PSR--Reduce the "R" (and the ARRRGHHH!)!!

[sequoiaranger]

The Operative Word is indeed "R"!

Yes, for whiffers, especially those who "whittle" and saw up perfectly good kits, the "Putty, Sand, and Repeat" paradigm is all too real. The "R" part looms large, for actual and especially psychological reasons. "Repeating" a process takes its toll in time and effort, and you feel you are "spinning your wheels" and not progressing. There is the real fear that even THIS repetition will not produce the results you want, and you will be faced with yet ANOTHER "R".

I have a "secret", though. The "secret" is to reduce or eliminate the need for "R".

First, you have to ask yourself, "Do I really need PUTTY"?? That is, there are lots of "fillers" out there, and some are more appropriate than others to get the job done.

One "filler" is simply a tight fit! That is, if you dry-fit the parts and there is a gap, see if some filing or scraping the high spots will eliminate the gap. There is some trial-and-error "R" here, and you need to go lightly in eliminating material so you don't go so far as to need to ADD material! Even if the fit is not "perfectly" tight, styrene plastic has a wonderful tendency to soften when (especially liquid) glue is applied, and you can sometimes wait 'arf-a-mo after applying glue, and then when you put the two surfaces together, PRESS them firmly together and the now-softer plastic will conform to each other's undulations more readily.

White glue---You might use white glue (water-based) in small cracks, smoothed over with a damp, matted Q-tip (small cotton end to a small stick). Because it shrinks when it dries, you indeed may need to "R", but maybe only once. White glue has the advantage that it does NOT need to be "Sanded" because it smoothes itself, and there is no way that fine detail will be lost through the sanding process. The drawback is that the rubbery white glue CANNOT be sanded (it shreds), so you MUST watch out to keep excess white glue from accumulating.

"Gap-filling" Cyano-acrylates (Super glues), carefully applied, will fill larger gaps AND smooth itself, largely eliminating the "S". It's also good in tight spaces where you would be hard-pressed to get a file or sandpaper. You may need to "R" here, as again the substance shrinks as it cures, but not as much as white glue. It can also be sanded, though it is usually harder than the plastic nearby, so requires some attention to keep the wear-down process even.

Adding additional scrap plastic—sometimes a deep gouge or gap can use up a lot of putty, and a lot of precious time waiting for thick applications of putty to dry completely. Slightly soft (uncured) putty can gunk up a file or sandpaper, and show the gouges of the scraping device itself (requiring more PSR!). A thin coating of putty dries/hardens a LOT more quickly than a thick coat. I sometimes throw in sprue, or bits of sheet plastic to take up room. Even if it sticks ABOVE the plane of the surface, Hey! you're going to SAND/FILE anyway!

So don't ALWAYS automatically reach for the putty when you need additional material.

[Weaver]

Well said, especially about "good fit" 

I may not be an engineer, but I've been lectured by engineering uncles/mates enough that I'd MUCH rather spend X amount of time making two pieces fit together properly than making them fit badly and spending X amount of time cleaning up the result.....

[NARSES2]

Adding additional scrap plastic—sometimes a deep gouge or gap can use up a lot of putty, and a lot of precious time waiting for thick applications of putty to dry completely. Slightly soft (uncured) putty can gunk up a file or sandpaper, and show the gouges of the scraping device itself (requiring more PSR!). A thin coating of putty dries/hardens a LOT more quickly than a thick coat. I sometimes throw in sprue, or bits of sheet plastic to take up room. Even if it sticks ABOVE the plane of the surface, Hey! you're going to SAND/FILE anyway!

Use this one a lot. I find thin strips of plasticard (Hannants sell the stuff in some very thin strips) are very useful for gaps at the wing/fusalage join