I’ve come across two products recently that look interesting and was wondering if anyone has used the.
One is a product my kid got for Christmas called “Model Magic” from Crayola. Kind of a marshmellow clay.
Another is a product I bought while painting a room. Its called “Fast n final” spackling by DAP. Its kind of a foamy spackling, very light weight.
Anyone used these for seams or cracks?
These are not conducive with plastic models. They are for filling holes and cracks in walls which don’t require a super smooth flaw free surface before painting.
Possibly good for diorama bases but not for the model itself.
Stick to those products used for plastics or finer automotive surface preparations. Here are the things I use…strike the Green Putty, ever since finding 3M Glazing putty I have tossed my Green Putty in the trash.
For your reading pleasure Perfect Seams.
Just wanted to double the comment on Glazing Putty… Green putty is awful- the 3M Acryl Blue putty is amazing! $20 for a tube that will last you forever… its truly awsome stuff!
I have used the DAP spackling compound as a filler for wooden scratch or conversion work. I would not use it on plastic. Used early in the finishing process, spackling kind of requires the same priming and prep that the rest of the wood does, so it works well. I have also used it a couple of times on plastic, and while it did work, I see no real advantage to it there. It doesn’t seem to adhere as well to plastic as the stuff made for plastic, or auto glazing or spot putty, what I generally use for plastic.
Weld-on, Tenax, and 3M glazing putty aren’t for gap filling either. The first two are glues, and the third is for windows. Glazing putty can be used for other things, but I use Elmers’ wood putty. It’s latex based, works well, and can be drilled, saned, tapped, primed, or painted. It washes up well with water. I wouldn’t suggest it for deep gouges of more than 1/16th to an 1/8th of an inch - it won’t adhere to hard surfaces in such a thick layer. For some reason it breaks away if you try to use it for more than just filling gaps, or imperfections. You don’t want to use it on the edge, or as a finished edge as it is easily damaged if in a big piece. It’s also not something you’d want to use in a tiny bit - superglue does a much better job at filling tiny imperfections. But for gaps, dents, or shallow holes, wood filler is amazing. You just have to experiment with it to get a feel for the materials’ workability. Once you figure it out, it’s easy to force it to do what you want it to within reason.
~ Cobra Chris
give Vallejo putty a try great stuff…not for gap filling though. No shrinking, sandable and paints up great.
Thad
Yea $ 20 for the tube and then the cheap ass cap cracks and it starts drying out. The caps on those big tubes are terrible. You think they could put a better quality cap on those. I use the squdron green and white and think they are fine. I thin mine with laquer thinner.
Bill
Hi! I hope you don’t mind me jumping in here but your post caught my attention. The Vallejo Putty you’re talking about would that be the Plastic Putty?
This stuff: http://modelingmadness.com/others/detailsets/leeputty.htm
I have this and have tried using it for pinhole filling and small gap filling. I mean really tiny minor stuff - nothing huge. But this stuff just will not cooperate. I can’t get it smooth and if I use a brush to apply it - I get really bad brush strokes.
I have some Colour Shapers firm sponge tools, I tried those on it and while they did work better than a brush, they still didn’t cut it, I tried a make-shift putty knife and then gave up and sanded everything down. lol!
Now, if you’re referring to this stuff: http://store.spruebrothers.com/vallejo---plastic-putty-20ml-tube-70401-p15408.aspx?utm_medium=cse&utm_source=googlebase
I’d like to hear about this too because this is the first I’ve run into it and I really like Vallejo products.
Thanks!
The name is indeed confusing. Auto body glazing putty used to be called “spot” putty, used for cleaning up small imperfections in the primed surface before the final coats of paint (scratches, slight dings, etc.). It works well for seam filling, large scratches, and other small imperfections. It is NOT the same glazing putty used for installing windows in frames.
There seem to be at least three categories of products being called “putty.”
One kind is the stuff like Testors, Squadron, 3M, Bondo, etc. These are good for filling something in, like a crack or hole. Do not shape well at all. They are kinda like peanut butter!
Another type are the epoxy ones where you knead together two different bread dough like materials and have about 45 min to work with it before it hardens. These are very easy to shape. Milliput, Magic sculpt, Apoxie.
The third type is a liquid putty. As in Mr. Surfacer.
I mention this because I kept trying to use the Testors type putties in situations that required some shaping. It was very frustrating and I wondered why it didnt work well. I eventually bought some Milliput and wondered where it had been all my life!
As a proud 3M stockholder I should buy my own stuff and will check out the acryl. I have three seem fillers that work and retired standard putty which is nasty to use and not easy on plastic. For small seems, a PVA style glue called Gator Grip (often called Gator Glue) works really well. (It is an excellent glue for PE/plastic.) It takes a few minutes to dry so you can remove excess easily. It sands nicely. (Reminds me a lot of Mr. Surfacer 500 but more mellow.) If you have time Acrylic Modeling Paste is available at any art store. It is thinner than putty but thicker than Gator Grip or Mr. Surfacer and available in many colors. (Crafts people use it to create sculptures, so it’s obviously very workable.) It won’t become rock hard for at least 12 hours but hardens in smaller quantities much sooner and sands very nicely. For something major Aves Apoxie Sculpt gets my vote. I think it’s like a civilized Miliput. It’s a two part epoxy which you combine in equal measures (you can thin it a little). It becomes workable in about 30 minutes (good stuff for zimmerit) and is very pliant for about three hours and can be shoved into seems and flattened out or used to create larger surfaces like sandbags. Overnight it dries hard. However, because the stuff is water soluble it is possible to remove the next day as I found out when I stripped an entire tank of a too thick zimmerit.
See we also have a Weld-on 3 fan. It does have it’s place. Wish it didn’t dry so fast.
Eric