I have been workign with epoxies of various brands for years with varying degrees of success. As long as I am working on larger parts, I am fine, but I am trying to work with it in smaller portions so that I can create parts for my figures.
I have been reading Modeling Waffen SS Figures by Calvin Tan -Osprey Modeling 23 and he does not indicate which epoxy he is using. It rolls out super thin to create all of the details he created, both in sheets to be applied or as thin rolls. Now, I have created thin sheets with a variety of epoxies. but unfortunately if I ever manage to get them OFF the plastic film or wax paper, they are horribly mangled and no llonger look like the sheet or roll that I was trying to create. The “snakes” i make look nothing like the perfectly rolled lines he creates, mine look more like lumpy bloodworms that break at the thin spots.
What are your techniques that I could try to improve my putty success? I am looking to create straps and such, just as Mr. Tan has done here.
For epoxy based putties like Milliput and Aves, I dust the surface of a sheet of very clean metal with talcum powder. This acts as my base. I then use a metal roller dusted - with you guessed it - more talcum powder. This means that the lump of Milliput I am rolling out does not stick to the metal sheet, or the metal roller. I only use metal because it’s the smoothest material I can find, but you may experiment with something else, for example. The advantage of talcum powder is that it requires minimal clean up, chemically inert and easy to use. I’ve tried oils and they seem to be a bit more messy.
PetarB on the talcum do you ever have any problems with the epoxy not wanting to adhere to the intended surface, now that an additional element has been added to the mix?
I will need to find a metal roller, plastic/nylon rollers are common, I just need to do a bit more looking for a metal roller. Oh wait, a piece of heavy brass stock should work!