Help with gaps

It is important to get the best fit possible, by test fitting and sanding or trimming to fit.Tamiya putty works well to fill the gaps, just apply it thinly then sand it once dry.

Airbrush,
I've never done any figures, but here's how I fill bad seems on aircraft/autos:
- if it's really bad, stuff some scrap plastic or filler in the seam and glue it in place
- I use squadron putty (white or green, but I've heard the tamiya stuff works the same way) and then fill the seam rather 'crudely'. I usually wipe the excess off with my finger and let it dry for 3 or 4 minutes.
- then, I take a cotton swab and dip it in some nail polish remover (I use Cutex and it is acetone free.) The 'excess' filler will slowly wipe away with the cotton swab and you won't damage any of the surrounding plastic. The nail polish remover will slowly dissolve the stuff you don't want. You can even 'smooth' over the joint with the wet cotton swab to get a nice finish.
- Some cautions: I had a bad experience with one type of nail polish remover once, so test it with the putty to make sure it's compatible.
- I have no idea whether or not the figures you are doing are made of the same type of plastic that my aircraft and auto kits are. Test out the materials on some scrap pieces from the same kit before you try it on the real thing!!

The real beauty with this is that you can remove the excess filler without damaging the surrounding details. The swab and polish remover just removes a little of the putty at a time, and doesn't damage the underlying details (like sanding would.)

M.

Just a quick note on filling figure seams. I was working on a 1/6 scale Cable scifi kit and came up against a seam that for all intents and purposes was going to be impossible to fill without damaging the surrounding detail. I thought and rummaged around for a solution then it struck me out of the blue, kinda like the wife's frying pan but not quite as hard. The answer I came up with was Latex Caulk. It's water based and very malleable when wet like really thick white glue. What you do is paint it in the seam until it's full the go back over it while it is wet with a soft paint brush that is fairly wet, not dripping but wet, basically you end up painting the caulk with the water to smooth it. Using the corner of a paper towel you can suck up the watery excess that is created. depending on how much you have to fill it can take a few minutes to an hour to dry. I did that to the firgure I was working on and applied paint directly over it once it was dry. I realize that 1/35th and 1/6th scale firgures are a world apart in size but I believe that this tip will work equally good in all scales just reduce the size of the implements used.

Tracy

I do quite a few 1/35 and 1/16 scale figures and for gaps I use ZAp A Gap or any other type of super glue ( no Gel though!). I apply it with a toothpick and dab up any excess with a tissue before it dries. It requires minimal sanding and conforms to many shapes.

over the years that i have been building and painting figures i have tried about everything for filling gaps. and i have the best results useing a two part expoxy putty, such as Duro brand. it is easy to work with, just mix equal amounts dip it in some distilled water and apply it to the seam and smooth it out with a wet finger or fine brush. and very lightly sop up the exsess with some tissue. if you do a good job of smoothing and cleaning up the exsess before it cures no sanding is required

I use baking soda and hotstuff...I first fill the seam with baking soda, then use a razorblade tip to drop some hotstuff to seal the baking soda. After it dries I sand and do any minor touchups with Squadron Green Putty .

I use TAMIYA putty to fill any gaps and then apply TAMIYA liquid cement to smoothen the putty .... do this before the putty hardened. By doing this way, I don't have to sand it off. My method is not applicable to aircraft ... you can still do it but sanding is still the order of the day. But for figures, you can get away with my method.

GOOD LUCK.

Try using magic sculpt for seams and gaps. Once you mix the two elements, you can sculpt the area with a sharp tool to scr3ibe lines, hair, uniform items, etc. and change it all if you're not satisfied. All you need is a small cup of water at your side to wet your fingers or modeling tool while you work. I've stopped using conventional putties and the like . -Ed

just try real hard to fill them. thats what i do. snad them real good.

What about Testors Contour Putty? Any good?