Needing assistance with putty

[wgflatliner]

I'm building up an Aoshima C-West FD3S RX-7 1/24 model, and have come across some problems, mostly with the kit. (i'll be providing a review on this in a minute)

Alright, so i'm starting to work on the body, and think i'm slightly above average when it comes to this kind of stuff. So, the basic things come off the parts trees and i'm starting to test fit everything to see how it'll look and what will need to be done, etc.

I mock up the bumper and headlight assemblies, and there's a good 1mm gap between one of the headlights, the fender, and bumper... x 2

so, i've been working on getting this all put together, and need some advice on the best ways to prep and use the white putty.

i've put on thin layers into the gap, sanded, primed, look for imperfections, fill, sand, rinse and repeat. i'm not appearing to get anywhere though.

the putty comes out and when i go to spread it, it starts rolling up into little balls of putty instead of being a smooth wipe over a slight dimple just to fill the dimple. and i'm not even waiting before trying to spread it over an area.

would anybody be so kind as to give me some tips/advice with this product? for what it's worth, i have been waiting longer than the specified 10 minutes. i've even gone as long as 24 hours before sanding.

[Foxer]

Could you give us the name of the putty you are using. There are a few different white ones.

[wgflatliner]

Could you give us the name of the putty you are using. There are a few different white ones.

my apologies, forgot to get into specifics:

MMD Squadron white putty orange/white tube

[Brendan]

Squadron's Putty is no good. You end up having to cut it with lacquer thinner to make it spreadable and it shrinks too much when dried. I would suggest just throwing out the putty.

For small scratches, I use Tamiya's Basic Putty. For filling gaps like you have, I use a two-part polyester putty. Companies like Bondo and Evercote are good brands. You could also use Gap Filling Super Glue.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Brendan

[wgflatliner]

thanks for the help guys. now to find the right stuff..

btw i'm a tamiya enthusiast. i would love to see them make drift/drag/tuner series!

[Harold]

Myself, I use Bondo- nothing works with plastic better than plastic. Also, it doesn't shrink, crack or cause problems down the road such as chemically reacting with a painted finish after a few years.. I just bought another small can of it after seven years. The best bang for the buck- five bucks for seven years worth of material.

[Harry P.]

Myself, I use Bondo- nothing works with plastic better than plastic. Also, it doesn't shrink, crack or cause problems down the road such as chemically reacting with a painted finish after a few years.. I just bought another small can of it after seven years. The best bang for the buck- five bucks for seven years worth of material.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[wgflatliner]

the weird thing is as i was typing out these replies and what-have-you, the gassy putty (lol.. pun?) was drying.. i sanded it down pretty carefully and it appears to have finally sanded fine. not saying that it's 100% perfect, but way better than what it was.

another quickie question:

for little curved/dented in areas that need filling, what tools would you guys recommend for filling little tiny imperfections?

i mean like.. the little curved areas next to the headlights:

this is the headlight that had the 1mm gap between it and the fender/bumper:

Edited November 11, 2009 by wgflatliner

[wgflatliner]

as you could probably guess, i was going to go for a fade type of paint job. I decided to go with Tamiya TS-50 Mica Blue and after a couple coats it wasn't exactly as transparent of a blue as i thought it'd be.

either way, here's a general idea on how the putty work turned out.

let me know what ya guys think.

[Foxer]

Looks like some good bodywork there ... nice and smooth.

[Ben]

the weird thing is as i was typing out these replies and what-have-you, the gassy putty (lol.. pun?) was drying.. i sanded it down pretty carefully and it appears to have finally sanded fine. not saying that it's 100% perfect, but way better than what it was.

another quickie question:

for little curved/dented in areas that need filling, what tools would you guys recommend for filling little tiny imperfections?

i mean like.. the little curved areas next to the headlights:

On small indentations that require very little putty, I sand the area to roughen up the surface so the putty has something to "bite" into.

I have had putty come loose from the surface when trying to sand it down really thin if it was applied to a smooth surface.

I am currently using Tamiya two part polyester putty but i've heard that it is no longer available. When it runs out i'll probably buy some Evercoat two part glazing putty.

[Synister]

I hate to dredge up old topics but I am currently using the putty that the OP was talking about. I hate it, I noticed that someone mentioned using bondo, what bondo do you use? How do you mix it up for such a small project?

[Corvette.Jeff]

i use spot potty found at any walmart, its already mixed and in a squeeze tube.