line is prohibitive to getting an X-acto or scalpel blade into. Otherwise I would use said blade, then use the sanding needles to do any clean up. My .02. Hope it proves useful.

[smokingwreckage]

Depending on how soft the Bonesium is, you can either scrape wit the back of the knife or with the blade. You have to be careful with this but it works in some cases. Also, sanding needles as above. I think the trick with them is their amazingly fine grain.

[Wren]

I have not found scraping to work, but a paring motion like how you peel a carrot, works well. The sharper the blade, the easier to just get that tiny bit of mould line and surrounding area. If it starts getting frustrating, your blade as probably dulled. I am considering sending away for a scapel blade and handles, I hear they're sharper and stay sharper longer than Exacto. (And should anyone reading this be under age, please consult your parents before using blades of any variety!)

[Heisler]

I think I see what you are saying, but the ones on mine are pretty faint except for the one along the central axis. Mine is also well assembled. I think we just have to adjust to a different set of mold line issues for Bones than for metal. If this kit was metal we would probably be looking at about 50 pieces (WAG) to put him together and everyone of those pieces would have its own set of mold lines. Its just a matter of perspective.

[TaleSpinner]

I have not found scraping to work, but a paring motion like how you peel a carrot, works well. The sharper the blade, the easier to just get that tiny bit of mould line and surrounding area. If it starts getting frustrating, your blade as probably dulled. I am considering sending away for a scapel blade and handles, I hear they're sharper and stay sharper longer than Exacto. (And should anyone reading this be under age, please consult your parents before using blades of any variety!)

 

Feather Scalpel Blades, #11 are the way to go. The other sculptors convinced me to try them. It is actually hard to believe just how much sharper they are than X-Acto blades (you can't even feel it when you cut yourself). They are a must for sculptors and also excellent for paring flash lines on Bones or metal minis. Don't bother getting a new handle; I just slide these into my X-Acto handle and tighten it down. The round X-Acto handle allows you better control to follow detail. The flat scalpel handles are actually quite annoying and make the job more difficult.

 

Andy

Edited November 14, 2013 by TaleSpinner

[Darsc Zacal]

I'm actually beginning to think that It might be an idea for Reaper to source out and put together a "Bones Tool Kit".

[Magnus Mercury]

 

The reason I'm so curious about it is because if this is normal, it doesn't bode well for Dragon's Don't Share 2. The multiple mold lines (which are fairly pronounced) are a pain on a material that doesn't really allow filing or scraping.

 

<Ghostly Voice from Above> Get saaaanding neeeedles from Hobby Lobby. They remove the lines. Get bluuuuuuuue and white.</Ghostly Voice from Above>

 

 

Even with the sanding needles, I find that clean-up is a much more painful process than with metal or normal plastic. Especially on the more "flexy" Bones figures (though the rigid ones aren't so bad).

[buglips*the*goblin]

I can't remember how bad these might have been on my Kaladrax, if prominent at all. Feels like I painted him a year ago. I do know that I didn't have a lot of time to fuss about, so whatever extent they were on mine it was something I decided I could live with.

 

If you got a picture of the offending area, I can take a closer look.

[Panzer_Engel]

I find diamond files work far better than cross-cuts in terms of burring (If you're interested, I idly turned a nail-file on the original bones ghost. Don't knock it, it worked, and one set of cheap diamond fiiles later cleaning up bones has become far quicker)

 

Other than that, scalpel, 10a blade, and slice, don't scrape.