Prefered putty?

PR19_Kit · July 08, 2012, 02:11:22 AM

Has anyone in the UK tried the relatively new Deluxe Materials 'Perfect Pastic Putty' yet?

I got a tube of it last week and tried it today on my 'Virtual Herk' and it works just fine. It's smooth, dispenses easily from the tube, dries quite fast, and sands nicely too, but..............

I'm not convinced that it's not Fine Surface Pollyfilla in a different dispenser!

I've been using the latter for YEARS now, and in my whole modelling life I've only ever used three tubs, and I didn't use all the stuff, it went solid during modelling breaks on my part. The crux of the matter is the price, the Deluxe stuff costs £4.50 for a 40ml tube, and the Polyfilla costs £4.49 for TEN times the amount!!!!

NARSES2 · July 09, 2012, 02:43:07 AM

Not seen the Dulux "Perfect Plastic Putty" yet Kit, but wouldn't be surprised if it was the same stuff as Polyfilla. Used that myself as well. The price differential between DIY & hobby use seems about "right" to

I'm still waiting for Johnson Wax to bring the now discontinued old formula Klear out in a tiny bottle labled "modelling clear varnish" at 5 times the cost

Mossie · July 09, 2012, 03:44:57 AM

It's rumoured that Humbrol are doing just that, they had a product listed in their new releases that sounded very like Klear. It's called 'Clear' and comes in a 125ml and if their simillar sized thinners are anything to go by, it'll be £4-5. Klear is around the same price for a 750ml bottle. To be fair, a lot of the price difference is to do with economies of scale, Johnsons will probably fill tens of thousands of bottles in a batch, Humbrol a few thousand.
http://www.humbrol.com/2012/

PR19_Kit · July 09, 2012, 04:26:35 AM

Luckily I've probably got enough bottles of the original Klear to see me through the rest of my modelling life.

Johnson's changed the formula because of some EU law didn't they? So how would Humbrol get around that?

phoenix54 · July 09, 2012, 09:48:54 AM

Just a suggestion, there is a product marketed by S.C. Johnson, to the commercial market
(5 Ltr. bottles, just over a gallon for us that were educated correctly!

)
Very silly, they market it for cleaning / polishing floors??
Might be worth a punt for a club, if you know of any janitorial suppliers, just bring yer own bottle,
if these are in short suppy, speak to Trev, i'm SURE he could help!!!!

PR19_Kit · July 09, 2012, 10:00:40 AM

That sounds like the same stuff as Klear to me, but is it the OLD Klear or the NEW Klear???

Rheged · July 09, 2012, 11:30:07 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on July 09, 2012, 10:00:40 AM
That sounds like the same stuff as Klear to me, but is it the OLD Klear or the NEW Klear???

Should I use NEWKlear on the V force and Trident submarine I'm thinking of building. Sorry, Kit, but you set that one up so well I couldn't resist........!

NARSES2 · July 10, 2012, 01:14:57 AM

Quote from: Rheged on July 09, 2012, 11:30:07 AM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on July 09, 2012, 10:00:40 AM
That sounds like the same stuff as Klear to me, but is it the OLD Klear or the NEW Klear???

Should I use NEWKlear on the V force and Trident submarine I'm thinking of building. Sorry, Kit, but you set that one up so well I couldn't resist........!

matrixone · July 10, 2012, 10:40:55 AM

For a number of years I used the filling putty from Squadron and also tried Tamiya's putty but was never really happy with the results so I tried a tube of Bondo red putty from the local Wal-Mart and have been using it ever since. The Bondo putty is easier to sand down to a feather edge and is not nearly as fragile as the Squadron puttys, the biggest advantage to the Bondo is it dries quicker. Like any putty its best put on in thinner coats if you are filling a larger gap or you will see some shrinkage over time.

Lately I have been using super glue for filling any gaps on the edges of wings or similar parts that are easy to sand down. I like the super glue method because its actually very quick to do and there is zero chance of ghost seams appearing later.
Like with the Bondo putty wet sanding gets the best results but you MUST sand the super glue down before it fully sets up or it will become too hard for the sandpaper to remove. Apply the super glue only on the seam line itself and then put on the accelerator and start wet sanding right away, start with coarse sandpaper to knock off the high spots and then switch to finer grades of sandpaper to polish and remove any scratches. I only fill small sections at a time with the super glue and sand it down instead of trying to do the whole leading edge of the wing in one shot so I will have plenty of time to sand down the super glue before it gets too hard to work with.

Matrixone

Dizzyfugu · July 11, 2012, 03:32:58 AM

After testing many things I ended up with an NC putty which I found in a local DIY market and later also in a car accessory store - it is actually stuff for car body finishing and sold under the label of "Presto" here. In handling, it is similar to Revell's infamous Plasto stuff, just without all of its flaws. Color is s greenish grey, the stench is apalling of you are not used to enamel colors and thinner. But the stuff is easy to handle, bonds well with polystyrene, shrink is almost nil (just when you apply really thick coats), surface can easily be sanded and even polished.

PR19_Kit · July 11, 2012, 03:53:50 PM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 11, 2012, 03:32:58 AM
After testing many things I ended up with an NC putty which I found in a local DIY market and later also in a car accessory store - it is actually stuff for car body finishing and sold under the label of "Presto" here.

AGGGGHHHHHHHH!

See my post on the previous page near the top!

I got a tube of that Presto stuff in Berlin a few years ago but NO-ONE sells it in the UK and two emails to Presto themselves have gone un-answered.

What's the chances of you getting some for me and shipping it to UK please? I'd be VERY !willing to pay the rate and then some! As you say, it's great for our type of modelling.

Dizzyfugu · July 11, 2012, 11:55:23 PM

Oh, you are the first one to be as enthusiastic about that green stuff as me!? Finally, another member of "The Order of Presto"!

Sorry, I did not read through the previous entries.

Well, the tubes are actually hard to hunt down, normally you only get a tin can with 250g as a minimum - much too much for modelers, and nor practical due to the can lid.

A couple of years ago the tubes were listed out at DIY retail, but now or then I was lucky to find some specimen at car specialty stores. There's a car/tire chain in Germany called ATU ("Auto Teile Unger") where I found some tubes and stashed them away. The sourcing conditions are shaky!

I could take a look or ask when I get there - how many tubes would you need/like?

Payment could be done via PayPal, that should be no problem?

PR19_Kit · July 12, 2012, 03:00:47 AM

PM en route Dizzy.

Dizzyfugu · July 12, 2012, 03:16:35 AM

Answer already sent

frank2056 · July 12, 2012, 06:59:04 AM

Quote from: matrixone on July 10, 2012, 10:40:55 AM
Lately I have been using super glue for filling any gaps on the edges of wings or similar parts that are easy to sand down. I like the super glue method because its actually very quick to do and there is zero chance of ghost seams appearing later.
Like with the Bondo putty wet sanding gets the best results but you MUST sand the super glue down before it fully sets up or it will become too hard for the sandpaper to remove.

Next time (or on a junk kit) try making superglue putty. Mix a small amount of superglue with talcum powder (do not use baking soda - it causes a chemical reaction). You can make the putty thinner or thicker by adding more or less talc. The putty dries in a few seconds and the thicker mixtures stay at about the same hardness as styrene... forever.

I just googled this well illustrated tutorial: http://s3.zetaboards.com/locate_and_cement/topic/744332/1/
The person is using an accelerator, but I never need to - the superglue will harden in a minute or less.