Filling and Re-scribing, Riveting Questions

[Diz]

Just returned to hobby and trying to update/improve skills.  Looking for best filler recommendations, for filling and then re-scribing, re-riveting lost detail.  It's been aggravating to fill gaps, then trying to re-scribe, and eventually re-rivet the parts.  Trying to find a filler that you can re-scribe over without it cracking and flaking out.  It seems the best fillers (super glues?) are the hardest ones to re-scribe over?

Also would appreciate advice on scribing and riveting tools, to complete the package for this skill set.

[LSP_Kevin]

If you mix your CA (super glue) with talc (baby powder) to form a paste, you can use it to fill all kinds of gaps, and it's much easier to sand and scribe through than regular CA. And you can vary the viscosity of the mix by how much talc you add, giving you the flexibility to address a large variety of gaps and seams.

Kev

[RCPlym]

1 hour ago, LSP_Kevin said:

If you mix your CA (super glue) with talc (baby powder) to form a paste, you can use it to fill all kinds of gaps, and it's much easier to sand and scribe through than regular CA. And you can vary the viscosity of the mix by how much talc you add, giving you the flexibility to address a large variety of gaps and seams.

Kev

 

Not tried that yet - how much 'working time' do you get to mix and apply it?

 

I have done cyano + bicarb, but that is by sprinkling bicarb over applied cyano.

[LSP_Kevin]

4 minutes ago, RCPlym said:

Not tried that yet - how much 'working time' do you get to mix and apply it?

 

It depends a little on the viscosity of the mixture, but a thick mix can take some time to cure, so you'd have at least 10 minutes, and often longer. I generally leave it to cure for a couple of hours minimum. It's slow compared to straight CA, but still quicker than most other fillers and putties.

 

Kev

[RCPlym]

3 minutes ago, LSP_Kevin said:

 

It depends a little on the viscosity of the mixture, but a thick mix can take some time to cure, so you'd have at least 10 minutes, and often longer. I generally leave it to cure for a couple of hours minimum. It's slow compared to straight CA, but still quicker than most other fillers and putties.

 

Kev

 

Outstanding. That's a decent pot life. Difinitely will be trying that. 

Thanks Kev. 👍👍 

[Diz]

Righty-o, I went out and bought some scribers and riveting wheels.  Plan on using them on my 1/32 Spitfire Mk VcT project.  There are major sections on the wings, as well as the whole nose cowling that have to be cut in, then re-scribed and riveted as necessary.  Gonna be trying the "Perfect Putty" for starters.  Saint Michael preserve us.  

[Merad]

Depending on the size of the gap, sprue goo can work well.  Take a half empty bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin glue (or sacrifice a full one), cut up pieces of leftover sprue and drop them in the bottle.  I don't know if there's a "correct" consistency for it but I made mine similar to honey.  It will bond to the plastic well and once it dries it's styrene plastic just like the kit is made of. 

[LSP_Kevin]

21 hours ago, Diz said:

Gonna be trying the "Perfect Putty" for starters.

 

That stuff will barely survive sanding, let alone scribing! And whatever you do, don't wet sand it - it just dissolves and crumbles! It's totally the wrong choice for any heavy-duty work, but great for smearing into thin gaps and cleaning up with a moist cotton bud. But if you have to sand it, leave it for at least 72 hours.

 

Kev

[thierry laurent]

5 hours ago, Merad said:

Depending on the size of the gap, sprue goo can work well.  Take a half empty bottle of Tamiya Extra Thin glue (or sacrifice a full one), cut up pieces of leftover sprue and drop them in the bottle.  I don't know if there's a "correct" consistency for it but I made mine similar to honey.  It will bond to the plastic well and once it dries it's styrene plastic just like the kit is made of. 

Yes but when it dries progressively you see a retraction phenomenon you do not have with CA glue or epoxy putty. So this is only efficient for shallow gaps. Do not ask me how I know... Moreover, the dried goo stays softer than the original plastic for quite some time. So scribing it will ask for days if not weeks of wait. To me the CA-based glue mix is a far better choice and if you want to ease scribing a little bit there are some varieties of softer CA glues (such as the black ones). In any case sand and rescribe asap. This will be far easier.

[Thunnus]

I've been looking for the perfect filler for a long time and haven't found one.  So I use a variety of stuff, depending on the situation including the liquid putties (Mr Surfacer and Mr Primer Surfacer) to the clay-like 2-part epoxies (Milliput and Apoxie Sculpt) and everything in between.  Each has its strengths and weaknesses. I've gravitated toward using rubber-toughened CA glue for most of my small to medium gap filling.  It's a bit softer than regular CA glue so its easier to sand, sets instaneously with activator but hard enough that you can feather it seamlessly into the plastic surface. You can also scribe over it but it has its limitations, especially if the gaps you are filling are very small.  To avoid issues, I typically offset my new panel line slightly off of the filled line so that I'm scribing over plastic, not the fill material.  And if you have trouble with fill material chunking off when scribing perpendicular through a fill line, a razor saw often works better than a scriber.

 

This is the CA glue that I use for filling...

[chrish]

Superglue, loctite 401 and 404 (basically superglue) Tamiya basic (gray) and Tamiya fine (white) I’ve found can all be scribed and riveted but, care must be taken when scribing the Tamiya putty as well as the type of scribing tool and pressure applied to the tool. I tend to go fairly medieval on the plastic and kiddy glove over the putty