Little putty tip

[Mr. Moparman]

Today my parents got one of those junk credit cards in the mail today. I took the card and tried it spreading putty. It makes a good little "scale" bodymans paddle!

[Darren B]

old business cards are great for that too. Light and easy to cut to different shapes as well.

[LAone]

haha, the good thing about those junk cards. you can also use the plastic to build. just take the lamination top cover where the drawing/logos are and it works like styrene.

[Jordan White]

I found that a flathead screwdriver works great, since they come in several sizes and offer a nice handle. Course this is if you're doing small or narrow spots.

[Jon Cole]

I have plenty of scrap plastic, so although I have never tried it, I suspect that old credit and gift cards can be used as scrap plastic for scratch-building and fabricating. Everything from gas & brake pedals, suspension brackets, whatever you can think of, really.

[papi62596]

Great tip!! I've been using those for years.

[Jesse D]

Nice.

[george 53]

Just a though, but, couldn't you take an Exacto knife and cut the letters and numbers off of the and use THEM to add extra detail? Anybody ever TRY it? It does sound do-able.

[Longbox55]

Just a though, but, couldn't you take an Exacto knife and cut the letters and numbers off of the and use THEM to add extra detail? Anybody ever TRY it? It does sound do-able.

I've thought about trying that. Might give it a whirl if I come across a project that needs letters that size.

On the putty tip, I'll add one of my own. I like to sand/file the edge of the peice I'm using as a speader so that it has a bevel to it. I use a roughly 15 to 25 degree angle when i do that. Makes for a more precise tool for applying the putty, as it makes it more like a 1:1 putty squeegee.

[Art Anderson]

I've thought about trying that. Might give it a whirl if I come across a project that needs letters that size. On the putty tip, I'll add one of my own. I like to sand/file the edge of the peice I'm using as a speader so that it has a bevel to it. I use a roughly 15 to 25 degree angle when i do that. Makes for a more precise tool for applying the putty, as it makes it more like a 1:1 putty squeegee.

My favorite tool, for decades now, for putty work is a simple artist's palette knive (you know, the thingie that painters use to mix colors on the palette, somefimes even apply oils or acrylics to canvas). These are stainless steel, very springy--in fact the good ones are actually milled or ground to be thinner at their tips than at the shank leading to the handle. They are shaped like a masonry trowel, but in miniiature--I use the smallest one I could find, the blade on it is only about an inch long. The tip is radiused, about 1/16" diameter, makes a perfect tool for putting little dollops of whatever putty (lacquer based or catalysed, it doesn't much matter).

The long handles on these make them a bit awkward at first, but you can get used to that, I did. And, they aren't expensive either--the one I have now was less than $10, and being stainless steel, it's gonna last me to the end of my model building days.

Art

[Dr. Cranky]

Yes and also even scraps of styrene sheet.