What is the best putty

[Longbox55]

+1 great stuff and is said to be the exact same thing that is in Testors Red.

Definetly not the same as Testors Red. Testors red is the same as the regular Bondo Glazing Putty, which is a single component putty, rather than 2 part.

Something some of you out there may not know, Dynatron, which is the parent company of Bondo, is also the parent company of Testors.

[Jon Cole]

10:1 mix ratio-

[Aaronw]

I use the two Bondo putties.

The shrinkage issue most people run into with single part putties is caused by using too much. It is only intended to fill minor gaps and scratches, not trenches. It also needs to be layered on, not done in one shot. Fill the scratch, let it cure, sand, then repeat as neccessary.

If you are filling a larger area or doing a lot of reshaping the two part stuff is a much better way to go.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Aaronw

[Terry Sumner]

Ken's right on about the superglue as a filler...I use it all the time on airplanes and sometimes on cars. The only catch with superglue is...you should sand it as soon as it sets up. Other wise, once the superglue fully cures it is much harder than the plastic and it's easy to sand too much plastic away from the superglue area...

[sbk]

[Mike Kucaba]

Definetly not the same as Testors Red. Testors red is the same as the regular Bondo Glazing Putty, which is a single component putty, rather than 2 part.

Something some of you out there may not know, Dynatron, which is the parent company of Bondo, is also the parent company of Testors.

Look at the picture of Terry's can of Bondo putty. You'll see a red 3M in the left upper corner of the label. 3M has been the parent of both Dynatron and Bondo for a few years. The parent company of Testor's is RPM .

[MikeMc]

A trick Mark Gustafson shared is to get TWO tubes of the hardener in different colors..red and blue. When building up layers it will make sanding easier if you alternate colors...sorta like guide coats on primer...

The one part glazing putty is like tamiyas liquid surface filler...Both are more like thick lacquer...great for small pinholes and minor scratches..but not for filling in larger areas like molding in. This 50 chop was filled in with two part, here you can see the two small areas that were covered with the Tamiya liquid, which was applied after primer was down to fill the small lines left

Edited June 17, 2011 by MIKE THE MANIAC

[Terry Sumner]

I always had the feeling that some of these one part fillers were nothing more than some old stuff I used to use years ago for filling pinholes and the like on 1:1 cars. Does anybody remember that stuff? It was called Nitrostan. It was red and was nitro cellulose based. I always thought it was kind of like thick paint pigment. Not good for filling anything more than a topcoat over regular polyester fillers.

[Terry Sumner]

Exactly, Terry, thanks for pointing that out! Trying to sand that stuff after it has set for a couple of days is like trying to sand solid granite!

BTW ... I really like the way you filled in the "dip" on the '49 Merc body. BIG improvement, IMO. I may try that on the next one I build.

Thanks Ken...that broken body line was always a sticking point for me in that body design...never liked it. And what with all the 49 Merc's being built lately with the new Revell kit, I decided to build one but eliminate that broken body line. IMO it makes the body look less blocky and more sleek.

[Guest]

Great. I read all this AFTER I've just done a bunch of body work with Squadron green putty. Are the problems with this putty shrinking over a long time pretty much guaranteed? Or are they just a sometimes thing? I'd really hate for the 2 builds I'm working on to be ruined down the road from shoddy putty.

I don't know about the green Squadron putty Ryan,but I know the white won't. Putty might shrink until it dries,but after it has dried,how could it possibly shrink anymore? I have a few builds that have the entire fender arch and flare shaped with solid putty. The myth about Suadron white putty continually shrinking over time is just that, a myth. This Fairlane has the entire front half of the rear fenderwell shaped with putty and it's over twelve years old! I also have a Revell '69 Nova that has a ton of putty in all of the fenderwell arches. If the putty were going to fail,it would have already done it on that kit.

I believe the reason people think the Suadron shrinks after it has dried is that they are sanding it too much. It does sand a lot quicker than styrene does naturally,so care has to be taken when sanding it down. I have a process concerning sanding putty down,but I won't go into that here. I can't be the only person that has Squadron putty that doesn't shrink.

