Squadron putties

[rsn48]

Pete, I should have clarified; I'm talking about the red bondo in one part cracking, not the two part stuff.

[wazzou]

Pete, I should have clarified; I'm talking about the red bondo in one part cracking, not the two part stuff.

I haven't had that happen either.  Of course, I only use it thinly applied.   

[u18b]

I prefer Bondo Spot Putty.  IMO, the Squadron Putty shrinks.

I agree!

If you want perfection, you need to let it sit and harden for a week.

Otherwise.  You apply at 12 noon.  That evening (or even the next day) you sand it.
Looks perfect.

6 months later, you're thinking--- I remember smoothing that joint!  Why can I see it now?

[peteski]

Pete, I should have clarified; I'm talking about the red bondo in one part cracking, not the two part stuff.

Yes, it seems that we were talking apples and oranges.  I don't use the Bondo red stuff (or any solvent-based putties).

[SkipGear]

I have to put a vote in for Tamiya white putty. It is thinner than squadron so it takes a different approach when using it but it works and sands so much smoother. Keep in mind I use it primarily for scratch and seam filler. If you need to do anything more than a very small fillet then look at the 2 part epoxy putty like Milliput. Tamiya used to have a great 2 part epoxy putty but evironmental regs got in the way I believe. I haven't seen it for quite a while.

[Greyryder]

I have to put a vote in for Tamiya white putty. It is thinner than squadron so it takes a different approach when using it but it works and sands so much smoother. Keep in mind I use it primarily for scratch and seam filler. If you need to do anything more than a very small fillet then look at the 2 part epoxy putty like Milliput. Tamiya used to have a great 2 part epoxy putty but evironmental regs got in the way I believe. I haven't seen it for quite a while.

Yeah, I love how the Tamiya putty sands. That said, it doesn't seem much different than Mr. Surfacer. For large gaps, I'll stick with Aves Fixit Sculpt. It may take four hours to cure, but it doesn't shrink, and I've seen it stick to nylon plastic that usually resists paint and glue. I need to see if it adheres as well to acetyl.

[mmagliaro]

I've thinned them (green or white) with Testors liquid styrene cement (not Tenax, Plastruct, or other brands that
flash off too fast to work with in this case). 
But I am really not a fan of these green or white putties.  I find that they are coarse, shrink, and crumble too much.
I've had much better luck just mashing up bits of styrene into some liquid cement, or using JB Weld or other
2-part epoxy.

[pnolan48]

I prefer the one-part Bondo over Squadron. Used very thinly, it doesn't usually crack. If I applied it too thickly and it does crack, I just go over it. I use it only for seams, filling gaps with styrene beforehand. I've used just about everything else, and prefer the convenience of the one part product.

[wazzou]

I prefer the one-part Bondo over Squadron. Used very thinly, it doesn't usually crack. If I applied it too thickly and it does crack, I just go over it. I use it only for seams, filling gaps with styrene beforehand. I've used just about everything else, and prefer the convenience of the one part product.

Agreed.

[LV LOU]

I prefer the one-part Bondo over Squadron. Used very thinly, it doesn't usually crack. If I applied it too thickly and it does crack, I just go over it. I use it only for seams, filling gaps with styrene beforehand. I've used just about everything else, and prefer the convenience of the one part product.

I usually go WAY out of my way to fit parts perfectly,them glue them together using just lacquer thinner,so there is no filler and after it dries,I'm just working with plastic.Really,Squadron is intended for balsa airplanes,east to sand,and lightweight..Consistency of Balsa wood..Crap for plastic.I used to use it on custom model cars in the 60's,drove me crazy..Took forever to dry,would shrink after a few weeks.I quickly switched over to two part Bondo when it came out.If I did have to use filler,though,if the defect was a little too big for CA,I'd much rather use Bondo,or better,Nitro Stan putty to fill the gaps.That is,if they actually still make Nitro Stan..   I just went looking for Tamiya Aluminum Putty,and,apparently,they don't make THAT anymore,either..In fact,looked everywhere,like it never existed..

[robert3985]

I take a lot of care to get my plastic parts to fit exactly.  If I've got a teeny line showing, I brush paint on primer, let it dry and wet sand it with various sizes of tiny sanding blocks.  Usually only takes a maximum of two primer applications.

On the rare occasion I've got a big crack to fill, I also use Bondo two part, and wet-sand it, again with various sizes of sanding blocks.  Doing it with sandpaper and your finger almost always indents the filler a bit, so your sandpaper backing should be firm.

On my old Hallmark UP Brass Cabooses, there's almost always a fine crack between the car sides and cupola sides since the cupola is a one-piece casting.  I used 2-part Bondo to fill these, and it worked great.

Here's proof.  No crack between body and cupola and this paint job is at least 15 years old:


I've got a coupla tubes of Squadron Putty (green and white), but I haven't used them, so they're probably solid by now.

When I ran the Thiokol Model Shop, we used "thick putty"  which was Styrene dissolved in MEK and that worked quite well, didn't shrink, always bonded and only took a couple of hours at the most to harden up enough to sand. We had two consistencies, "thick" and "really thick" and, I believe, they were mixed up in little Gerber Baby Food jars.

[pnolan48]

I'm fitting some parts together that might be a little larger than most N scale modelers. The three sections for a large hull (bow, mid, stern) might have a cross section of 85 scale feet by 20 scale feet (165 mm x 40 mm). They are also constructed of three to seven plies of .020" (0.5 mm) styrene, more if you count the interior sleeves. If I spend a few minutes making sure these mate up precisely, I can hide the seams with two quick swipes of bondo, and be done with the assembly after another few minutes, with most of the exterior layer still factory-fresh shiny. If I leave gaps, I'll spend hours filling and refilling the gaps with fillers and bondo, and sanding the styrene into a sometimes gooey and hairy mess. Much better getting parts to fit the first time around!

[peteski]

Much better getting parts to fit the first time around!

AMEN!

[pnolan48]

This may be utter blasphemy to some, but the Testors stuff in the small gray tube isn't all that bad for small imperfections. I use it like a micro-caulking gun, pushing the bead ahead into the imperfection.  As long as there is no oil or paint around, it sticks well, and turns out fairly hard. When working on a large project like a ship, there are inevitable dings, paint slops that have to be sanded out and filled, and just plain slips of the knife. My fingertip sometimes gets tired of bondo, as well as my brain and neuro-system, so a little dab from the Testors stuff will sometimes do. It can be obnoxiously crumbly, but I think that's when it gets old.

Of course, given my spare use of it, I don't have much new stuff around. I can't remember whether to store it nozzle up or nozzle down, to avoid the lacquery-greenish-goo first spurt, sort of like the catsup phenomenon: maybe that's the bondo fumes confusing me again. BTW, bondo gets into your system from your fingertips, as well as by inhaling the fumes.

Just joking a bit, folks! I'm now 66, and don't need a trip to the ER. But, from the ages of 12-19, I must have inhaled enough lacquer "dope" from my airplanes to have lasted a lifetime of "high". Sheesh!