Jump to content

Best way to cut our part of building?


AgentP

Recommended Posts

If you see this battle report, you'll notice an imperial bastion over on the right side of the board that has been eaten away by acid, part of the model has been cut away, and the hold painted in a green effect.

 

 

What is the best way to cut a large section out of a model like this?  I've done things with clippers and elbow grease before, but it didn't turn out this good.  I'm guessing there has to be a better way.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking they did a simple approach.

 

Basic painting of pieces on the sprue (grey primer, maybe drybrushing). They assembled without glue to get the shape layed out where they want the "hole." Unassemble. Then used aluminum shears or similar big scissors to cut out a general shape from each individual piece. Then assemble with glue. Then use thick glue, like wood work related, to create the bumpy edges (and conceal scissor marks). Then add the green over the glued sections and any other finishing touches.

 

Should be extremely quick to mass produce with minimal effort.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dremel + cutting wheel will melt the plastic and would be difficult to cut out curved shapes. In fact, most rotary tools move so fast that they melt as much as they cut.

 

Jewelers saw is not easy enough to pivot and take a section out like this. You would have the same issue with shears, or other larger cutting tools.

 

Looking at the shape of the void, I would bet it was converted after assembly.

 

You would need a power tool with a thin blade to do this. I would think bandsaw, body saw, or possible a jigsaw if you could secure the piece well enough. After the initial cutting, you would go in with clipper and a grinder to vary the cut edges. That is the way I would do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would use a Dremel with metal router type bit.Bryan is correct that it will likely melt the plastic as you do it,also melting onto the bit so you will need to clean off the bit several times,but since you are doing a look that is essentially "melted by acid" it wont be that far off,though you will still need to clean off the globs from the cuts you make on the model

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once cut a drop pod in half… for a commission (revenant standing on drop pod).  Anyhow - I put it all together - and then cut the pod in half with a hack saw… and coping saw(sp)  with some help from a band saw.  I taped the the pod around a few times just to be sure it wouldn't break at the glued seems.  It went pretty quick actually.  After the larger portion is trimmed away it's pretty easy to do the detail work with a dremel I am sure.

 

-d

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a challenge with any set of tools I know of but the key is patience. I'd probably use a razor saw and sharpie marker. Decide exactly where you need to cut and mark it all the way around. That way you can make small precision cuts that don't destroy detail unnecessarily. When the saw can't go any further in one direction flip it over and saw somewhere else. Once it won't reach at all you can slowly work a large xaction into the remaining material. You will still need to file the cut portion once it's separated but the perpendicular surfaces should be pretty intact. If the cut ends up doing more damage than you wanted this can be disguised with various kinds of battle-damage effects. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...