I have used Squadron white modeling putty for years and more recently have been using Bondo as well. With the former, it begins drying almost before you get a dab on the model where you want it. With the latter, a fresh tube has a lot of liquid right when you open it and I find myself pouring a bead onto a piece of cardboard and then remixing the liquid back into the putty, sort of like epoxy. The problem with either is the shrinkage when dried, where I sand a bit, apply another dab, sand after drying- with very fine grits, such as 400-600-1000 wet/dry garnet paper. In my woodworking activities, I keep a small set of containers filled with various sawdust(s) that I get from certain woods when cut on my table saw, where I can mix up sawdust with wood glue and fill dents and dings or gaps, the sand into a clean filled-in area- especially with countersunk screw holes. So this all gets me to thinking- is there a similar practice that others have used with plastic “sawdust”, such as I produce when using a razor saw on a piece of styrene, where that residue is mixed with putty (probably the Bondo is better, being more conclusive to mixing) to make a better fill material? If anyone has tried this or does this regularly, talk back to me (before I try it with a current bench job where I have mated two shortened pieces of a boxcar and see gaps after puttying)!!! Cedarwoodron
I have used the green squadron putty and works well for me… If your using the auto body type finishing putty,it should come in a big tube,red,green and gray. the key to using that so it is mixed properly, is to nead the tub,a few times,It is only used for finishing work,so it must be thin to work correctly…
Cheers,
Frank
I too use the “body putty” as the Squadron Putty has a poor shelf life in my experience. I have seen that some will “melt” plastic sprues w/ MEK and make up a putty similar as you would do w/ sawdust and yellow glue ( I do this regularly especially on filling oak to be done natural- messes up a stain job for sure)
I believe drwayne or modelmaker uses this technique maybe they can add to this. I will fill holes w/ stretched sprue and putty, haven’t tried the plastic “goop”
For the past 15 years I’ve been using J-B Weld ‘steel’ epoxy for all my gap-filling jobs. No shrinkage at all, and very easy to cut and/or grind.[8-|]
Me too! [:D] (in fact, I think Ken was the who that told me about this!)
I was using Squadron putty, but I found the “shrinkage” to be unacceptable, especially on larger repairs (bigger than a grab iron hole). I found the only way around it was to let the model “cure”, at least till all the lacquer smell had dissipated. That could take 2-3 weeks or more!![:O]
Now I just use the JB Weld also. Its strong, its quick and won’t shrink. It can be filed or sanded within minutes of setting up!
For wood filler, I have seen several people use yellow wood glue and sawdust to fill unwanted holes and dings. I have done it successfully myself. Never have done or heard of such a project in plastic.
Good luck,
Richard
Just recently, I began a kitbash of a plastic structure and wanted to combine the two long walls (front and rear) into one longer wall for the front. The normally-not-visible rear wall will be a piece of .060" sheet styrene. These walls had a cast-in pattern of random stone, and after shortening one end of each wall section, in order to replicate the window spacing on the remainder of the wall, I was left with some odd-looking and extremely-visible mortar lines around the joint. I tidied-up what I could with an X-Acto blade, then “painted” the problem areas with a generous application of lacquer thinner. While that was softening the plastic of the wall, I coated some scraps of styrene - some sprue and some small bits of .060" sheet - with more thinner, then pressed the softened scraps into the offending mortar joints. this was basically a press and squish operation, with additional applications of thinner to keep everything soft. In some areas, dragging the softened scrap (soften/drag, soften/drag) across the joints filled them in very quickly. I set it aside to re-harden, but didn’t have an opportunity to get back to it until several days later, but 24 hours should be sufficient for everything to set-up hard.
It was then a simple matter to re-scribe new mortar lines in a pattern resembling the original.
About the only time I use putty, either commercial ones or the stuff described, is to fill shallow gouges, irregular surfaces or narrow gaps. For holes in styrene, a plug of the same material will fill it more quickly, more solidly, and less noticeably than putty.
For small holes, plug them with styrene rod or strip material, and if necessary, use a drill to enlarge the hole to match a standard rod size - make the hole about .005" or .006" smaller than the diameter of the rod, then coat both the walls of the hole and circumference of the rod with solvent-type cement, and then jam the softened r
Slightly [#offtopic], but I can access my stuff on Photobucket just fine with Firefox 20.0… :
You had me worried, there, for a minute… [:)]
Don’t use the “IMG Code:” in Photobucket: Use the straight URL and surround it with the IMG commands.: “[ IMG ]” and “[ /IMG ]” (without the spaces and quotes)
Thanks for that tip Gary, but the only URL I see is for a thumbnail, and it doesn’t work for me as you describe.
I had forgotten how tedious it was to use IE, as it took me almost an hour to get the pictures which I added. The previous method with Firefox was the model of simplicity: click on the img line, then “Paste” here.
Wayne
Funny. I’m using Firefox 19 and have no problem with the IMG tag lines in Photobucket. If your link options are set like these below you shouldn’t have a problem. The on and off represent check marks you’ll see in Photobucket.
Show these share options for all of my albums.
On - Email & IM
On - Direct Link
On - HTML code
Off- HTML thumb
On - IMG code
Off- IMG thumb
NYCT runs on Bondo. That was all that was holding the R-40s and R-42s together. Now those classes of cars all sleep with the fishes.
LION uses modeling clay for filling holes and even for fabricating parts. LION is all paws and does not dew as good a job as you, but better than a ewe which is all hoof, or so he said sheepishly.
Here is early attempt at making a headlight for an MP54 class car.
It could use more wokr, but it will not get it. This car will be part of a static display when I do New York Penn Station.
ROAR
Another suggestion for certain jobs in Kneadtite two-part epoxy putty. I love that stuff for various applications on models. Oddly enough it shows up at war gamers stores more than model shops. I use the yellow-blue type. When properly mixed it turns light green. One can use it for filling holes or creating certain parts. I dropped a resin HO scale milk truck and chipped the front fenders. I rebuilt the front portions of the fenders with Kneadtite. A nice feature of these putties is that one can smooth them with a bit of water on your fingertip. That reduces the time spent on sanding later. On the bad news these epoxy putties tend to clog sand papers and files faster than other fillers. When properly mixed I have used Kneadtite to create canvas tarps for military models - it can be worked like modeling clay. Fun stuff!
In a pinch I’ve used marine epoxy. It comes in a stick. Break of a piece, knead it between your fingers until it turns gray then press it into place. Not quite as messy as JB Weld.
Thanks, Jeff. I’m using Firefox 20.1, and all of the link options are enabled. Clicking on the IMG data, as I’ve always done, copies nothing and there’s then, of course, nothing to paste here. [banghead]
However, just now (and I have no idea why I even tried it) I clicked on the words “IMG code”, which are above the actual code itself, and the code was highlighted and copied, allowing me to give you this photo of a modified Tyco reefer - new floor, new roof, new ends, and the sides shortened to about 36’. Oh yeah, to keep things on-topic, no putty used. [swg]
Once again thanks to both you and Gary for insisting that this should work, as I was ready to pack it in.
Wayne