Not being able to find Silly Putty (for masking purposes) I bought a similar 'clone ' ?putty product at the dollar store. The packaging card demonstrated similar amusing properties as the real Silly Putty. After having masked, airbrushed, ( I used Tamiya paints),and removing the ?putty it left an oily or greasy residue on the surface, requiring repainting the model. Are there any alternative products to a Silly Putty type of masking that won't leave an oily residue? Also, an annoying characteristic of Silly Putty types is that it is so tacky that it lifts off PE parts. Of course I could always add the PE later and touch up by brush

Hi Biggles2,

Try Bostic Blu Tack, possibly known as Sticky Tack in Canada - doesn't leave oily residue. Also useful as 'tweezers' if you stick a bit on a toothpick you can use it to position very small bits (PE) without the danger of them pinging off into the carpet monster, or to bring 'glass' into position without leaving finger prints. You can also put a small blob on one side of your tweezers to prevent small bits from going AWOL.
Hope this helps

i find silly putty at the grocery store (safeway in western canada is where it was cheapest) and it is found at toy stores like toys r us as well as two LHS had it in stock. no oily residue and works really well. blutack would work but silly putty can be painted and reused over and over again, not sure what happens to blutack when it gets used several times for masking as i use it for its intended purpose... temporarily holding something in place. would be interesting to know if it loses its tackiness. cheers, bd.

Blue tac is not affected by paint but it is a double edge sword; silly putty will creep over a period time which if it gets into a PE grill can be impossible to remove. Blue tac has a higher sticking ability which could result in it pulling pieces off of the model when removed.

Try to get you hands on some Tegaderm. It's a transparent surgical dressing, manufactured by 3M. Basically, it's the same material as Parafilm.



It adheres very well to painted/plastic surfaces and doesn't leave any residue.

problem with silly putty, is it has a natural oil to it. ive tried using modeling clay, but it has the same situation. if you apply it, you may want to apply with small anchor ponts instead of sealing the whole thing against the model