homemade putty/filler

Amen! I'm signing off now!

A lot of work can be saved on making fillers by just taking plain old baking soda and mixing it up with CA glue. It sands out smooth, takes any kind of paint, and can be scribed on if panel lines need to be drawn back in. Cheap to whip up a batch as well.

Hi, Everyone i heard from a very good moddeling freind of mine about a good way of filling gap,s or small cracks in models is to use good old paper correction fluid. Just paint it on when dry sand it back and keep repeating the process.

In the past, I've looked for M.E.K. locally. I found it only in gallons for $15+ in most places (Lowe's, for one). However, Home Depot does carry it in quarts in the paint department.

I had some several years ago and dispensed some into a plastic bottle used for cement with a needle applicator. I would even remove the cap, put a piece of waxed paper over the mouth of the bottle and replace the cap. It evaporated in a very short time. I had the can tightly (I thought) capped and it all evaporated, too. I probably used less than a half ounce of the stuff all together. I really liked using it as a cement (never did the filler bit). It sets up so fast, it makes Tenax look like a slow cement! My point is, be careful how you store it and what you dispense it into. It's very volitle. I've got several empty Tamiya Extra Thin Cement bottles that I'll be using. (I hope that stuff gets back on the market soon!)

During the early portion of my US Air Force career, (late60, early 70s) MEK was used extensively as a degreaser, paint stripped and a few other things. The medical folks eventually determined that MEK was such a potential health hazard that the USAF banned its use in any and all circumstances. It was against regulations to use it, store it or even possess it. This is a fairly strong hint to me that I should not be using this nasty stuff, even with good ventilation and a respirator. Tenax and most any other styrene cement contains MEK, Acetone or some other strong chemical, but in milder concentrations. They still need to be used with extreme care. Did you ever wonder why stores that sell styrene cement are not allowed to sell it to anyone under age 18?

Darwin, O.F.

I'm a little late to the part on this topic, but let me add my tuppence worth.

I like to use good old fashioned Squadron putty mixed to a cakemix consistencey with whatever liquid cement I have on hand. I prefer plastruct, as the Tenax (which I really like to build with) evaps to quick.

That's it. But it is simple, it works and it welds, and fills, while it dries.

Andrew

Pretty wild homemade putty/filler, have had reasonable sucess with Testor's plastic
cement (Liquid) that contains methyl isobutyl ketrone and methyl cellosolve acetate).
One oz jar with brush and from Kmart "little ones baby powder". A 14 oz plastic white can, a soft powder made from the finest talc. Not too complicated, spill a dab of powder,
dip a brush in cement, wet brush into powder and paint it on. Ends up white and sands
quite well.
jpete800@aol.com

I was told by our clubs Guru that you have to let MEK/plastic mixture de-gas for a couple of weeks before you paint.
What are your opinions on this
Montanti@aol.com

QUOTE: Originally posted by Joe Montanti I was told by our clubs Guru that you have to let MEK/plastic mixture de-gas for a couple of weeks before you paint. What are your opinions on this

I find the thinner the mixture and thickness it's applied the quicker you can paint. I like to wait 24 hours between putty coats if I intend to apply a second coat. I also like to wait 48 hours before applying a primer coat. If you apply a very thick coat of thick putty you will have to wait at least a week but I wouldn't recommend applying it that thick.

Super glue + Johnsons baby power.
This is almost exactly the same as the Japanese SPP-HG filler/putty
It sands pretty good too.

Hi Folks,
This is my first visit here, thanks to FSM and you folks.
Slightly off topic, but I also sometimes use white glue to fill some pin hole type imperfections, just smear it with a finger after the primer. Good for small areas, I find.

Wow , I just noticed how many first time posters we have in this thread!
Welcome to the forum guys.