Flow Marks? (if that's what they are)

[Guest]

Hey guys, new to the forum.

I've looked around the net a bit, but didn't spot anything at glance.

I got me a 1/48 academy mig-29 kit, which i've been working on for some time. The kit, however, doesn't look like it's been molded too well. A lot of parts have, what i think are "flow marks". Like wavy distortions. Does this fine familiar to anyone?

And more importantly, is there a way to fix them?

Thanks guys

[Guest]

Hi Zazz and a warm welcome to the forum. I'm glad you've had a look around and I hope you have enjoyed what you saw. As for your own problem could you please clarify whether the flow marks are simply a colour effect or whether the shape of the parts is not as they should be? I have seen colour effects in the past however when painted they were no longer noticeable and so didn't affect the model.

If however the "flow marks" are faults in the shape of the plastic I would have taken the kit back and ask for a replacement as this would seem to be a manufacturing fault. You shouldn't have to correct things such as this and the kit is obviously not fit for it's purpose so should be replaced. Unfortunately now that you have started the model this is no longer an option so a photo of the parts would be very useful to help identify exactly what you are talking about.

[Guest]

Hi Zazz and welcome to the forum. I have to admit that some models I have built have had odd marks in the plastic that do look like, as you so well describe them, flow marks. However, although these show in the surface of the plastic I could not feel them. It was just marks in the moulding process and when painted fully disappeared.

The important thing is is they are optical or physical. If you can feel them and they will therefore not paint over, I agree with Richard, it is a faulty kit. But if they are just optical and you cannot feel them, they should not be a problem.

[stona]

I think I had something similar on a kit I did last year. I found that under a fine coat of paint they were visible from certain angles,a bit like bizarre pre-shading. I gave the kit a coat of Mr Surfacer (probably 1000) to get rid of the effect. I think a coat of primer before your final paint job would be adequate.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Hey guys, thanks for replies and warm welcomes.

I'll try to get a picture of the defect up as soon as i get my hands on a camera.

In the meantime, yes, the defect is physical, and unfortunately mars some key parts like fuselage and wings. I'm way past the point of no return on this kit though, and i'll try to fix it however i can

[yak face]

hi zazz , welcome to the forum. Ive got the academy mig 29 in the stash and ive just had a look at it, the example ive got looks ok as far as i can see. Its got a few flow marks on the wings but theyre only in the plastic and dont affect the surface finish at all . Once we see the pics it might be a bit clearer , its unusual though for academy to have a bad moulding - theyre usually very crisp and fault free. cheers tony