[Guest Sickfish]

I use this stuff, Tamiya 2-part Polyester putty. It's about $10au. I've used many, many different putties over the years, including the single & various other 2-part bondo putties available & while the Bondo types are ok they tend to "set-up" & dry too quickly if you're too liberable with the hardener  This Tamiya 2-part is fantastic, set's up within an hour & no shrinkage at all  I usually let it sit overnight to allow maximum grip/set-up... Patience is alway's a virtue 

Cliffo 

[Harry P.]

I don't know about the green Squadron putty Ryan,but I know the white won't. Putty might shrink until it dries,but after it has dried,how could it possibly shrink anymore?

Nobody ever said it shrinks after it's dry. What we said is that one-part putties shrink as they dry. All of them, no exceptions. There is no way a one-part putty, which hardens via evaporation (physically losing a part of its volume) can possibly not shrink as it dries. And if you apply one-part putty, then sand, prime and paint before the putty has completely dried, you will eventually see marks under the paint when the putty finally does dry completely.

Two-part putties, which harden via a chemical reaction and not by evaporation, avoid that problem altogether. You never have to "guess" that the stuff is dry, because it doesn't "dry"... it "sets." And once that chemical reaction has taken place, it's over. No gradual drying and shrinking over time like one-part putties.

[Ryan S.]

Do you guys think that a layer of future over the puttied areas before final priming and painting would help minimize the amount of "bleed" of solvent from the paint into the putty?

Or, what about a coat of clear lacquer over the putty and letting that gas out for a while then sanding before paint?

Just sort of thinking out loud here.

[Scale-Master]

I believe the reason people think the Suadron shrinks after it has dried is that they are sanding it too much. It does sand a lot quicker than styrene does naturally,so care has to be taken when sanding it down. I have a process concerning sanding putty down,but I won't go into that here. I can't be the only person that has Squadron putty that doesn't shrink.

I am curious about your comment of sanding too much. Sanding should stop once the desired shape and finish are achieved.

Could you explain what you mean by sanding too much? Thanks.

[Guest]

First, 1-part putty like Squadron, in my experience, is somewhat unstable even after it dries. It is porous and tends to expand/contract with humidity.

Maybe before primer and paint,but afterwards, humidity should have no effect because it is now sealed with primer and paint. I've used Squadron for over twelve years and haven't had a single problem with it. I have other builds with a lot of putty in places and have yet to have it crack,shrink or fall out. I have one build that has putty 3/16 -1/4 of an inch thick. That's pretty thick by anyone's standards. I've molded in cowl hoods,spoilers,filled in tail light openings,built entire fender arches and flares with it and not one single failure.

This model is eleven years old. The area at the front of the door between the door skin and door panel is filled entirely with Squadron putty because I didn't feel like trying to notch styrene out for the pieces glued to the door skin. Eleven years later,still not even a crack. There's not much else I can do to prove that it works. Believe or don't.

[Guest]

Nobody ever said it shrinks after it's dry. What we said is that one-part putties shrink as they dry. All of them, no exceptions. There is no way a one-part putty, which hardens via evaporation (physically losing a part of its volume) can possibly not shrink as it dries. And if you apply one-part putty, then sand, prime and paint before the putty has completely dried, you will eventually see marks under the paint when the putty finally does dry completely.

Two-part putties, which harden via a chemical reaction and not by evaporation, avoid that problem altogether. You never have to "guess" that the stuff is dry, because it doesn't "dry"... it "sets." And once that chemical reaction has taken place, it's over. No gradual drying and shrinking over time like one-part putties.

Maybe not in this particular thread,but I've read it in countless threads between this one and SA's among others. I agree that it will shrink until it dries,but it dries very quickly (30-45 minutes) unless you lay it on really thick which I don't do on normal body work. I usually wait an hour before I try to sand it,longer if I apply it pretty thick. I really don't see how anyone could sand and primer putty that isn't dry. It's pretty easy to tell if putty isn't dry as soon as you begin sanding.

[Aaronw]

I don't know about the green Squadron putty Ryan,but I know the white won't. Putty might shrink until it dries,but after it has dried,how could it possibly shrink anymore? I have a few builds that have the entire fender arch and flare shaped with solid putty. The myth about Suadron white putty continually shrinking over time is just that, a myth. This Fairlane has the entire front half of the rear fenderwell shaped with putty and it's over twelve years old! I also have a Revell '69 Nova that has a ton of putty in all of the fenderwell arches. If the putty were going to fail,it would have already done it on that kit.

