discussion Any recommendations for modelling putty.

[Waspie]

As per the title, however, I'm more interested in a one part rather than the two part epoxy type.
Also, are there any I should stay clear of?
Cheers guys.
Doug

 

[Neil Merryweather]

What do you want to achieve?
Most one-part putties are ok as fillers but for modelling I can only recommend polymer clay like Fimo or Super Sculpey which need to be cooked to cure them, so unsuitable for adding to a plastic model unless it's a stand alone part.
There is DAS which is air-drying but personally I have never got on with it.
Back in the day there was Barbola paste, fire cement and plastic wood, but I don't know if they are still around even. They were all tricky and led to the development of the epoxy putties such as Milliput.
What is your objection to epoxies?
I suppose there's plasticine but it's not very durable. I started with it back in the day and I used to coat it with thin PVA. I never looked back once I found milliput

 

[Tim Marlow]

That’s the bottom line posted by Neil there Doug…..what do you want to do with it? When we know that the hive mind will jump in and advise you I’m sure…..

 

[Waspie]

Thanks guys. All I want to achieve is to fill small cracks between parts. For example, where a wing joins the fuselage or two parts join and don't quite mate properly!!! Nothing too traumatic like Pete's Vampire!!

 

[KarlW]

Personally I use Vallejo plastic putty and Tamiya putty. The Tamiya one is solvent based. I used to use Squadron green and Squadron white but never used a tube as they always hardened on me.
You also have options like dissolved sprue (Sprue goo.) and Cyano with talc/micro baloons.

The best one is the one you can get easily.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Best in my opinion is Tamiya grey putty. It’s cellulose (lacquer) based so is hard to find in the UK, though I did get some off Amazon recently. it sands nicely to a glass like finish and doesn’t crumble when the edges are feathered. Its adhesion is great as well, so it can be used very successfully for dealing with sinkage marks on a surface, something I find very difficult to do with acrylic fillers.

Failing that, the best acrylic putty is Perfect Plastic Putty. I’ve found it has a relatively short shelf life, which can lead to wastage, but used as instructed it cleans off beautifully with a damp cotton bud leaving a well filled joint that needs almost no more preparation. It isn’t so good at sinkage on flat surfaces as the Tamiya stuff, but for joints between parts it’s probably unsurpassed.

 

[Waspie]

The best one is the one you can get easily.

That is the key!!!

 

[Guest]

are there any I should stay clear of?

Milliput. It doesn’t matter what you want to do with it, it’s crap that’s hard to mix and goes off within a few years, making it even harder to mix. The only one that I found sort of usable was the “superfine white” variety, but mixing white and off-white correctly is a challenge in itself.

 

[Geoffers]

My acrylic filler of choice for gap filling is Perfect Plastic Putty, as Tim has already said it cleans up easily. I keep my tube in a sealable plastic bag in the hope that it keeps longer.
I also use Mr Sufacer 500 for thinner gaps.

Geoff.

 

[stillp]

PPP for filling small gaps in joints, because it can be smoothed out with a wet cotton bud. For larger jobs such as wide sink marks I prefer Humbrol Model Filler.
Pete

 

[The Smythe Meister]

I've always used this stuff,may not be the most glamorous or "technical", but it's reasonably priced,lasts for ages, AND......
.... Works for me

 

[Dave Ward]

Failing that, the best acrylic putty is Perfect Plastic Putty.

Second that!
Dave

 

[Jim R]

Another vote for Perfect Plastic Putty. Can be smoothed and cleaned up with water. It also sands smooth easily and sands to a feathered edge.

 

[Andy T]

Perhaps unsurprisingly I use a few car body products for big gaps. A spoonful from a tin at work lasts forever at our scale. Being 2 part chemically cured they never sink either.

My industry is fast moving into UV cured products for speed & energy saving so I tried out my Colad UV putty on a few bits recently. Slap it in thick, a few seconds with a UV lamp and it's ready to sand. Probably a bit hard for our work but could be great for filling large gaps very quickly before a final skim with something easier to sand. The curing lamps are a bit spendy though! I have a couple of small Unilite ones that do the job but my "big boy" costs £1500 :surprised:


Back in the real world of modelling products I like Mr White Putty in a tube for thicker stuff then Mr Dissolved Putty for thin or shallow areas. Being a thick liquid it seeps into small cracks and levels out minor imperfections well. They both tend to bite into the plastic better than waterbased acrylic fillers, so feather out more easily.

 

[Waspie]

Perhaps unsurprisingly I use a few car body products for big gaps. A spoonful from a tin at work lasts forever at our scale. Being 2 part chemically cured they never sink either.

My industry is fast moving into UV cured products for speed & energy saving so I tried out my Colad UV putty on a few bits recently. Slap it in thick, a few seconds with a UV lamp and it's ready to sand. Probably a bit hard for our work but could be great for filling large gaps very quickly before a final skim with something easier to sand. The curing lamps are a bit spendy though! I have a couple of small Unilite ones that do the job but my "big boy" costs £1500 :surprised:


Back in the real world of modelling products I like Mr White Putty in a tube for thicker stuff then Mr Dissolved Putty for thin or shallow areas. Being a thick liquid it seeps into small cracks and levels out minor imperfections well. They both tend to bite into the plastic better than waterbased acrylic fillers, so feather out more easily.

If big gaps appear or I create then I may resort to buying an air rifle!!! (That or give it to SWIMBO - she can destroy anything, the reason I gave up the first time!!! She hasn't improved her dusting skills since then!!):unamused:

 

[Waspie]

Well so far, PPP is winning.

 

[Modler bob]

I tried PPP (irst time using putty) to join the gaps between the wings to the fuselage and seems fine so far.

 

[Waspie]

I tried PPP (irst time using putty) to join the gaps between the wings to the fuselage and seems fine so far.

Nice to hear. I have a couple of joins on my Sea King which will benefit from a wee bit of filling, albeit not too much thankfully.

One thing I'm not overly worried about is filling in 'imperfections' on wing surfaces or airframe surfaces. Real aircraft flex in flight leaving rippling, depressions in the skin. I point to an example in the pic below of a RAF SAR Sea King. Note the tail section has rippling caused by the stresses of flight. Common on Sea Kings, even more evident on Naval versions, although non of pictures I have show it!!!

 

[Andy T]

If big gaps appear or I create then I may resort to buying an air rifle!!! (That or give it to SWIMBO - she can destroy anything, the reason I gave up the first time!!! She hasn't improved her dusting skills since then!!):unamused:

I remember my wife picking up a WIP 1/72 wingy thing for a closer look and promptly dropping it on the kitchen floor. "It might be good love, but it can't actually fly!" :smiling5:

She hasn't touched any of my models since, or my lads warhammer stuff...

 

[Mark1]

Used to use vallejo but found it sinks a bit, now started using this stuff and find it much better.