Hey all,
I haven't seen anyone else mention this particular technique, so I figured I would share my experience.
Has anyone else had this experience with Squadron Green or White putty? You have a fairly large gap or area and after putting on the putty you realize that the plastic is severely melted and the area looks much worse than it would have without the putty at all.
Squadron Putty uses Toluene as a solvent - an extremely harsh chemical that can react quite violently with many plastics. This is particularly true if the putty is applied thickly and the toluene does not have the ability to rapidly evaporate.
TIP:
There have been articles in the past that mention diluting Squadon Putty with Acetone. This is also a rather harsh chemical that will react with plastic. I have found that Squadron Putty can be thinned with plain denatured alcohol.
I normally use a old, cleaned out, square Testors paint bottle. I'll squirt about 1/3 of a bottle of putty into the bottom and about another 1/3 with denatured alcohol. I use a toothpick to gently mix the components together until they form a paste with a consistency something like pancake batter or mixed plaster of paris. If the mixture is too thin, I add a bit of putty and if too thick, a few drops of alcohol.
With the cap in place this thinned putty can be stored for many months without a problem. If the putty starts to set up a little, a few drops of alcohol will bring it right back.
I've discovered that thinning the putty like this has three distinct effects. First, the alcohol dilutes the toluene solvent and makes the putty much less reactive to plastics. This is very nice if you are concerned with the plastic pitting, warping, or otherwise reacting to the putty. Second, the thinned putty will flow into gaps and recesses much better than before. This helps to avoid the air bubbles that can form with thick putty. Third, if applied in thin coats, the drying time does not appear to be much more than the basic putty. Note that I've said thin coats. As with straight Squadron Putty, if you put it on too thick, it will take forever to dry.
I've used Squadron Green Putty thinned like this to fill gaps between ill-fitting parts, fill ejector pin holes, and simulate a thin mud on armor projects. I've also added some ballast or sand and static grass to the thinned putty to make thicker and fairly realistic clumpy mud.
I hope you'll consider using this technique the next time that thick Squadron Puttly just doesn't seem right. Maybe my "thinned" version will be just what you need.
Enjoy your modeling...