I believe the reason people think the Suadron shrinks after it has dried is that they are sanding it too much. It does sand a lot quicker than styrene does naturally,so care has to be taken when sanding it down. I have a process concerning sanding putty down,but I won't go into that here. I can't be the only person that has Squadron putty that doesn't shrink.

As far as I know the only difference between green and white Squadron putty is the color.

You probably don't run into the problem because you use the putty correctly, building up the gap with styrene or other filler, and applying multiple thin layers, allowing each to cure before applying the next.

It takes 15-20 minutes for a thin coat to cure, but back before I knew better I discovered a 1/4" blob of the stuff can take days to harden and who knows how long to fully cure. It can also eat through styrene if too much is used, discovered that by using Squadron putty to weight the nose of a plane when I was a kid.

I use both types because the regular putty is so much handier for fixing small stuff, but the shrinking issue is real if you use it for the wrong job. The two part stuff is much better when you do want to slobber the putty on.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Aaronw

[Harry P.]

Maybe not in this particular thread,but I've read it in countless threads between this one and SA's among others. I agree that it will shrink until it dries,but it dries very quickly (30-45 minutes) unless you lay it on really thick which I don't do on normal body work. I usually wait an hour before I try to sand it,longer if I apply it pretty thick. I really don't see how anyone could sand and primer putty that isn't dry. It's pretty easy to tell if putty isn't dry as soon as you begin sanding.

Hey, you're free to do what you want. If you want to use one-part putty nobody's going to try and stop you.

I'm just answering the original question: Which is the best putty to use? In my opinion, two-part putties are so far superior to any one-part putty that I would never even consider using anything else. I don't have any desire to mess with drying time, shrinking, cracking, etc. Why would I do that when there is a cheap, readily-available two-part putty that eliminates all of that?

If you're happy with what you're using, that's great. But in answering the original question, I would never recommend it.

[Longbox55]

Look at the picture of Terry's can of Bondo putty. You'll see a red 3M in the left upper corner of the label. 3M has been the parent of both Dynatron and Bondo for a few years. The parent company of Testor's is RPM .

Hmm. I didn't realize that RPM had sold off the Bondo-Dynatron division.

[styromaniac]

I've only used the Squadron White because it was relatively cheap & easily obtainable...and have had no disasters because I laid it on in thin layers and gave it adequate time to dry between sandings..time consuming yes but I usually had more than one project going on at one time so I could multi-task, and truthfully none of my putty applications were radical body mods necessitating gobs of the stuff..more like fill ins of scratches , sink holes, etc.

I've tried looking for the Tamiya stuff but as Mr.Obsessive suggested it must really be unobtainium now.

I've heard about the Evercoat and other catalyzing two part putties from the articles in model magazines...but have yet to try 'em...given the glowing reviews here I'll have to give'm a shot next time I drive by an auto parts stroe.

Edited June 24, 2011 by styromaniac

[Guest Johnny]

Over time just the same as in 1:1 applications will eventually start to show in one way or another. But the more sparingly it is used the less chance of it showing up later on on the finished work. The thicker it is the more likely it will give you issues.

There is less chance with the two part fillers.

The new age fillers have come a long way since Testors and Squadron putty's .

The more controlled the environment the less of a problem it will be.

[Foxer]

Over time just the same as in 1:1 applications will eventually start to show in one way or another. But the more sparingly it is used the less chance of it showing up later on on the finished work. The thicker it is the more likely it will give you issues.

There is less chance with the two part fillers.

The new age fillers have come a long way since Testors and Squadron putty's .

The more controlled the environment the less of a problem it will be.

There's the whole thread in a nutshell .. short and sweet. No more needs to be said.

[Ryan S.]

Well thanks to this thread I went out and got some Bondo 2 part putty that I'll be using for major mods from now on. I've already used some and it works pretty good. Gotta watch the ratio of hardener cause this stuff can set up fast! Thanks for all the info.

[Lunajammer]

There is one slight advantage to using the one part version of this product. You can thin it with lacquer thinner to create a brushable primer of whatever thickness or thinness you like. I'll do that sometimes to smooth and sand an area over choppy putty before spray priming. You might guess though, this method doesn't do too well on bare plastic. Clean brush with lacquer thinner.