Apoxie Sculpt for seams?

[youngwm]

Never having good luck with different brands of putty I bought some of Ave's two part sculpt. Watching the forum I have seen great results from using this product. I having been working on the Moebius space pod all Weekend and filled the seem's with Aves and notice a lot of excess of the putty on the out side of the model. My question is will I be able to cut off the excess after 24hrs of hardening and sand? Will I still need to use a different product of putty for the seems.
Thanks!

 

[Gigatron]

Apoxie sculpt is water soluble, while it's still maleable.

After you apply it to the seams, dip your finger in water and smooth it out as much as possible. You can use the backside of your hobby knife, or a putty tool, or even a toothpick to scrape away the excess, at that point. A damp papertowel/napkin, will clean up the rest, so you won't even have to sand, afterwards.

But, if it's already dry, it will sand pretty easily. I know it cuts pretty easily, as well, with a hobby saw (either the saw blade for the exacto handle, or a JLC hobby saw).

-Fred

 

[Ray22]

If you want a easy to use putty for your models seams try Bondo spot putty drys quickly and sands very easy, less than $4 bucks a tube at any auto parts store.

 

[trekriffic]

Another good seam filler is Tamiya Basic Type polyester putty. It disappeared from hobby store shelves for awhile but my LHS has it in stock now. There are places online that sell it too. It squeezes from a tube and goes on like butter and can be smoothed using a spatula or your finger.
Cleans up with lacquer thinner.

 

[youngwm]

Thanks for the feedback I really appriciate the quick response and help. Ray, thanks for commenting your work blows my mind!!!, my wife does not want me to open bondo in the basement again she smelled it right away the last time I used it. Aves seems to be really mild pretty good stuff.

Gigatron thanks, I used water and cleaned up what I could the method you suggested worked really well.

Trekfiffic, Tamiya makes awesome products I will check into the putty.

I think I like Aves so far will see how it cleans up. I left it clumped on in a few spots because it seems when I remove it from the sides it falls out of the seam. going to post some pics as nothing is better then seeing some pictures. I tries something a little different with this model and did more painting then usual the orange in the front and back I painted and figured I would have less masking but getting it all together I got some blemishes I will need to touch up on.. I have been at this since Fri Night and still ahve a lot of work to do.. Here is my work in progress.
Moving around and working a bit I did what I did not want to do and is probabbly why I should have waited to paint the exterior all at once but a finger print in the paint do you sand a bit and re-airbrush?

I will sand what is prime and paint the aluminum this week and touch up the orange.

Thanks again!!

 

[chuckyAPP]

That putty seam looks pretty thick. You can use nail files in a rough grit to knock most of that down, then wet sand it to get a glass smooth finish. If its a flat seam, a new razor blade works great to scrape it down nice and smooth also.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

With apoxie sculpt it is better to do too little at a time than too much. The less you have to sand afterwards the better, though it sands better than most stuff.

Actually, what I do with apoxie sculpt for seams is knead a tiny roll of it, roll a small section very, very thin - hair thin (slightly exaggerated to illustrate the point - more like sewing thread thin), dip my finger in water and then just roll the apoxie sculpt on along the seam and then smear with the wet finger and basically letting the watery apoxy sculpt flow into the seam and fill the crack, as a roll of apoxie sculpt like seen on your piece doesn't sit flush with the piece around the edges and can be a pain to sand smooth.

 

[trekriffic]

With apoxie sculpt it is better to do too little at a time than too much. The less you have to sand afterwards the better, though it sands better than most stuff.

Actually, what I do with apoxie sculpt for seams is knead a tiny roll of it, roll a small section very, very thin - hair thin (slightly exaggerated to illustrate the point - more like sewing thread thin), dip my finger in water and then just roll the apoxie sculpt on along the seam and then smear with the wet finger and basically letting the watery apoxy sculpt flow into the seam and fill the crack, as a roll of apoxie sculpt like seen on your piece doesn't sit flush with the piece around the edges and can be a pain to sand smooth.

That's what I do. Even better than the Sculpt though for filling fine seams is the Apoxy Paste. It's much more fluid than the Sculpt and goes on almost transparent. I like the Scuplt for instances where a part may flex a bit as it gives you a stronger bond than the Paste and is less likely to crack.

 

[franz bolo]

When you sand it, be careful because the model will sand down quicker than the putty! This will cause a dip where the 2 meet.

You put way too much putty on there just to cover a seam!

You should only need a small amount for a seam. Use a toothpick and press the putty into the seam, them use your finger or a brush and run some alcohol across it to smooth it out.

You can also use some blue painter tape to mask off the area around the seam to confine the area you're working in.

You shouldn't even have to sand it if you do it right.

FB

 

[Too Much Garlic]

I tried the paste and it was cumbersome to work with as it was so annoyingly sticky and whenever I got it flush it would pull away when I pulled away the tool. Been a while since I tried it, but if you want to go with a paste you should go with Liquitex modeling paste. It is in no way as sticky as apoxie paste.

 

[ralphee]

If you want to work fast, Tamiya LCP is great stuff, very thin, awesome on seams, and you can cure it in a minute or so with Flo lighting.

lee

 

[franz bolo]

How durable is that stuff?

FB

If you want to work fast, Tamiya LCP is great stuff, very thin, awesome on seams, and you can cure it in a minute or so with Flo lighting.

lee

 

[Too Much Garlic]

If it is Tamiya it is developed for styrene kits, am I right?

 

[ralphee]

Seems strong to me, not that i lob my models around the garden or anything, but for minor work and seams, awesome gear, anything larger i use Magisculp or Bondo.

lee

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Yeah, then I would recommend apoxie sculpt over magic sculpt. Maybe I mixed it wrong, but it sanded like crap, being very porous.

 

[ralphee]

Yeah, then I would recommend apoxie sculpt over magic sculpt. Maybe I mixed it wrong, but it sanded like crap, being very porous.

Hmm odd, ive used it for years and never had a problem, amazing stuff, think the current batch i have is maybe five years old now, and works like a charm.

lee

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Yeah, that's strange. Maybe I just got a bad batch. Just didn't like working with it at all.

 

[youngwm]

Ok, so I chiseled away the excess putty that I overly applied. I sanded and sanded different grits and she is smoooooth.... I took the above adivse and once again applied a small amount to two different seams. I then used water and ran my finger to a nice finish and I will continue on and sand again tomorrow.

I could never get using Squadron's putty to a smooth non gritty finish and it never seemed to really sand all the way off. I always ended up with a shiny raised area around the crack or seam. That stuff really is bad I don't even understand how they sell it. Tamiya products aren't found that much in my LJH. I am glad I purchased Ave's online.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Cool, looking forward to pictures.

 

[youngwm]

Hey guy's many thanks for all the help if it was not for the forum I think I would be still using tester's putty among other brands that are sold at my LHS. Actually I think it was after I saw trekrific's spindrift and looked at how smooth the seams were covered that I really wanted to try Aves.

I sanded tonight and primed with Dupli primer (sandable), I few minor bumps check the pics and let me know what you think. Would you continue to work it sand more or paint.

After sanding a model like that where it is so smooth does that effect the overall finish when airbrushing the paint on? I will be painting with MM metalizer aluminum.

Here is some primed pics thanks for the feedback I am anxious to paint and start the Chariot next. I ordered the light kit from VooDoo today.

Mike