PUTTING IDEAS???

1) I heard Tamiya polyester putty is good, can it take enamel paints or am I going to have to use acrylics only?

2) There is a putty out there where I have heard you can thin it with nail polish remover. What putty is that and is the nail polish remover with the acetone base or can I just use acetone?

3) Why cannot get green Squadron putty to work? It always seem to fall apart when sanding or it just won't stick to the plastic? I have tried sanding the area first then applying it, applying it then waiting an hour, and I have tried waiting a week. Nothing seems to help.

4) If I use Bondo or Spot putty, can I use acryilics without priming or should I always prime everything anyway to ensure go paint adhesion?

These are just some of the questions I have but I figure this is where most of my trouble comes from. My models end up looking as if a two year old did them. I would like them to look as if a teenage to an adult with knowlesge of building did them. Thanks for any help.

I don't know about the polyester putty, but I've used Squadron white, you can thin it down with acetone nail polish remover. I find fake nail remover to be a bit more effective than polish remover though, it's a bit stronger, but not so much as to attack the plastic.

I recently bought a tube of Tamaya basic putty, and I like it much better than the Squadron, it's more liquidy, easier to spread and get into gaps. It's also not as crumbly, so you have a longer working time. It thins down with acetone as well. I think it's a superior product as far as putties go.

Recently I experimented with cutting up sprue and dissolving it with laquer thinner. I took the resulting putty and used it to reconstruct a sharp corner and fill some nasty gaps. It worked very well, and when it's all scraped and sanded back to plane, should be perfect, have no grain, and take paint just like the rest of the plastic. That might be worth a shot sometime too if you have some nasty gaps.

I don't really know about what kinds of paint to lay over different putties. I mostly just use enamels.

I tired the disolved spree in the gap as well. However, I like being able to use putty and then using acetone to "scrap" it away. That method just seems so superior to me since you really don't have to do any sanding. I like this since I don't have to worry about losing panel detail. The problem is that, as far as I know, Squadron is the only putty you can do this with...ok, I guess you can with Testors too.

I only say this since I was thinking of using some automotive putty, but I'm pretty sure acetone will not work with it.

Dana

Snoopy,
I agree with Madda about Tamiya's putty. I have found it to be some of the best around. If I'm not mistaken, the Tamiya putty actually contains fine metal particles (hence its metallic coloration) that gives it some substance when it's dry, and reduces its potential for shrinkage. It's also quite fine (as opposed to coarse). I haven't tried their polyester stuff, yet, so I don't really know how it performs.

One of the things I have found that works well on right angles like you are describing is to use an automotive putty like Dupont's lacquer putty (3M also makes some pretty good putty, too. I think it's called Blue Acryl??) Basically, this stuff is thickened primer, but much thinner than putty. Because it's a thickened primer, it essentially has no grain, so it's incredibly smooth. I've only seen minimal shrinkage when dry. One trick I've learned is to lay the lacquer putty into the joint where you want it (I like to use a toothpick), then take a cotton swab wet with acetone (primary ingredient in fingernail polish remover) and swipe the joint. You'll pull out all the excess putty, and be left with a nice smooth joint. No sanding required. This process works better with angle joints, than it does with butt joints. Because the stuff is a rust red in color, you'll probably want to prime a little before laying down your base coat. I bought a tube about 12 years ago for about $18 from a paint store, and I've still not used 1/2 of it yet.

Another trick is to do the same thing as above, only use white glue (Elmer's), and swipe it with a swab moistened in water. I have found that Elmer's works best in finer/smaller joints; lacquer putty works best in slightly larger ones, but is not good in large crevices (use super glue or Tamiya putty).

With most putties, you can spray your base coat right over the top; however, I like to prime the surface occasionally for the purpose of locating any shrinkage, or other areas where the putty didn't fill completely, or where additional sanding is needed.

Hope this helps you some!

Gip Winecoff

Thanks everyone. I got some really good ideas that I can try this weekend. Something has got to work.

FYI, I use Bondo Spot & Glazing putty. Comes in a tube and doesn't need a seperate catalyst to mix with it. It's sort of a rusty/red color, but it works very well for me. I use the NPR/Acetone trick with it as well.

Good luck!

Murray