How do I remove mould lines from Warhammer models?
Scrape the line with a mouldline remover or the back of a hobby knife blade, then smooth it with a fine file or sandpaper. Do it on faces, skin and flat armour, where the line shows through paint, and skip it where it hides in a seam.
Where mould lines are worth removing
A mould line is a thin ridge of plastic left where the two halves of the mould met. Games Workshop says the lines can get in the way of painting, especially on skin and flat armour.
Spend your time like this:
- Always: faces, bare arms, flat armour plates, smooth cloth, shield faces.
- Usually: weapon barrels you will see from the front.
- Skip it: the underside of a base, the inside of a joint, ribbed pipes and cables. Nobody sees them from table height.
Scrape, smooth, check
- Cut the part from the frame and trim the stub first. Our page on cutting parts off the sprue has the method.
- Find the line. Tilt the part under a lamp, or run a fingernail across it. Lines are easy to feel and hard to see.
- Hold the tool's edge square to the surface and scrape along the line with light pressure, back and forth. With a knife, use the blunt back of the blade so you wear the ridge down instead of cutting into the detail.
- Smooth the scraped strip with a fine file or sandpaper.
- Brush the dust out of the recesses before you glue or prime, because it will sit in the gaps and show under paint.
Which tool to use
| Tool | Good for | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Mouldline remover | Tight spots. Games Workshop describes a longer, thinner nose and a notch angled to clean base rims. | Light strokes only. It removes plastic quickly. |
| Hobby knife | Flat panels, and trimming stubs. The Citadel knife comes with six blades. | Use the blunt back of the blade for scraping, and cut away from your hand. |
| Fine file or sandpaper | Smoothing the strip you scraped. | Sand lightly, because it also removes sharp edges you want to keep. |
| Plastic glue, brushed on | Ribbed or textured parts that a blade cannot reach. | Hobbyists are split on this one. Test on a spare piece of sprue first. |
What a first set of tools costs
The mouldline remover is £13.04 (RRP £16.50) and the Citadel knife is £16.99. Both together come to £30.03. The 11th Edition Paints & Tools set (£22.83, sold out at the moment) also has a mouldline remover and gets you started on painting too. If you only want to clean up a kit, a single tool is enough.
Common questions
Do I have to remove mould lines before painting?
Not on every part. You can skip them on hidden areas. The lines show most on faces, skin and flat armour, so clean those and leave the rest.
Which tool cleans the rim of a base?
The Citadel mouldline remover has a notch angled to clean base rims. It is £13.04 here (sold out at the moment). A hobby knife with the blade turned works too, but needs a steadier hand.
Can I melt mould lines away with plastic glue?
A thin coat of plastic glue brushed across the line, left to soften and set, can work well on ribbed parts. It can also spoil detail, so use as little as you can.
Tool descriptions and the point about skin and flat armour: Games Workshop article on the redesigned Citadel tools, 13 October 2022. Scraping method: hobbyist replies in r/Warhammer40k, 2026. Prices and stock: this shop, read live.