Filling plastic gaps

[goldshark]

Greetings:

I'm almost finished with a plastic depot ( Cornerstone ) and have a bit of a gap between the pieces of the rooftop. What can I use to fill the gap before re-painting ? Is there a 'wood-filler' type of product for plastics ?

Al Clermont, Fl

 

[Dave Farquhar]

You'll get a bunch of recommendations. Most hobby shops (and even the model sections of discount stores) sell at least one brand of putty. Testor's brand is cheap and common. It's not as strong as some of the others but it'll work.

In a pinch I've heard of people using lots of other things too. Durham's Water Putty (available at hardware stores) should work. I've even heard of people using Elmer's Glue but I've never had any luck with that. It shrinks too much.

 

[nachoman]

testors makes a product in a gray tube called "contour putty" - the finished product is soft, and shrinks when it dries. It's ok for small holes or gaps.

There's also a product called "squadron green putty" at hobby stores. it's similar to the testors, but works better for larger gaps and holes, IMO.

They also sell tubes of spot filler at auto parts stores - look near the bondo. I've never used it for model applications, but it works good on cars.

Or, you can try thick, gap-filling CA, or a 5 minute epoxy.

From my experience, if the gap is large, I try to fill most of it by glueing in a piece of scrap styrene, then use the squadron green or testors putty to smooth the surface.

kevin

 

[goldshark]

Thanks a lot guys. I JUST happen to have some 5 minute epoxy; hadn't thought of that. I'll also watch for the Testors putty.

Al

 

[G Pfeifer]

Another good filler, is Elmer's "Fill-N-Finish INTERIOR" it will stick to plastic, plaster, wood etc. It dries in 20 minutes, is as easy to sand as balsa wood, yet provides a hard surface, takes paint well and is water clean-up. Great product.

JUST DON"T BUY THE EXTERIOR ONE.......that gets hard as a rock and takes forever to sand, you virtually need a belt sander!

George