As you can see I just enlisted here on forums and in modeling.
Sooo, with that, being a newbie, I gotta ask couple of questions.
I just painted the undercage of Testors 1/78 Corsair (yeah I know. So small. But I’m new so don’t wanna rush it.) with Enamel 1164 Flat Green (from testors) and I don’t know where should I wash my brush? In plain water or??
I also got Testors Enamel Thinner 1148. Should I just dip the brush in that thinner or pour thinner on the brush?
Another question for you guys:
I also have Testors Countour Putty #3511 and I don’t quite know how to use it.[:I]
I apply it and directions say that I should leave it to dry. Well I did. It’s still the same as I left it 30 mins ago. What color should it be? This one is kind of clear color.
Rather than using your expensive Testors thinner for washing your brush, go to your local hardware store and get some mineral spirits. You can buy this buy the litre for a couple of dollars.
To wash your brushes pour a little thinner or mineral spirits into an old glass jar, then wash your brush in it by dipping it and swirling it around in the jar. Once you have finished wipe the brush off on an old rag.
Don’t wash your brush in the Testors bottle that contains your thinner. This will ruin your thinner for any future use.
Can’t help with the contour putty sorry, I use Squadron white putty.
If you are painting with enamel, clean the brush with the enamel thinner. Water will have no effect. Dip the brush into the thinner & lightly dry on a paper towel. Repeat until brush is clean.
The Contour Putty won’t change color as it dries, but it should harden.
The enamel thinner you have will clean your paint brush, however if I read between the lines, you didn’t clean the brush before it dried. In which case, the enamel thinner won’t clean your brush. However all is not lost. Go to your local hardware store, lumber yard or home improvement store (Lowe’s or Home Depot) and buy a quart of Laquer Thinner. Find a small glass bottle (Not Plastic!) and put enough laquer thinner in it to cover the brush end. Then take a small piece of card board, put a small hole in the middle and push the paint brush handle thru it untill you can lay the card board on top of the bottle and adjust the brush until the thinner is just over the bottom end of the ferrule (the metal part holding the bristles to the handle. then wrap a small rubber band around the handle just above the card board (so the brush won’t slip farther into the thinner). Leave the brush in the thinner at least 24 hrs and then clean it with a clean rag (it may take two or three tries but your brush will come clean). After that, clean your brush in laquer thinner immediatly after you’ve finished painting cause it’s a lot cheaper than buying and using those small bottles of enamel thinner. And one other thing, always paint and clean your brushes in a well ventilated area or it could come back to haunt you down the road a ways.
You should also let your body putty dry at least 24 hrs before you sand it
@qmiester
I’m assuming that you mean on synthethc brush? I got #3/0 8731 from Testors. Really thin brush.
But I didn’t use that one for painting. I used a cheaper one that had plastic bristles from Testor. And yes, I left it with paint on it for over 6 hours. Rookie. [^] But was able to wash it without any problems.
Roger that about the putty.
So will I be able to drypaint with plastic brush or do I have to get synthetic one?
Welcome to the forum and the Golden Age of plastic modeling. This is a great time to be involved in this hobby, never before have we seen such a wonderful variety of high quality kits and accessories. I’m in the Lacquer Thinner School myself - I find it useful for so many things and better then mineral spirits. I don’t use the Testors contour putty any longer. I find that Squadron White putty is a lot nicer to work with. Check out the “Seam Repair” article on my site under “Tool and Tips”, not sure if the Testors product will behave in the same manner. Link in signature.
These other blokes seem to have answered your questions, so I’m just gonna say, welcome to the forums mate. Have a look at swannys site, it’s has heaps of useful tips, I’ve certainly learned alot from it.
