Scale model welding practice sheet

thingiverse

This is a sheet of grooves, corners, indentions, and extrusions that can used to practice adding miniature welding beads for scale modeling. I have purchased a few RC Tanks from "Heng Long" (Tiger I, Tiger II, and a Jagdpanther) as well as some Tamiya Epoxy Putty (Quick Type) to add miniature welding beads around the parts on the tanks. This gives the model a more realistic look after it is painted. The idea is to run a small line of Tamiya's Epoxy Putty between the grooves where the welds would lay, and then go over the putty with a curved edge tool giving it a welded look to it (seen in the photos above). This same technique could be used within many different types of Scale modeling. Whether you are working with 1/16th scale (like me), 1/35th scale, or even 1/100th scale models. This sheet is just a template that can be used to practice on. I left room open in some of the blank areas of the sheet for the ability to add your own parts and pieces to practice on it however you like. Things like drilling holes and adding wires for handles or adding your own grooves with a scribing tool. It's up to you! Tamiya Epoxy Putty can be rather expensive (but goes a long way), so I like using "sticky tack" (also known as sticky putty) as practice material because it is super cheap and available everywhere. I like practicing my welds with this because I can easily take it back out of the template and try again. It also is somewhat close to the same feel and consistency as the Tamiya Epoxy Putty. After enough practice, I then go ahead and use the Epoxy Putty. The welding tool I use is made from a thin piece of copper sheeting that I heated with a lighter to soften it up. I then used a small wooden stick from an old Q-Tip and wrapped it around that. Here are two links to the channel a fantastic Youtuber named "Night Shift" who explains this much better and goes into much more detail: (1) https://youtu.be/F3GlNC2cK8s (2) https://youtu.be/TW65lwwfJqk?t=617 The grooves are about 2mm deep and the extrusions are also 2mm high. This takes about 8 hours to print when printing with .15mm quality.