Making More Realistic Weld Beads |
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Here is a one of the more useful tools and techniques that I accidentally discovered while adding weld beads to my U‑673 boat. I did not want to use putty since it is not well suited to this task and is fairly difficult to get consistent results. I needed to find something quick and most of all... easy.
STEP 1: Adding the Basic Welds
- Cement strips of flat strip styrene to the model using thin liquid cement. Try to use a strip with a width that most closely matches other molded "welds" on the model.
For this U-boat, I used 0.010" thick x 0.020" wide strip styrene
- If necessary, sand the strips so they are very thin.
STEP 2: Making the Weld Bead Tool
- Take a small finishing nail (say 3/4" long) and cut the head off with a Dremel cutting disk.
- Cut off the pointed end.
- Grind the end at a sharp 30° angle.
- Clean up any rough edges with a file or sanding stick.
- Mount the tool in a pinvise handle.
(Alternatively, you could use a hypodermic needle of the proper size, but be careful because they are extremely SHARP.)
STEP 3: Enhance the Weld Bead
- Soften the strip styrene with thin liquid cement.
- Using the tool, press the sharp rounded tip into the strip styrene on an angle so you get a curved indent.
- Move the tool tip back VERY SLIGHTLY on the strip styrene, and press in again.
- Repeat along the length of the strip styrene.
- Apply liquid cement to the bead to soften the edges slightly (and keep it in place.)
Evolution of the Technique
The tool & technique I discovered is similar to that used by armour modellers to create weld beads. Other modellers may use an Xacto blade with a broken tip to score plastic; but I don't know if they use a plastic strip as the foundation for the bead.
I feel that using my tool is safer to use than a broken Xacto blade... no sharp edges to have to worry about other than the tip.
AND... using my tool & technique gives more realistic weld beads, since it imparts the proper semi-circular arc to the bead and allows the bead to dome up.
Whereas using the tip of a broken blade gives flat scores and does not make the plastic dome up.
Its all about sharing the knowledge!
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