Hi there Sinan,
[#welcome] And welcome to the forum and into the wild wild world of modeling, as for the painting issues I think the others have that covered but with the putty you’ll find out that there are a few others out there and might be to your liking better, I like to use Squadrons putties both the Green & White, I use the Green first then the White as for follow ups (if needed), the Testors I found is a little more courser then the Squadrons but like I said you’ll find you favorites within time, also Paints is another issue some like Acrylics and others like Enamals, I use both, the enamals I use as primaries (mostly for interiors & exteriors) and the Acrylics for high lighting, dry brushing (a method of painting, by wiping the brush off of most of it’s paint and brushing the area to bring out the raised detail), weathering and washing ( a method of painting, diluting the color so that’s very thin and mostly high lights the recessed areas and corners{ also makes areas look as if they are dirty), and the Acrylics are cleaned by water and not thinner or some type of hash chemical like Enamals, but most of modeling paints are Enamal because they have been around the longest but there are some Acrylic’s out there that have just about the same color slections, I use Testors & Polly Scale paints even though they are made from the same company they cannot be mixed I.E. Testor Acrylis & Polly Scale paints are not mixable I’ve tried to use the Testors Acrylic thinner to thin Polly Scale paint and it was a waste of money & time the paint didn’t work well and had to rework the project (this was back in the early 90’s when Polly Scale just came out) and like I said before “you’ll find out what’s going to work for you and what company has the better product to your needs”
well again welcome to Modeling, Have Fun and Relax, also watch out for Swanny’s build’s they are outstanding, as with Pixilaters too and if you have any questions just ask, and most likely Swanny, Pixi, or even Black Wolf will have the answer
[#welcome][#welcome][tup][8-][8-][8-][2c] Sinan, great site and use Sweeny’s tips …I learned a lot from him and all the others on this site. Never be afried to ask for help here , you will always get an answer. Again,[#welcome]and have fun.
Glen S
You’re in good hands with the painting questions… never be hesitant about asking questions [%-)], as this forum is a virtual melting pot of experiences and idea’s… consume [dinner] the things you read and see, and this will become one of the greatest hobby’s you’ll ever know!
35 years after building my first model, and I still get high when I smell a newly opened kit!
hi welcome,
I’m also a new guy to the forum. and a returned modeler (back from the grade school testors orange tube glue days.).
I use enamel paint also. testors makes a brush cleaner that is a little cheaper than their airbrush thinner or you can use the bulk thinner from Home Depot. I use a rag first. Tip the bottle over into a rag and paint the dirty brush on the wet spot. This will only work if the brush is not covered in paint (eg. you only used the tip of the brush to paint). do this a couple of times then dip the brush into the brush cleaner. This will keep alot of the paint out of the brush cleaner and keep it pretty clear for a while.
I found Swanny’s site very helpful with learning the art of puttying. Use masking tape to keep the putty from going everywhere and covering details. I’ve recently begun thinning my squadron white putty with alcohol and using an old medium size paint brush. It takes more layers but I find it easier to apply this way. I would guess that the testors would work the same way. I like the squadron because the tube is bigger (I find with this method I waste alot of the putty but a $3 bucks a tube who cares).
Good luck,
chrisj
My method of rinsing paint brushes is loosely based on an old reader tip from FSM Magazine. I use three clean baby food jars (got a bunch of them from my friend Steve when his kids were little) labeled Thinner 1, Thinner 2 and Thinner 3. After painting, I rinse the paint brush in Thinner 1, then go on to Thinner 2, and finally Thinner 3. The Thinner 3 rinse is virtually unpolluted. Every once in a while, I’ll discard the old Thinner 1 jar, rotate the Thinner 2 to Thinner 1, the old Thinner 3 becomes 2, and I pour a new jar of 3. (I simply use plain old paint thinner from the hardware store; a pint lasts me at least a couple of years.)
As for putty, I’ve tried a couple of the commercial modeling putties (including the Testors contour putty) and have been dissatisfied. Now I use a product that I’m sure is not available in Bosnia/Herzegovina; heck, it might not be available outside southern California for all I know! It’s called Doc Faraday’s Seal n’ Heal, and its intended use is for trees–when you cut off a branch, you paint it on the wound, just like the old fashioned black stuff. I discovered that this stuff makes a better modeling putty than Testors. It’s thin and watery for a modeling putty and it shrinks as it sets (which I’ve learned to use to my advantage), but once dry, it sands smooth and accepts enamel paint quite well.
