Lines or no lines

[TXVanguard]

In general, should I try to cut the parts of a model so the edge lines are included or not included?

[dansls1]

In general, I believe the answer is it will depend on the kit. For computer designed kits, I would say that the middle of the edge line would be the optimum cut line. Otherwise it will often depend on the designer.

[rickstef]

there are 3 schools of thought on this subject

1. Cut on the outside of the line
it will give you some extra paper, but you could trim it off to fit

2. Cut in the middle of the line
this will be very close to what the designer had in mind when he made the model

3. Cut on the inside of the line
this will be the most tricky, as you will not have any room for error. not too many designers I know use this method in designing their models

[THE DC]

Good feedback there. I should add not to stand in line!


Seriously, when possible, try test fitting parts. This is helpful not only for fit, but also to consider what the final product will look like.

Sometimes you can measure the loss of paper with a replacement strip and get better visual effect. For example if working with a top piece, like if the decking of a hull, it would fit well with some of the line remaining but look unrealistic. A thin strip of paper may be close to the width of the line but add a perspective of realism of fitting plating that would not have worked with the black [cut me here] line.

This extra strip process can also offer extra support to the original model when the piece your attaching has to bear more weight.

I just did this on a kit with good results, but unfortunately it was done tightly enough that its not visible! I'll send a pic next time I do it, if you'd like?


Cheers!


The DC

[Art Deco]

To my thinking, each of the three "where to cut" schools of thought has a significant drawback ...

Cut on the outside of the line - most likely what the designer intended (if they even thought about it), but results in each part being outlined in black, which detracts from the appearance of the model.

Cut on the inside of the line - no black lines, but the part will possibly be too small, as most of us (including, probably, the designer) intuitively consider an outline to be the outer edge of an object, not part of the space surrounding it. If every part is one pixel narrower on each side, fit problems can rapidly accumulate (at 150 dpi, a paper thickness is something like 1.5 pixels)

Cut down the center of the line - the worst of both worlds, you get parts outlined with fine black lines, and every part is possibly one pixel too narrow in every dimension.


The basic problem with outlines is that the designer is asking the builder to separate three fields into two pieces. The three fields are (1) the part, (2) the paper, and (3) the black area between the two. The black line is inescapably too wide, because printers cannot print a line narrower than one pixel, and even if they could, the line must be easily visible to the human eye (including middle-aged eyes ...)

To me the solution seems obvious: don't use outlines!

Use edges!

With edges, you have only two fields to separate, the part, and the paper. The cutting is intuitive: you simply cut along the edge of the part. No questions. No black lines on the model. Parts are the size the designer intended.

But what if the part is light in color? The edge will be hard to see if the contrast is not high with the surrounding paper.

No problem. In that case, the designer simply changes the color of the surrounding paper, either by placing the part inside a grey box, or adding a dark "cloud" around the light edge of the part. Either way, the builder is still separating two fields, instead of trying to figure out how to separate three.

Examples below:
- part with no outline (the edge is clear)
- light-colored part in a high-contrast gray box
- a dark "cloud" helping to to make part of an edge more clear

[whulsey]

Elegant solution there, Art Deco.

[Papercut]

I agree with all the above, but I tend to leave the black line on the part. The only time I see this being a real problem is in the construction of a gloss model. Since most of what I build is military, primarily ships, the thin black line is not really a problem.. I too know full well cutting too much results in a part too small for the area it is to attach to. I believe this is one of those area of paper modeling that is up to the builder!:DRick

[Lex]

I normally go down the middle, that way a half-pixel line is almost invisible, and some models place their cuts on panel lines which nicely gets rid of the problem. I tried what's said above with my first design and got negative feedback because one of the testbuilders have trouble identifying the edge. Now I use a lighter grey color for my edges when I design to make it less visible, but your idea of having a dark box around a lighter part is ingenius!

[Tim Crowe]

I think it's more easy to take off then to add back on

Tim

[THE DC]

The model plays an important role here. A wooden ship deck can look enhanced by removing the line and reinforcing any gap with a similarly colored paper; this adds texture and dimension. I like to trace planking anyway to enhance texture, if the scale is large enough.

On some kits, the edges are supposed to be seamless wholes, like the hull of a an advanced spaceship or piece of curved, tempered metal. You have to lose the line for certain or you have something where there should be nothing [a real problem in Congress, but that’s another thread].

I'd rather experiment with shading than leaving the line, when I’m trying to pronounce the difference between two points, even employing wear and weathering techniques. It looks too two dimensional for me to just have a straight line on a model, unless it was supposed to be a painted feature. I try to black lines them as much as possible. This is why I always advocate pre-fitting. It the designer meant the line to be part of the edge, you have to fill a gap with spare or even creative seeming.

Much of it depends on what you wanting to make and how you want it to appear in the end. The more detailed and seamless will take more time and creative shaping.


Cheers,


The DC