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Forums - Modelling / Figures |
The figures forum is for the discussion of construction and painting of figures and the tools and materials used. |
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| Subject: | Some Random Thoughts..... |  |
| Date: | Jun 1, 2001 |
| From: | Jeff Nelson | |
I'll say this up front - sorry to waste anybody's time with this - but here are a few things that I think will be of interest. If not - sorry :)
First off, I am a novice at serious kit building as I have just recently returned to the hobby after 9 years of golfing and fishing. However my experience working at an injection molded plastics company has forever corrupted my tolerance of "flash, sink, ejector pin marks, etc." Especially since I work in the quality department of said company, and it's my job to fix these problems, I have to clarify a few things.
These kit ailments CAN and SHOULD be fixed.
Flash: 1. Excessive shot size - the injection screw injects more plastic than the mold can hold. This material must go some where - it seeps out as flash on the parts.
2. Worn tool (mold) The mold halves don't make a tight seal and some of the melted plastic seeps into the cracks. This is the most common cause of flash. However, to re-tool a mold (make a tight seal), costs between 5 and 30 thousand dollars, so these worn molds are rarely fixed. It should be noted that excessive shot size (#1 above) is the most common cause of worn tools (molds).
Sink: This defect has two causes. 1. The shot size was too small (the screw didn't inject enough plastic into the mold). This usually happens when the operator is trying to eliminate flash.
2. Not enough cooling time in the mold. The mold halves were not held in place long enough for the outer plastic to firm up. This effect is most apparent on "thick blocky" parts. Half a second makes all the difference!
Anyhow - In my opinion there is NO excuse for stuff like this to happen. Unless the manufacturers know they will not sell kits, this will go on and on. Call me a nutball, but I can tolerate missing detail on a kit, yet the above defects really tick me off:) Detail can be added (fixed), but we as modellers shouldn't have to "fix" stuff that can be corrected with a keystroke on a computer.
Just my 2 cents
Jeff Nelson |
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