Oh my god these seams are horrible, help!

To take the Baron's advice a step futher, you can use a # 10 flat brush to sculpt the putty. Just dip the very tip of the bristles into the thinned putty, then use a patting motion parallel to the skin grain. You may need several passes and to play around with the optimum putty dilution, but dobbing with the brush will pull up a texture that will need no sanding. Practice with some scrap, as you may need to acquire "a feel" for the technique.

Hi, smeagol, acetone is a solvent; the application most people would be familiar with would be as the main ingredient in nail polish remover.  A lot of guys buy it at the grocery store or drugstore in that form.  If you were to buy it as nail polish remover, remember that it's a dilute solution (diluted with water), and you might want to look for non-scented brands.  As a manly man, I buy mine at the hardware store *grunt, grunt, grunt* 

When I make a paste of putty and acetone on the palette, I put a little bit of putty, about a quarter of how much toothpaste you might squeeze out of a tube onto a toothbrush, and use an eye dropper to drop acetone onto it.  Then I stir it with a toothpick until I get it to a consistency that I want, and brush it on the seam.

The other way I use it is to apply the putty to the seam, work it into the seam with a toothpick or knife blade, and then to dip a cotton swab in the acetone and run it over the puttied join to smooth it out and remove the excess.  What's left is in the seam.

I use the cotton swabs that have the rolled paper shafts, not Q-tips, whose plastic shafts the solvent would melt.

I have some pics of my Godzilla posted here somewhere, but I'll put up some newer ones.  I didn't make the seams disappear, but I was satisfied with the look, when I was done.  For me, the fun was to take a more serious stab at this classic Aurora kit than I did when I was a kid, when glue meant using Duco Household Cement, and paints were only Testor's gloss enamels, if I used paint at all.  A trip down Memory Lane....

it does help, let me ask... dumb question... what exactly is Acetone.  I have used laquer thinner to some success for thinning putty but it doesnt work as well as I wish it would.

I'd love to see shots of your godzilla.

As far as getting stuff, were not far appart, so we share the same pain, eh'.  Iorder alot of my stuff online, but I dont use the credit card, I put whatever spending cash I have onto a debit, so I cant spend more then I have.

smeagol the vile wrote:

Thats how I am doing the buildings, just going slowly, the one went together amazingly easily, which im happy for.  Can you recomend a specific putty I should use for this barron, and a good place online to get it? Also, what did you do about the center building, it sits over a square pile of rubbel, but the rubbel is to small for the square leaving gaps in the sides...

Hi, smeagol, for my Godzilla, I used Squadron putty, which I know is not everyone's favorite, but it's what I had on hand.  I use a cotton swab soaked in acetone to smooth out the putty, anyway.  Sometimes I mix the acetone and the putty in a well on my palette, too, for a homemade Mr. Surfacer, and brush it on with an old paintbrush.

I have also used Milliput, Elmer's wood putty, and CA glue, depending on the application.  I have since picked up automotive putty (like Bondo, just a different brand), because I want to try it, and I'm eager to try Aves, too, but haven't found any stores around that carry it (trying to avoid online ordering and credit card use).  But I'll wind up googling Aves, if my LHS can't order it for me.

That building in the middle, I know which one you mean-well, I painted the whole base flat black, including the pile of rubble in the middle of that building, and then I drybrushed grays and browns, fading up to a uniform gray color for the upper storeys of all of the buildings.  Except for the building with the brick texture-that one, I did reddish brown, then wased light gray into the seams, to look like grout.  But I wanted to show the whole ground as badly burned.

Hope that helps!

Thats how I am doing the buildings, just going slowly, the one went together amazingly easily, which im happy for.  Can you recomend a specific putty I should use for this barron, and a good place online to get it?

Also, what did you do about the center building, it sits over a square pile of rubbel, but the rubbel is to small for the square leaving gaps in the sides...

Hi, smeagol!  I built that kit last year (nostalgia!) and had to deal with the seams, too.

For the buildings on the base, I addressed the problem by starting at one end of each piece, and gluing it, then advancing along the seams a little at a time.  That reduced the gaps to an acceptible level, and then I used some judicious weathering to hide other seams (I painted the inside of all of the buildings black, for example, and used a lot of blacks, browns and dark grays on the exteriors).

For Godzilla himself, the approach of using a slow-acting putty that allows scuplting over the seams is the most effective one, to help hide the seam, and maintain the surface texture of his hide.

One other thing to think of-I painted the entire inside of the head black, because you can see into his mouth from a lot of angles.

Regards,

Brad

the problem is the parts dont line up correctly, some leave a good 1-2 mm gap when pressed as tightly as possible...

I agree w/ Bronto .... done right, you can fill in the seams with putty and while still soft, add in the detail to the putty. Once primed, you shouldn't even notice a difference.

Ouch!  Looks like it will require alot of time to sand or fill the seams.  Now you have made me curious how long it will take you to take care of those seams? 

Try filling the gaps with a 2-part type putty, such as Milliput or Tamiya.  You can fill the gaps, then re-carve the detail while it is still soft so there will be little or no need for sanding.

smeag, i always sand the seams/gaps with a small file then use ambroid pro-weld to seal them. if u do it right and push tight...u dont have gaps or need to fill them. u can put mutliple layers of it on the seams and you dont get a built up.  the nice thing too is its applied with a brush and it works by capilary action and actually "melts" the plastic together. if u were to put some on the inside of the seam instead of the outside i think you'd get some good results!! just a thought!