Silly Putty use-my results

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

Hey guys. Painted the Japanese 97 “Hoo-Ha-Ha” tonight. While I wait for the paint to dry I thought I would give you the poop on this poop.

Did the 3 color hard line camo. Once the overall tank was painted the lightest of the three, I rolled out some putty and started applying the masks. Rolled it out nice and thin because I didn’t think there was enough to create the masking I wanted so I figured I would try to stretch it. (Haa, I kill me…) Made some nice ribbons with the putty and it layed down nice over details and protrusions, aound grab handles etc. Painted the subsequent colors.

When peeling it off, I want you to imagine one of those orangutans in the zoo that some adle paited oaf has thrown a wad of bubble gum to. I am not quite sure what happened but I got into a rather serious game of cats cradle with this stuff. It eventualy came clean and I was very pleased with the result. Nice, crisp lines on the paint. Success.

As for the slime scene from Alien, there are three factors that I will contribute it to. More testing will tell me more.

  1. I made the putty masking too thin. (Although it made for a sharper line). This may have made it easy to get all stringy as I lifted it away from the surface.

  2. It was a little too warm. The temp here has been in the high 80’s. I shot the paint in my garage in the late afternoon early evening with the sun beating into the garage. Making for a warm environment. This may have caused it to soften and become stringy. Walking it back into the house into the a/c may have done the trick and allowed it to come away clean.

  3. Some adverse reaction to Tamiya Acrylics. But since it did come away clean, doubtful. But I won’t entirely rule it out.

So whether it was any one of these or combination thereof it was not permananent and I was very happy with the results.

When it is finished I will throw pics up on this small progeny of the antichrist and let you guys see the result. The biggest hurdles are over, the build and the initial paint. Now to the detailing and lighter bits of finishing.

Mike

2

I’m not sure I really understand this method fully. How do you apply the 3rd color to the scheme. I read the article in FSM this month and couldnt figure it out. I am a rookie here so dont laugh at me if this is a dumb question.

3

Think in negative spaces.
Paint the first layer, (lightest color)
Mask out what you do not want painted with the second color.
Paint the second color.
Do not remove the first layer of masks you layed down. Now lay down masks on the areas you want to stay the second color. It may even mean laying some down on the first set of masks.
Now paint the third color.

The third color will actualy be three layers of paint.

If it still stumps you, e-mail me and I will give you a longer description.

Mike

4

HEY,
I am pretty sure that the silly putty was all stringy because of the heat. It happened to me once while i was just playin with the stuff. By the way, i never heard of that technique. It sounds like it works great. Thanks for the tip.

5

Oh the mysterious renarts 97! Glad the putty masking worked, and I assume we will be privi to some pics my good friend?

Cheers

Rob

6

Thanks renarts. I do understand it now.

7

Soon Moses, soon. I’m doing the weathering and detail work now. Ah victory is sweet and I think I’m winning over this little Tamiya terror. It is all starting to come together now. And I’m pretty happy with the results so far.

8

Did you use enamel paints by chance? I found the same thing happen to me once. It seemed to be a combination of the putty being too thin and the paint being put on too wet.

Could be wrong, but that’s what I thought it was. I just make sure the paint is applied in thin coats and haven’t had any problems since.

Murray

9

Hey Murray,

Nope, just Tamiya acrylics. Thanks for the tip though, I 'll remember that next time I use enamels with this technique.

Mike

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