Ever since I saw that Wei Jiang is doing an oversized KO of Arcee, I've been planning on getting into customizing. I figure I'll need some Xacto blades, a dremel, some sort of filler (thinking of the epoxy putty that you can mold similar to polymer clay), some files and sandpaper, and a hacksaw. All of that was based around the assumption that I'd be stripping her paint and sanding/filling any problem areas created by the cuts and then repainting from scratch. Now I'm looking at the Black Apple mod for MP Ironhide. I just got my KO Ironhide and I'm thinking about doing the mod but I'm a little worried about doing major surgery to a figure I don't plan to repaint. What is the best way to get nice clean cuts with minimal risk of damaging the surrounding areas? I used a knife when I did the mod on my old Walmart MP Skywarp and it look alright... as long as you don't look too closely at the cut areas... but I slipped at one point and accidentally added a new panel line. I'd like to avoid that kind of thing with Ironhide. As you can see, there's a fair amount of cutting taking place here:
If you have clearance, I recommend a hacksaw with a fine blade meant for plastic. That gives you very straight, neat cuts. That's my primary cutting tool. There are also x-acto saws but I prefer the full size hacksaw because you get leverage and good linear cuts. Smaller saws can jump around a bit and one false move can ruin your figure. Based on your photos a dremel with a thin cutting wheel might be your best bet, but that takes some practice. I find even the finest cutting wheel makes a bigger cut than a fine hacksaw blade.
The fine cutting wheel heats the plastic and can even cause warping. I use one a good bit, but rarely ever for finer cuts, just for area removal. Scoring with a very sharp Xacto works well, too. Very fine cuts made repeatedly is one of my main techniques. If you score a line enough, you can 'snap' the piece off, leaving a minimum of cleanup needed. If you remove a section close to the final dimensions, you can even use needle files to sand the piece to the desired shape. I often use this technique for more precise or detailed bits.
Thanks! I didn't notice it before but this ironhide mod requires drilling a hole into the door that's visible from the exterior of the figure which is unacceptable for a MP figure unless I were going to repaint it. Good to know about the techniques you guys mentioned though. I'll use them when I mod other figures (if they ever announce a release date and price for that os Arcee) but for now ironhide is waiting for a kit.
