Does using vaseline and epoxy putty on anime figures work?

BGuy wrote:

the LHS guys swear blind that vaseline will be incredibly difficult to get off, you just need to use standard filling/sanding techniques, etc. etc..

Bguy - First I have never built figures But Building RC Planes you use vaseline all the time when gluing in hinges in wings with CA glues. You coat the hinge before applying the CA so it does not get wicked by the glue. You want hinge part to still work bet the mounting tabs secure.  Clean up is real simple using a Q-tip with Isopropyl Alcohol. Altough I would imagine on a resin figure lacquer thinner would work as well.  HTH

I see no advantage in using her technique. You still have to go back and cover the seam once you glue the piece on, so why not just glue it on first and fill the seam? I could maybe see doing this if the part needs to be removed for painting or needs to be movable, other than that, why bother. Cleaning Vaseline completely off parts is a pain.

This woman doesn't impress me as being a experienced, professional modeler. A loose piece of sandpaper instead of a flexible sanding stick doesn't do a good job of flattening-out high spots or leveling a seam, nor should you sand parallel to the direction of the seam you are trying to eliminate. A kabob stick to remove excess putty, why not just use a dull rock? One should always use a pencil for marking on an model, never a pen. The ink can bleed right through your primer and paint and ruin your finished model. This woman is a 

I've built models from scratch for a living, I have pieces on display at several museums around the country, published photos and a few dozen trophies that tell me I know how to build models. I'm going to side with your LHS guys....For most situations, this is a waste of time.

Ok, here's a very similar technique:

http://codyscoop.com/ht-fitting.html 

I was wondering why multiple people recomended the same apparantly erroneous technique, then I noticed Kykeon's "needs to be removed for painting" qualification and if you follow the above tutorial along, there really does seem to be a fair amount of this. 

It all depends on how the figure is constructed. If you need to paint subassemblies before completing construction, then I can see doing this technique, but you are still going to have a visible seam. If this seam will be covered by another part, then you need not worry about it. If it is out in the open, it will still be visible. Mr Surfacer works fine for fixing this, but I would still use it before priming whenever possible.

How picky are you about seams? I inspect mine at 16x magnification, just to make sure they are gone. If a piece of clothing either covers the seam or makes a intended parting line, then I wouldn't worry about it. If this is supposed to be a perfectly smooth surface, like bare skin, you aren't going to be able to get away without filling the joint, a line will be visible.

Do one figure with and the other without.  You can then decide for yourself whether vaseline has any merit.

BGuy wrote:

Ok, here's a very similar technique: http://codyscoop.com/ht-fitting.html  I was wondering why multiple people recomended the same apparantly erroneous technique, then I noticed Kykeon's "needs to be removed for painting" qualification and if you follow the above tutorial along, there really does seem to be a fair amount of this.

IMO, Cody Kwok is super-talented and has a lot of great figures, and great SBS' and tips on his site, so if you're curious to try the technique, I recommend looking at his SBS, and even emailing him, if you have questions.

Personally, I'll stick with putty/Mr Surfacer/CA glue, etc, for filling, because those all work for me.

Regards,

Brad

First, dont think of it in terms of learning the very best technique. Learn from the beginning, and let yourself make mistakes. There IS what works for you and what you find comforatable, and in time your technique will change, hence, the whole "best" conversation goes out the window. It's all about learning and expanding and keeping that open mind to new things that come along. Sounds like if you are doing Anime figs, often frowned upon by the "SERIOUS HOBBYISTS" crowd, you are on a good start! After thirty years of the SERIOUS HOBBYIST crowd, I had to decide if I wanted to enjoy this hobby, or keep loping along doing what everyone ELSE liked. Just out of curiosity, which figs do you have currently in the stash to be worked on? Mine are geared towards Mecha and Gunpla.

I had to do the vaseline technique to my SAFS girl to completely resculpt her hair where it met her head and helmet. Since the hair never extended there and there was a 1/8 inch gap, and I needed to be able to get the head off and away from the helmet, I gooped it up with vaseline. Then I sculpted my hair using 2 part epoxy.  ialso found that milliput white superfine didnt like the vaseline and would not set up, so i had to switch to MagicSculp. I had no problem getting it off whatsoever, so franlkly I do not understand the removal is an issue portion of this thread. Hell I have built models that wound up all over the country too, and I use what works for me and I will continue to use the technique as needed.

Something may not work on your first try, but that is NO REASON to say it is not a good technique and toss it ;just try a different approach but kep that idea in the back of your mind.  I have gone back and retried things years later and miraculously they worke that time.  I would very much like to talk to this "guy" who went "nuts" on you, sounds like he has a major issue with anyone doing anything OTHER than his way. Maybe it works for him, but I can GUARANTEE that I can figure out  alternate ways to do whatever it is he is doing, and then teach that to others so they can have success and add that to thier knowledge base.  Sounds like a stereotypcal LHS employee to me........driving off more customers than bringing them in. My experince at my own sad LHS is that they have little depth and breadth of  experience to draw on and consider anything outside thier own experience to be "wrong" .

 Painting anime figures is unlike painting military uniforms ( I have done both for several years) and while I can leave the majority of my gear attached for the military figs, I need complete dissassembly for my anime girls. Don't forget to check out gamera baenrae page as well, he has a lot of very good tutorials on how he achieves his fantastic anime figures. If you like Kody's work, you will like Gam's too! :-)

But, in the end, this is a HOBBY, not a business, so keep it in those terms and good luck!

David 

 Im with easymike and david try one way then the other then you will know if it works or not, right now   Im not fine of Kykeron guy, this man is a to be putting another modeler down because of her ways of doing things her videos are really good,and so is her work, we all try different things to help us out in the modeling world.