Question about best choice of material

Got a question about techniques, materials or other aspects of physically building a model? This is the place to ask.

Moderators: DasPhule, Moderators

b8factor
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:50 pm
Location: United States

Sabding

Post by b8factor »

I purchased same of their sanding sticks!

Another question for down the road, any reccomedation on a substance I can use to fill in cracks of joined pieces on the final model to hide seanms?

Hind sight i might have made this less pieces so less mold casting. But that die is cast! My molding casting bell isn't large enough to do the whole ship.

As soon as i get the sanding done i am going to exsperiment with the molding casting process (new to me) and see what i can do. ;)

It is going to be a fun summer! I keep having to tell myself, patience!! I have a plethroa of people asking me to sell then a copy (mostly fans of the video game this ship came from). Hoping to simply cover my costs in the end. But i still have to be patient and take my time to produce a quality prototype to mold cast!

Here is the ship inside the video game.
http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/ori ... ruiser.png
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Re: Sabding

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

b8factor wrote:I purchased same of their sanding sticks!

Another question for down the road, any reccomedation on a substance I can use to fill in cracks of joined pieces on the final model to hide seanms?
For filling seams, it is hard to beat either Aves or Magicsculpt epoxy putties:
Aves:
http://www.starshipmodeler.biz/shop/ind ... r-pack.cfm

Magicsculpt:
http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/Castin ... lp0001.htm

They are virtually the same product - you mix equal amounts of the resin and the hardener, apply to the areas needing filling, smooth down with rubbing alcohol or water, and allow to to cure for a few hours. No shrinkage and when cured they are at least as hard as the surrounding parts.


Of course, there are other choices:

3-M Acryl
Bondo Glazing putty
Squadron Green
Milliput

Each of these others *work*, but, have more plus and minus details. Price (by unit volume), ease-of-use, toxicity, shelf life in the package both before and after un-sealing, shrinkage after drying, etc., etc. Your milage just might vary... ;)
________
Joe Brown
Tankmodeler
Posts: 949
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:04 am
Location: Ontario

Re: Sabding

Post by Tankmodeler »

b8factor wrote: Another question for down the road, any reccomedation on a substance I can use to fill in cracks of joined pieces on the final model to hide seams?
There are a lot of choices from the Aves/Magicsculpt and other 2-part epoxy putties to 1-part spot and glaze putties like Squadron putty and automotive putty, to thin CA glue or thick/gel CA glue or thin CA glue with baking soda sprinkled onto the seam, to Mr Surfacer 500, to thinned spot and glaze, to kit sprue dissolved in MEK/Testors Liquid cement, and many more.

Each have their adherants and have plusses and minuses.

The epoxy putties are pretty good, especially for larger gaps, but are much harder than the surrounding plastic/resin and can be harder, therefore, to get to sand level with the softer material. Sanding blocks help that.

The spot and glazes can be feathered out with sandpaper to a very thin edge and generally stick very well to styrene kits, but don't stick well to resin kits and shrink noticably. They are not recommended for large gaps as they tend to keep shrinking for some time, occassionally cracking a year or more after the model is "finished".

The use of CA as a filler is widespread; the material doesn't shrink and can be sanded to a very thin edge, but it can be tricky to keep in place until it cures or can be hit with kicker, and it can have bubbles and internal cracks that are hard to see until primed and harder to fill because they are so bloody small and fine.

Etc., etc., etc.

The only way to find out what works best for you is to try a bunch of methods and develop the experience as to what _you_ like to use in each situation. And we all know that experience is learning lessons from screwing up. Assume you will screw up, that's how you reduce your stress levels _when_ it happens. 'Cause it always does.
Hind sight i might have made this less pieces so less mold casting. But that die is cast!
Dude! You already have a ridiculously small number of parts, don't sweat it. I build resin tank kits with easily 200+ parts plus track links. 10-12 parts in a kit is _nothing!_

Bigger parts mean more rubber, more resin, larger chance of warping, a costlier master and larger infrastructure to manage it all.

Learn on smaller parts. That's why I suggested them, way back when...

Don't you worry, you'll have lots of opportunitites to gain "experience" coming up, don't invent ways to gain more. :D

Paul
The future is in your hands. Build it!
b8factor
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 7:50 pm
Location: United States

Ahhh back, LOL

Post by b8factor »

Yay I got married..... downside, less time for projects.

Back on sanding... this is tedious work! The detail is so fine that I have having troubles getting into the fine cracks!

I am going to try to slate a half hour a day for the next couple of months and see if I can get this rest to mold/cast!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x10 ... hrEXPs.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x10 ... SBF6FQ.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x10 ... 6ZM8IF.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/150x10 ... txAY70.jpg

Moderator edited. Inline images still not allowed.
Post Reply