by the fans for the fans

Here is one of my favorite tips and its a handy thing to keep around your work bench.

We've all seen it.. You buy a kit... Your all excited.. You take the pieces out and then it hits you... SINK marks! Errrr... So you fill them with you favorite filler and sand... And check.. Then fill and sand and check... Depending on how bad they are it might take a while...

Well I have a great filler that works on just about any model.. It has minimal shrinkage if any, doesn't crack like some other fillers can, And when your done sanding you can't even tell its there! "Why?" You may ask... because its plastic!

Yes, a plastic filler!

Remember how I told you all last time I use the Testors Liquid Cement? I have bottles and bottles of it. Well that is one of the key ingredients for this "make it yourself" filler.

One of the rules that just about every modeler knows is "never throw ANY thing away" and here's a great example of why.

To make this filler you'll need a clean empty bottle, either paint or preferably an almost empty bottle of Liquid Cement..

Now look around for empty parts trees that you may have lying around... Its easier if you cut the sprues up into smaller pieces so it works faster.. Usually about 1/4 of an inch is good..

Now put some of the cut plastic into the bottle.. About half way to start. Then open a fresh bottle of Liquid Cement and use either a small funnel or even one of those little pipetts to transfer some of the Cement into the bottle with your plastic... Fill it about even with the plastic.. So about half way... Then put the lids back on both bottles.

You will start to see the liquid get cloudy as the cement begins to dissolve the plastic.. Now put the bottle aside and let it sit overnight.

When you return you will find that all the plastic has melted and combined with the cement to form a "liquid plastic". You want it to be liquid but not too runny. If it is then add more plastic and let it sit again until you reach the desired consistency... About the same as that microwave cheese stuff for nachoes when its hot.

Now the fun part... Using it!

When applying the new filler I have found that what works best for me is an old paint brush handle. I use one of those old plastic handle brushes... You know the cheap ones that you find in kids paint sets... The liquid cement in the mixture doesn't react with them like if you used a piece of sprue...

For sink marks take the brush and use the non-bristle end.. Dip just the tip into the mixture and get just enough to put a small layer or drop on the brush (avoid the temptation to put a lot. More isn't always better)...

Now find your sink mark and put the filler into the sink mark... The filler will flow into the sink mark pretty easy.. You'll want to make sure that you have enough to over fill the sink mark a little... You can also use the brush handle to smooth the filler into the sink mark to help blend the filler into the surounding plastic.

Once its filled put the piece aside and let the filler cure. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on how much you needed to use. Once the cement has evaporated from the filler all that is left is plastic..

As for the brush, DON'T wipe it off... Put it aside and let any filler remaining on the tip to cure. Once it is cured you can flake it off easily and put it back in the bottle with the "liquid plastic". It will turn right back into liquid filler.

When you come back to the piece you are working on you will find that the filler has bonded with the model and now sand as you would any normal filler. If you used the same color plastic as the kit, once you've sanded you can't tell that there was ever a sink mark in the first place... And there is no risk of having a "ghost" image once you've painted.

Be sure to keep a lid on your liquid filler so that the cement doesn't evaporate and leave you with a big plastic chunk.. As you use it over time the mixture will thicken up.. All you need to do is add a little more Liquid cement and stir with a paint brush handle.

Unlike those tubes of filler you won't have to worry about the tube getting too old and unusable and end up throwing it away. This will save you money.. A bottle of Testors Liquid Cement runs about $2.50 or so and is available at any well stocked hobby store... And the parts trees... Well they come free with every model kit.

As with any new tip or technique practice before you try it on your expensive kits until you are comfortable and confident using it.

This stuff is great and its uses don't just stop at filling sink marks.. You can even use it to cast your own small plastic parts using RTV molds!

I hope you have enjoyed this tip and will find it useful on your next project.

Thanks again for your time and keep checking back as I bring you more tips that I've learned over the years. And feel free to jump in as LVS has and add your tips and ideas.

As always thanks again for your time.

Mark

You know i had been using glue as kind of a filler but that is new to me I love it! makeing some right now LOL!!

I've used Super glue as a filler, though not as often. Its just a little harder to sand and once its dry..

Glad you liked the tip and hope it works out for you.

This doesn't always work and there are other ways to do it but at times I've had success using old and very dirty lookin thinner to add dirt streaks to my models. Obviously you don't want to use alot of it as it can ruin the rest of the paint but careful application can give you a nice finish. After it dries use a Flat Clear coat to keep it in place.

That's a great tip LVS. If I may add something..

Something that I have found that works is using a wash of the opposite medium for a particular paint..

Let's say your base paint is oil based enamel... Well then use a thinner wash of acrylic.. That way the acrylic will not effect the delicate base coat.. And if you mess up... You can wipe it off and try again without worry... The same goes for an oil wash over an acrylic base.

Oh here is a neat paint trick to help accent your panel lines before your base coat is applied...

After your pieces are primed and ready for paint... Use an air brush with a fine spray tip and use either black, dark gray, or a darker version of the base (for a subtle difference) to spray along each panel line.. No need to tape off any panles so Don't worry about getting it on the panels as the fading effect that occurs enhances the way the panels look...

Once you've sprayed the panel lines the piece will almost look like a mess... But don't worry...

Now let that dry.. Once its dry go back and spray your base coat...
Don't put it on too thick.. Or you'll risk filling in the delicate details.. Once the base dries you should see the darker panel lines enhanced by the under coat of whatever color you chose..

You should also notice more depth and contrast in the way the panels look. Now you can finish as you wish with decals and clears... And when you do your wash the panels lines will pop out even better without looking too toy like.

As always practice on spare parts or scrap.. Or even use some evergreen sheet plastic with some scribed lines to practice until you are comfortable and confident.

Thanks again to LVS for his great tip and well have more for you next week.

Thank you again for your time..

Mark

I boo Boo`d then. Any chance my custom figure thread can be transfered into this appropriate section? Thank`s.

New VT is coming along nicely. On hold for the moment while i seek out some paint. Local Wally world here no longer stocks any modeling equiptment and of course they had put the only hobby shop in town out of business years ago. Time to the internet....

panzertank wrote:

I boo Boo`d then. Any chance my custom figure thread can be transfered into this appropriate section? Thank`s.

Ta...dah!!!---> www.robotechx.com/index.php?option=com_k...atid=48&id=4376#4419

Thank`s for transferring

Sorry for being away from my post.. but I got this idea in my head after seeing something and had to follow through with it. I even put a couple other model projects... as well as a new story on the back burner for this one...

Ironically, Panzertank, the project I have been workin on is a custom Robotech figure... now for top secret reasons I can't say much about the project because I don't want to give anything away just yet.... and I'm pretty sure there isn't gonna be another one like it around.... but rest assure that when its done I will have several pictures posted for everyone.

Now... back to the discussion...


Here's a tip for you figure customizers.....

Ever have a custom figure you are working on... and you like the way the eyes are already painted... but you just can't seem to find a good way to keep the tape mask on while you are working and painting....

Well try this... Next time you have a figure that you want to use existing eye paint.... take a tooth pick and a bottle of Elmer's glue.... use the tooth pick and carefully coat the eye area... once the glue dries you'll have a nice little mask... now paint your figure.... when you're done... simply peel or flake off the Elmer's glue and Ta Da!...

It's cheap... and easy... and you probably already have a bottle of it around the house.... especially if you have kids....



Well hope this helps and look forward to hearing from you guys again. Thank you for your time as always.