I have heard the kitbashers mention a type of body filler they use on their projects. What kind and where do you get it?
I'm a fan of Squadron Green. I've also tried Squadron White but I don't like it as much. Walthers carries it, and most hobby shops that do any plastic models. The green color kinda drives you nuts (which is why they made white) but it is finer, shrinks less and sticks better than anything else I've used. I'll be curious to see what others like though. If you REALLY want Squadron to set up bomb-proof, soak it with watery ACC after it sets, and sand one more time.
I use both Bondo (from the tube - 1 part) which works well in very fine seams cracks and fissures. For other stuff, I use Squadron White, as I find it more pliable and easier to work with than the green. No complaints about the green, just a preference. I have heard of some very hard core modelers making filler paste from CA and baking soda, but heard also it gives off noxious fumes. That is mostly used by old schoolers and IPMS members on military models. To them, if you don't come close to losing your life building a model, you ain't a modeler. Last, I read in Scale Auto magazine, that some guys take Lacquer thinner liquid and mix it in old plastic spure overnight to make a paste which has the same consistency as the plastic you are working with. Sounds intriguing, but again, my workshop is not ventilated that well, so I am sticking to the putty inside and painting outside. Whenever you use putty of any brand, make sure you use primer sealer with any brand. Just about every putty I have seen is more porous than plastic and it will show through 100% of the time. For every bottle and can of paint, I have 3-4 containers of primer. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
I've used squadron white putty and it's worked out pretty well. Haven't tried the green, but then I assumed they were the same except for color, might have to give it a try now.
Both Squadron White and Green. And good old Testor's contour putty that I ocassionaly put on a glass clock face from a scrapped clock and add a little lacquer thinner to thin it. Very fine line joints I use gap filling ACC applied with a needle point.
Squadron green is okay,THE best I ever used is Tamiya.It has aluminum filler in it,it sands down to a nice,smooth finish,dries as fast as anything else,and since it has aluminum powder in it,it doesn't shrink anywhere near as much as others,and doesn't crack..Also,Squadron,Nitro Stan,Bondo,ETC,are all porous,they soak up paint and need more primer to cover.The Tamiya is intended for high end model car customizers.The only downside is that the aluminum is a little messy.
Depending on the size gap your filling CA and micro balloons work great also. Plastic plane and RC plane guys use it all the time strong and light. The balloons are small beads if glass and can be found at any good shop that has RC aircraft. rich www.rslaserkits.com
I use Squadron White and Green. I have not really seen a marked difference. The first time, though, I didn't let it dry enough. I had to reapply and let thoroughly dry and then sanded. It came out perfectly. I believe it has tolulene or something similar. It is bad enough. I can't even imagine mixing up my own brew.
I personally have only used squadron white. It worked okay but was not 100% entirely happy. What I was most unhappy with squadron was I had some paint that blew off of a caboose body and I had to restrip the shell. Well as soon as I restripped the shell all of the putty work I had done filling in the windows on this particular caboose was also gone. I had to essentially start the whole project over again. I tired the lacquer thinner and sprue method before. However, unless I was making the paste wrong, it did not set up as I had thought it would. It was still kind of soft. Almost like when you make a window with white glue. It does however work in small areas such as filling in a misdrilled hole. For fixing ooops it works wonderfully in my opinion.
I used the sprue method for a while,was never entirely happy with it.I'm working on a PRR BP20,the first try on it,I used sprues/thinner to fill the roof in,it warped like a bananna.If you don't mix enough thinner in it,it gets a skin on it while you work it that makes it miserable to work with,and if you mix enough so it works nice,it shrinks terribly.Also,it never really gets as hard as the original plastic again,and the drying time is excessive.It's okay on model cars,where you may be building up custom fins and such on a fairly thick body,but on trains,it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Tamiya putty is pretty good stuff, and so is Milliput Silver-Gray. Milliput is a two-part putty that is simply superior for large gaps. You can work it for a long period of time with just the addition of a drop of water. It is also excellent for making small parts in RTV molds.