De-Seaming 1/72 Infantry

I bought my needle file set from Harbor frieght pretty cheap. I get the most use out of these and the Xacto knife above all.

I appreciate all the kind advice. Jay Jay, of the tools you mentioned, which gives you the most versatility on a budget? I already have the blades covered. The Flexi products look good, or should I get a file set first? I know I'm going to need a loop. The models are way too small for my eyes!

It depends on what the material is that the figure is cast from.

Styrene or pouring metal can be carefully carved or scaped. Other plastics like Airfix used in their otherwise great figure sets is much harder to deal with.

I scrape the seams with an X-acto knife.  Scraping is where you hold the blade just under 90 degrees to the surface and pull along the surface. Scraping dulls the blade rapidly, so I keep a handle just for scraping, and put the old blades from my regular knife in it.  A blade can be somewhat dull but still effective for scraping.

Hello, HT, It's entirely up to you. If you want to show your figures in some sort of competition or the like, then you'll definitely want to clean them up as much as possible. If you're just modeling for your own enjoyment, then just do as much as you're comfortable with and don't worry about it. There are ways to remove every little flaw and preserve all the detail. It just takes a LOT of patience and very close work. Modeling should be enjoyable. When it becomes a chore and a burden, then it has lost its purpose. Focus on what you'll like in the finished product and don't worry about what someone else might do. Some folks can't get enough realism or detail and that's part of the fun for them. For others, too much detail is just plain tedious. Figure out what you're happy with and enjoy. Barrett