I know I must have read the answer at lest a couple dozen times in the various magazines and pubs on modeling that I buy, but work load and family load are keeping me from searching through the archives.
Anyhow, I think toulene is supposed to be a good thining solution, but is there anything else? And yes, I’ve raided my wife’s nail polish remover, but darn it if the “industry” hasn’t gone green - all her removers are “toulene free.” I did try it anyway, but it didn’t really work out too well.
Lastly, while this is a simple question that I am sure can be answered in one or two replies, I hope I get half as many responses as the back ache post got (please note I am typing this while sitting in a good quality chair with lumbar support and have my keyboard set at an appropriate angle and height. [;)]
Just about any solvent-base thinner will work. I like to use lacquer thinner for a liquid glue mix and general thinner for paints and putty. Works great every time and is pretty cheap.
[yeah], the back ache post… (which at one point started to become a belly ache). Well, I guess everyone’s sitting a little taller in the saddle now.
[:D] Anyway, your question. What I do is put some green in a clean paint jar and add (wal-mart stuff) laquer thinner to thin it out. Experiment with the mixture until it looks right and remember that it will thicken up as it dries on the model. Stir it well and apply with a dental tool. One of those pencil sized tools with a 1 by 1/4 inch or so flat (butter knife like) tip on it. It’s easier to spread this way and gives you a longer working time. Don’t shake it up as it will get all over the lid and you’ll wind up with a locked on lid. Don’t throw any leftover away, if it dries out you can just add some more laquer thinner to it and you’re ready to go again.
Liquid cement will work but takes a lot longer to set up.
I actually use Testors liquid cement and mixed it with Squadron white putty. I had never tried this until last month, and it worked great. Played with a couple of mixes, but found that I put down about a dime size of putty, and then added the cement with a pipette. Just added and mixed until it felt right. Used it to make weld seams on M4 and fixed a bad seam on a 1/72 Panther. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked.
DUDE!! Testor’s liquid cement is the way to go! I get an extre bottle or two, dump out half into an old paint jar (which has been boiled clean–do this to all your old Tamiya/model master jars!) and squeeze a big dollop of Sqaudron putty into it, mix with a stick of sort, and you have a nice reservoir of ready-thinned goop to seal seams. You can add more putty, or more cement to alter the thickness and consistency. I also use Testors liquid cement to clean my airbrush; it’s amazing for cleaning dried acrylics!
No offense to anyone but throw away that squadron putty white and green and pickup some tamiya basic putty much better and it thins with either tamyias extra thin cement or rubbing alchol but the dring time is about 12 hours the only draw back.
Hey Shellback! I guess I boil 'em just cuz usually I’m trashing a bottle that’s dried up or is old and it’s aesier than scraping it out. It’s quicker than laboring over it and usually more thorough.[^]