Parts cleaning & tamiya white putty - my first post

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
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My first post. I am 65 and haven’t built a model since I was ten or twelve. My first project is an mpc hydro-vee boat 1:18 scale. I have two questions.

What do I clean the plastic with prior to sanding or painting? Do I need to clean the parts? Will dish soap work?

Secondly, I plan to use the tamiya white putty. Is it waterproof to wet sanding?

Thanks,

Rick

2

You can soak your spruces in Dawn dishwashing soap. I’ve heard folks use other cleaning products as well. You definitely do want to spray a coat of primer though.

My putty of choice is PPP by Deluxe. Wet sandable and easy to use. I’ve never used Tamiya putty personally. Others have though.

3

Yes to both. I use Tamiya Gray putty a little, but it’s far from my favorite, and pricey.

I prefer Bondo glazing and spot putty.

4

What is nice about PPP (Perfect Plastic Putty) is you can clean up any smears with a damp Q-tip and eliminate most sanding.

5

Never had a need to wash any model parts except resin ones.

PPP can be wiped off with a damp cloth or paper towel even when dry eliminating or reducing sanding as GH stated. A final sanding can be done to feather out repaired areas In some applications. Any puttied area needs a coat of primer so the finish will match the surrounding area.

Tamiya putty is solvent based and can be wet sanded, PPP is water based and cannot be wetsanded but only dry sanding.

6

Thanks for the replies. I bought the white putty (tamiya) because of the white plastic and white primer I am using. Tamiya products are not cheap.

Anyhow, I am trying to keep it simple like in the early days. I plan a wash with dawn, light filling with putty, primer, light sanding of primer, top coat and gloss clear coat.

Thanks

7

I have nothing to add as the previous gentlmen have answered your question quite well.

Therefore, I will just welcome you to the forums! [snWcm] [B]

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I’m with hogfans. Welcome! Though I did have one kit years ago where the paint fisheyed like crazy and I assume it was mold release agent… but rarely wash, though I believe it is good practice. Standard dawn is king. Use it to wash/remove 1:1 car polish/wax before clay barring and polishing. It is powerful but does no harm.

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Welcome Old-timer. 65 is a good place to start again, I turned 70 last year and am having a great time building since I started up again several years ago. So much has changed and there are so many new products and kits. And the forums are super for information and allowing you to see other people’s work.

I put dish soap in the sink and use a small stiff paint brush (1inch wide) to wash before I paint.

Use primer yes! Very good advice.

Tamiya white putty is one of my favorites and I use it frequently. It dries fast, is relatively fine textured and wet sands nicely.

Good luck on your new project.

10

I wipe everything down with mineral spirits, it dries very rapidly. Then I scuff with a ladies fingernail pad ( foam pads you can get at sally’s or where ever). Wipe down again to get any of my own skin oils off, blow the parts off with air. And I prime with Stynylrez primer. Now I have 0 doubts about adhesion.

FWIW you can apply most model paints, craft paints, nail polish/lacquer etc directly to an untreated sprue tree, let is sit a couple of days and proceed to flake it all off with your bare fingernail. I tried it is how I know. There are some exceptions but even those fare better with the full treament under them. Try it sometime, you might not be getting the bond you think you are for those using the direct paint method.

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If you use soap and water be sure to rinse it thoroughly, as paint and glue do not stick to soap film very well. For local cleanup at the workbench I use isoproyl (rubbing) alcohol. It leaves no residue.

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Thanks to all for your advice. This hobby has really advance since I was a young kid. We owe so much to the development of the internet.

Rick

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Thanks to all who replied. No more posts from me but I will watch this post and website.

I am a 65 year old military retiree and disabled. They have to withold my responses for at least 24 hours so they can censor them? How embarrasing. I have responded and thanked you folks and now I learn my responses are stacked up by someone who will censor them.

This website and it’s moderators need to come up to date with what is acceptable in the world today. Censorship is not free speech.