I was clipping some sprues from a DPM kit last night, and I did a particularly sloppy job of a couple of the cuts. I was thinking the sprue was on the bottom or on an inside hidden edge, but it turns out a couple of the cuts were at the top of the building. Now, I’ve got some ugly gouges in my model.
How can I repair this? I was thinking of just filling with the thick CA and then sanding it back to the right contour, but is there a better product?
someone had an idea to use bakeing soda and ca
from what I heard it works well
Hope this helps
Been there, done that. What I use to make repairs is Squadron putty, its used for planes.cars ships or any plastic or metal model, the down side it contains toluene so if you use it make sure you have adequate ventilation,Testors also makes a contour putty for models. They are both white in color but I’ve gotten the squardon putty in green, once the putty is dry you can sand or drill the stuff. I haven’t tried the CA and Baking soda yet . Hope this helps.
Radioman2
I hear Squadron’s Green Body Putty works well. I’ve never tried it because I can’t find it in my area.
I’ve been using Testor’s Contour Putty instead. It works fairly well, though it dries out rather quick and can be a bit hard to contour.
LongIslandTom
I purchased my Sqadron putty at HobbyTown USA.
If they’re styrene, you can make some of your own putty. Just take some of the sprues you have left over and chop them to bits, then add a little Tenax (or whatever solvent you’re using). You’ll have to play with it a bit to get the consistency right, but that’s not a bad thing- you can make it a little thicker or thinner depending on the need. And don’t try to work it a whole bunch once you put it on, too much activity and you’ll be attacking the rest of the plastic (the good parts!). Just get it stuck and flattened out (or rough contoured), wait for it to set up and then sand or file to shape- you can carve in details too, like brick lines. I’d probably experiment a bit the first time on some scrap stuff to get a feel for it, but that’ll give you something to do if you order the Squadron Putty!
I use JBweld for many of my repairs,It works great in most cases.I dont know how it would do in this situation.What were You using to cut the sprus with? I use an xacto knife and probably more then that I use a pair of cuticle nail clippers{$6.00},cheaper then spru cutters,does a great job and gets into some tight spots because there angled.heres a pic.anybody else try these?
I’ve used Squadron Green Putty, Testors putty and putty ftrom the autoparts store
My two cents worth here. I have used the baking soda-Ca for many years as fillets and such when building model aircraft. I would hesitate recomending it to fill in nicks and such on plastic. Reason-- once the Ca cures it becomes hard as rocks and hard to sand. Testors plastic model putty is the best choice here in my opinion. By the way, If the baking soda-Ca is used for fillets and such, I would recomend the use of thin Ca. The thick Ca will not penetrate the baking soda, the thin Ca will wick through it and make a better bond. Ken
Thanks for the inputs. I went looking for Squadron Putty, but my LHS is closed on Mondays and the local art supply shop didn’t have it. (The guy tried to sell me modelling clay and modge-podge.) So, I just tried thick CA and it worked great. I cut it flat with a Dremel and sanded it smooth.
I was using a pair of diagonal cutting pliers for my sprue cuts, by the way. The sprues were very thick, like about 3/16. If I had noticed that they were on a visible face of the model, I would have just cut them with the Dremel, but I was careless. Live and learn.
Bruce:
Believe it or not, I’ve actually used spackling compound to fill some blemishes in styrene. Seemed to adhere well enough, and it was sandable and paintable.