what is the best thinner to use on green or white putty? on hand i have tamiya x-20a ,tamiya lacquer, testors enamel and a big can of lacquer thinner the painters left.

Hi Craig,

I use a 1 oz empty glass paint jar with a screw-on lid to hold my thinned putty.

For thinners, I use a mixture of Testor's liquid plastic cement, the kind that also comes in the small glass bottle with the pink lable. I also add lacquer thinner to the mixture because straight 100% liquid cement is not necessary and the lacquer thinner speeds up the drying time. My ratio is about 50:50 liquid cement to lacquer thinner, just added to the jar using an eye dropper. The putty can simply be squeezed into the jar like tooth paste.

I mix / thin the putty down to whatever consistancy that I need for the job at hand - very runny, almost watery for adding cast metal texture all the way to a warm-honey consistancy for weld beads or filling small gaps. I use a wooden dowel to stir the mix.

I use one of the Testors white plastic handle brushes with the black nylon bristles to apply the thinned putty, usually. I rinse this off in a separate 1 oz glass bottle with straight lacquer thinners. The residue that collects at the bottom of this jar is also useful for creating a lightly textured cast effect.

Keep in mind that the thinned putty will shrink as it dries, which is no problem for textures - cast or weld beads - but can require multiple applications for filling gaps. So, I usually only use the thinned putty on very small gaps for filling. Other fillers, such as CA glue and micro-balloons or epoxy putty, are much better for large gap filling jobs.

HTH,

If you can find it I would suggest getting a pot of Mr. Dissolved Putty- its very handy and works nicely, the only drawback is the awful smell !

Honestly I have found that acetone, ie. fingernail polish remover, works best with the squadron putties. I use it with the green all the time and it's wonderful. Easy to apply, easy to sculpt, and a dream to sand. Just add enough acetone to make the squadron putty creamy and you're good to go. Much friendlier to work with than Mr. Dissolved Putty. Save your expensive thinners for other uses.

Would this be a good "weld material too". I need a thinner putty and Tamiya putty is a bit expensive to use and mixing it together as instructed one could easily make too much.

Also, could it be then dispensed from a syringe?


Thanks!









~ Jeff

Jeff, I haven't used it to recreate weld beads. The mixture is a bit soft, but it may reward you with nice results if you're willing to experiment with it. I would try something relatively blunt to sculpt the beads as a sharp blade with cut right through it like butter.

Regarding a syringe, I'm guessing that you are thinking of using a syringe to lay a bead down? If so then just mix a little more acetone in after you have reached a creamy consistency and you should be good to go since you will be using a relatively large needle.

thanks for the info ill have to give all of this a try this weekend.for the testors glue is it the one in the metal tube is the one you are talking about?i have model master liquid cement in a black odd shaped bottle?what is the normal dry time for this before sanding?
thanks again for the help
craig

I just tried out the Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer and found it to be really good for filling small cracks and replicating cast armor texture. Is very thin in the bottle.

First time using it, and have never used the Mr. Dissolved Putty, I assume it is a similar product...worth checking out anyway.

No. Tube glue or the semi-liquid glue in the black bottle with the metal tube applicator will not work.

Testors makes a liquid cement that comes in a 1 oz glass jar / bottle with a pink lable. This is the glue that I'm referring to.

Straight laquer thinner or acetone (get either at the hardware store in the quart cans for dirt cheap) will thin the putty, but they dry very fast and don't help the putty to adhear to the plastic. Adding in a bit of liquid cement keeps the drying time reasonable and helps the putty "bite" into the plastic.

This works well for weld beads when thinned to the consistancy of warm honey. Just use two lines of thin strips of masking tape spaced the width of the weld you want. Apply the thinned putty between them with a brush. Texture it a bit with a tooth pick trimmed to a chisel tip and wetted with lacquer thinner (to keep it from sticking).

Once the putty "skins" over, pull up the tape strips. If you want, you can add a bit of liquid glue over the new weld bead to help blend it in and soften the points a little.





Most of these welds (the green ones) were made like this. (The light greenish-gray ones are Miliput epoxy putty.)

HTH,

Mike, that is an excellent tip and thanks for expanding on it for us here. I have some of the Testors liquid cement in the glass bottle that you described, and I'm itching to give this technique a try

mike, thank you very much with the help with this!