Welcome back everyone! In this lesson we are going to show you how to remove the seam lines from your MSD, however, please note that this lesson is optional and will require you to disassemble your MSD. Or you can you can remove the seam lines from your MSD right our of the box, before first assembly.
By now, you have probably noticed the seam lines along the sides of each of your MSD’s body parts that look similar to this:
Example of seam lines on the thigh.
These seam lines are created by the manufacturing process. Some people do not mind these seam lines, and some do. Removing the seam lines is more of an aesthetic choice, but it is also a good way for owners to bond with their SD as this is a technique that requires delicacy and patience.
Items needed for seam line removal:
-Zoukei-mura Ceramic Knife/Flat Blade
-Zoukei-mura Sponge Paper #400-600
-Zoukei-mura Sponge Paper #800-1000
-Tamiya Finishing Abrasives P400
- Tamiya FInishing Abrasives P600
-A good pair of scissors
- Face mask (optional)
-A wet cloth or cup of water (optional)
The instructions are below, as always!
Step 1 (not pictured): Prepare your MSD, items, and surrounding workspace. For a suitable workspace you will want to work on a flat surface such as a table. As for preparing your workspace, you may want to lay down some newspaper or cloth to collect the resin shavings for an easy clean up later. As for the items, prepare the Sponge Paper by cutting them into smaller squares around 3X3 inches. Also, you will want to have all of your tools out and ready. And most importantly, disasemble your MSD if you need to and lay the body parts out. You will not need the elastic, s-hooks, KIPS disks, washers, or ball joints, so be sure to put them away in a safe place. Once you have prepared everything, then you are ready to begin!
Step 2
Step 2: Choose a a larger body part to work with and begin by lightly shaving off the seam line with the Ceramic Knife. To do this, angle the blade as you shave in a vertical direction. I find it easy to shave towards me, as pictured, but you can shave away from you as well. However, whichever vertical direction you choose to shave, make sure that you are shaving along the raised part of the seam line. The goal of the Ceramic Knife is to shave the seam line down so that it becomes as even as possible to the surrounding resin, so it may take several shavings to do this.
Step 3-1
Step 3-1: After shaving the seam line down as much as possible, remove the remaining seam line through sanding. If you are sensitive to dust we reconmend using a face mask for this step, or you can wet the Sponge Paper before using it to reduce any debris.
The lower the Sponge Paper number is, the rougher the sanding grade is, so start with the #400-600 Sponge Paper. To sand the seam line do not use a circular motion. Instead, you can sand vertically in an up or down motion or you can wrap the Sponge Paper around the body part and sand in a twisting motion, as pictured.
Once you are satsified with the initial sanding, finish off with the #800-1000 Sponge Paper. To do this, use the same techniques as mentioned above, however, be sure not to sand too much as it will make the resin glossy. And after you are done sanding, you may remove any excess dust from the resin by rinsing it off in water or using a damp cloth.
When you are finally done, you should have a smooth surface just like this:
- Step 3-2
Step 3-2: Now, when you are ready to do the hands and feet, a little bit of a different technique is used. Although you can use the Ceramic Knife to remove the seam lines from the hands and feet, it can not be used in small spaces such as in between the fingers. So, in order to remove the seam lines from the small spaces, you will need to solely sand them down using the Tamiya Finishing Abrasives.
To use the Finishing Abrasives, start off with the P400 and finish off with the P600, sanding the seam lines just as you did in Step 3-1. However, when you are sanding around the finger and toe nails, be careful not to sand them off.
Step 4 (not pictured): After repeating the above steps to remove the seam lines from all of the body parts, the final step is to assemble the body back together again, or for the first time. Do you remember how? I hope you will at least try it on your own, but if you need to, you can always reference back to Part 1 of Assembling Your MSD Kit.
Well, it looks like we are almost done with with our four part series. As always, I hope you have gained something from this lesson, and I hope you will join us next time for our final post of Assembling Your MSD Kit. And be prepared, because it’s going to be a long one!
Tags: MSD Assembly, Tutorials
