I have several tubes of Squadron fast drying green putty (its super smelly) and i was wondering if there was a way to thin it down a bit to make it easier to smooth over areas. I'm trying to fill in some panel lines on a project and i end up with more of the stuff than i need as it seems very thick.
I've thinned it with denatured alcohol, it works pretty well. But it tends to shrink more when thinned, so you may need two applications to do the job.
Anything is better than wasting so much of it. I've never had a model filler that didn't shrink. I'd use bondo but it tends to eat transformers.
Just learned about some great primer.
polyester sanding primer - really cool stuff...
Polyester Primer
its between glazing putty and paint.
For panel lines and seams, I've been using super glue for a couple years now. It doesn't take a lot to fill most seams, it'll sand smooth, and it doesn't shrink (something I ALWAYS hated about Squadron Putty). Just work in small sections (an inch or two aat a time), and you won't have any problems- if it cures too long, it gets very hard to sand or file- so just do what you know you can finish in one sitting.
Hope this helps!
Acetone thins Squadron putty as well, a little bit goes a LONG way... I usually just dip a toothpick in the acetone an then stir up a little blob of the putty, and continue re-dipping and stiring until it's where I want it...
You can get an automotive 2K polyurethane primer that does pretty much the same thing, NAPA carries their own house brand and it's pretty reasonable... With a brush you can get a crazy amount of build up to skim cover the surface...Stormy320 said:
I use a Balsa filler from Hobbico
called Hobbylite Balsa colored filler
Dont let the name fool you it works on plastics
and thins with water and is far better then that green squadron putty
and is very easy to sand and should be available at most Hobby shops
Hobbico Hobby Lite Filler (Balsa Colored) - 699801
it may be worth a drive to the hobby shop one day. Its nearly an hour away but if this is easier to use it may be worth it.
Cutex Regular Nail Polish Remover works great - it's acetone based. Dip a toothpick with SG in it or put some on a Q-tip to smooth out wet SG that's already on your project.
What I do is apply the filler in the seams (I use bondo two part filler) and wipe off excess with varsol paint thinner or acetone, this works great on resin kit, this avoid any sanding or at least very minimal sanding, wipe excess across seam not in same direction so putty is leveled with seam and just wet sand when dried, I love this techniqie because there's very minimal sanding and the two parts filler dries very fast.
GFollano
I'm gonna try the alcohol since we have it on hand. if not i'll hit the dollar store tomorrow. its times like that its nice having a dollar general 5 minutes away lol
I think most of the putties are lacquer thinner based, but most people use acetone as a substitute. The nail polish remover sounds like it would work okay. And you're right, it is smelly.
Actually with this green putty the alcohol works. I just need to work on getting it to coat and sand smooth.
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