For my Sherman Crab, I needed to replicate a lot of weld lines because one of the kits I’m using, had them all as wide recesses rather than narrow, raised lines. After contemplating and trying a few things, I settled on the following method.
Step One: Put two pieces of masking tape along the weld line, leaving a narrow gap between them:
[ATTACH]372476[/ATTACH]
Obviously, you’ll need to leave a gap the width of the weld line, and preferably a tiny bit less.
Step Two: Smear more putty into the gap between the pieces of tape:
[ATTACH]372477[/ATTACH]
Don’t put this on too thick — not much more than the thickness of the tape itself should do, but it doesn’t need to be perfectly even or smooth.
Step Three: Remove the tape:
[ATTACH]372478[/ATTACH]
Do this before the putty sets, and make sure you don’t pull too much off with the tape.
Step Four: Texture the putty:
[ATTACH]372479[/ATTACH]
I pressed a ridged pattern into the putty with the edge of a spatula. You can also do this before removing the tape, but since this texturing will flatten the putty a little and push it outward, it’s better to do it after because it will smooth out the sharp edges left by the tape.
Step One: Put two pieces of masking tape along the weld line, leaving a narrow gap between them:
[ATTACH]372476[/ATTACH]
Obviously, you’ll need to leave a gap the width of the weld line, and preferably a tiny bit less.
Step Two: Smear more putty into the gap between the pieces of tape:
[ATTACH]372477[/ATTACH]
Don’t put this on too thick — not much more than the thickness of the tape itself should do, but it doesn’t need to be perfectly even or smooth.
Step Three: Remove the tape:
[ATTACH]372478[/ATTACH]
Do this before the putty sets, and make sure you don’t pull too much off with the tape.
Step Four: Texture the putty:
[ATTACH]372479[/ATTACH]
I pressed a ridged pattern into the putty with the edge of a spatula. You can also do this before removing the tape, but since this texturing will flatten the putty a little and push it outward, it’s better to do it after because it will smooth out the sharp edges left by the tape.