Favorite Putty/Seam FIller

[WigWag Workshop]

Hi Folks,

What is your favorite Putty/Seam Filler? I been using Tamiya White and Tamiya Grey with mixed results, and I have been wanting to try something else.

 

Thank You in Advance,

-Steven

[Ace-Garageguy]

Tamiya putties are fine for very small corrections. 

For heaver work, I recommend Bondo Professional Glazing and Spot Putty.

It's a two-part polyester product.

 

Edited April 7, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

The Bondo 2-part product works exceedingly well, even for very heavy fills.

 

[stitchdup]

For larger fills I've been using gold topstop from simoniz, its a finegrain 2 part automotive filler that comes in litre size tins. For pinholes i've been using 3m green spot putty from a tube. For gaps that have nothing behind them i used acrylic finger nail filler with the 5 minute activator but it really smells strong so Im doing some practice with white milliput since it has much less fumes and does a similar job, and is also much easier to sand down. For now though since i'm stick away from home i'll be using humbrol filler but it can be very hit and miss sometimes

[espo]

I have used Tamiya Putty white and been pleased with the results. Easily sanded when smoothing the area afterwards.  

[Southern Fried]

BONDO glaze. Hands down. You may have to apply/sand several times, but you don't grind the plastic down.

[Pete J.]

This one!  It is a very fine grained two part automotive glazing putty.  Two important things it does very well.  #1 Depending on how you mix it, you can be sanding it out in less that 10 minutes.  #2 it is impervious to just about any paint you can throw at it.  In other words it doesn't ghost through even after automotive lacquers.  Oh, and it is cheap.  $16 for this bag and that is a lifetime supply. To get the same amount of Tamiya putty at $5 a tube you would spent $75.  This is a quart pouch and that is how I recommend buying it rather than the larger cans.  You can keep it totally fresh by squeezing the excess air out before you close it. You can lay if flat or squish the heck out of it to mix it after it sits for a while  and settles out.  Only real downside it the catalyst.  It tends to crystallize over time and you need to get another tube, but it still far cheaper than the cost of any hobby putty and none of them work any better than this stuff.

[ChrisBcritter]

Pete, what's the ratio of putty to catalyst?

[Pete J.]

20 minutes ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Pete, what's the ratio of putty to catalyst?

It is really small.  The instruction are for someone who is doing a full sized car and mixing at least a cup so they really aren't good for what we do.  My general rule is equally subjective.  I mix up about a marble sized bit with the tip of a toothpick dipped into the tube about a quarter inch.  Use is a few times and you will get a feel for it pretty quickly. 

 Open time is until it starts to get grainy.  When you get it out of the pouch it has about the consistency of a thick milkshake, so it is pretty easy to mix.  It also goes on very thinly.  You don't want to get it on thick because it is pretty hard when cured and you will have more of a sanding job.  Thin coats.  If you are careful you can actually scribe new lines through it, but you have to be careful and only take light strokes.

  You can work with it until you see it getting grainy.  Less catalyst = longer open time, but i don't mind making several batches to get done what I want.  It is cheap enough that you are probably only mixing a penny or so at a time.  

  Oh, and I mix it on a piece of cheap white subway tile.  A good test of when you can sand it ,is when you pop it off the tile and the piece comes off in a single unbending piece.  Often times I will leave the toothpick in the leftover as a handle to pop it off. The excess comes off the tile with acetone or a single edged razor. 

Edited April 10, 2020 by Pete J.

[ZTony8]

I'm sold on the Tamiya putties. Here's an off the wall experience; For some 1/43 resin Ferraris I built years ago I used regular old Testor's  putty( the one everybody hates for everything) and I worked out great! It smelled like the resin bodies and over the years it has never shrunk down.

[WigWag Workshop]

Thank You for all the responses, it's greatly appreciated.

 

-Steven

[Rbray47]

I use Evercote usually, but I'm out at the moment. Dries fast and somewhat easy to sand.

I have had mixed results with hobby grade fillers. I also use superglue for very small imperfections. Some people will use superglue mixes with baking soda, but that too has given me mixed results. If the humidity swings rapidly the soda can liquify and come to the surface. 

[peteski]

4 hours ago, Rbray47 said:

I have had mixed results with hobby grade fillers. I also use superglue for very small imperfections. Some people will use superglue mixes with baking soda, but that too has given me mixed results. If the humidity swings rapidly the soda can liquify and come to the surface. 

 

Yes, CA and baking soda is one of the worst ideas some modeler came out with. They were probably too cheap to get a real accelerator.

There are lots of other, more stable materials that can be mixed with CA to give it more body (and which will not ooze out after few years in humid climate).  Talcum powder, microbaloons, plastic filings or shavings, and other similar materials. And of course use CA accelerator to set the glue.  I use BSI brand - I tried several brands  and BIS is by far the best. Also when using CA glue as a filler make sure to sand withing several hours. It slowly keeps on getting harder and after a day or two it will be harder than the plastic it is applied to, making sanding more difficult.

[Jon Cole]

I agree w/ Bill. I go with a two-part catalyzed glazing and spot putty. I learned this from back in my real auto-body days. Mix in equal portions. So the concept is, if you were to squeeze out 1/4 of the putty, then you squeeze out 1/4 of the hardener. 

 note that the two tubes are not the same size, and therefore you will not be squeezing out the same size qty. to each other. So your golfball sized putty lump will have a much smaller sized lump of hardener.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Jon Cole