I hear all you Guys talking about Putty & Gap Filler I also hear everybody’s opion about them,But which one is better to use,or could I use both?[%-)]
AJ[:)]
Putty and gap filling CA have very different qualities and both are good in varied situation. How’s that for a vague answer. But that is really about the truth. I end up using putty more the CA when I need to fill something. If the gap needs some support, putty is not very strong on its own, I will span the gap with CA without letting it sit too proud then finish it off with putty, which sands easier. For seams like fuselage halves or wings halves, I use Tenax, run it in the joint, let it soften the plastic and give it a squeeze. Some soft plastic will ooze out. Let that cure scrape and hit it with a sanding stick and the putty and CA stay on the shelf. Experimentation to arrive at your personal preference if generally the best idea.
[#ditto][tup]
Thank’s for your help Wing_nut![:)]
I just use Glazing & Spot Putty. Works great for me!
Hi there,
When you talk about putty, what exactly do you mean? Is it the stuff you hold windows in or is there a special type of modellers putty.
Thanks, Rich
The one I’m using is generally used to fix small scratch in your car paint I believe. Comes in a red tube similar to a toothpaste one.
Thanks for that. I’m off to Halfords to buy some.
Cheers, Rich
Another Newbie modeler here [:)] that wants to tag onto this discussion.
I recently used Squadron’s White Putty (they also make a green putty…is there a difference?) While I found it filled the gaps between the wing and fuselage nicely on a P47 kit I am building…I also found it made a MESS. A suggestion for other newbs is to use masking tape around the areas that you are applying the putty…this will minimize the mess (again lesson hard learned after having to sand my butt off and rescribe a bunch of panel lines).
My question for you all, how do you sand your models? I used 320 grit to knock down the bulk of the putty, then moved to 600, then 1200 grit. But Im still seeing sanding marks in the plastic.
Thanks!
FAAmecanic
If you see sanding marks, you are using too much pressure when sanding. Have you tried wet sanding? It will work better without leaving too much damage to the area around the putty. You also might try masking tape to protect the area when sanding. If you are seeing sanding marks in the putty, and they are small marks, use very thin putty (putty mixed with nail polish remover) and go over the area again. Just rub it in with a finger or application stick. Try to blend it in as much as possible and after cured, go over with sandpaper.
The sanding marks I still see are like what you see on the Horizontal Stab on Wingnuts site (nice site btw wingnut!). http://wingnutmodels.com/images/Hpim0777.jpg
So do you try and further wet sand to get rid of the fine sanding scratches? Or is this Ok as is?
And where do you get this Tenax? Looks like a GREAT way to blend seams.
[#ditto] I’m in the experimentation phase, trying to find what works best for me. I’d like to give mr. surfacer and tenax a try.
I would try to remove those sanding marks. It’s hard to tell exactly how deep they are in the photo, so I’ll give my two options of choice. Not too deep, I’d spray a coat of sandable primer and lightly wetsand with fine grade - something like 600, then 800. If deep, I’d lay down a thin coat of spot putty and then go through the wet sanding stages.
I don’t use gapfilling CAs that much, because they harden rock hard and trying to sand at the excess CA blob creates a crater around the blob because while trying to take out the excess, I am snading away the surrounding plastic as well.
what I do is, take Mr. Surfacer, make sure the gap is filled, take a Q-tip, soak Q-tip in alcohol and start scrubbing the Q-tip on the excess Mr. Surfacer. takes off all excess and leaves a very clean fill spot.
It was sorta a serendipity type discovery. I spilled alcohol onto curing Mr. Surfacer and seeing that the alcohol sorta made the Mr.Surfacer become thinner, I tried the scrubbing method when dry.
Try it- it works! [:D]
Back when I was building before my hiatus, Zap-a-Gap was the thing to use. Is it still just as popular?
yup. ppl swear by ZaG but I personnaly don’t use it that much.
I do remember it was pretty effective stuff - I glued my thumb and forefinger together about as often as I glued two model pieces together. [(-D] I went around with crusty fingertips quite a bit back then.
i’ll usually take a chunk of the spure that the bits i’m filling gaps in came on, shred it up and dissolve it with plastic cement to make a sort of putty. once applied, it has the same exact consistency as the rest of the pieces so sanding is not a problem. not to mention color and texture. the only problem is that small bubbles will often form in the filled in material but that’s easy to fix.