Testors Putty, Anything to be Aware of?

[Santa Fe buff]

   After a day of helping my dad with roding out a rented house's sewer, I got some hobby shop time thereafter. A trip to Hobbies R 4 U (http://www.hobbiesr4u.com/) led us to a closed sign posted, showing they closed at 2pm on this Saturday afternoon. It was only 2:15pm too, we just missed them. So, the second store in town is Hobby Lobby, this one is half of the old Wal Mart building. I've been to a Hobby Lobby up North, and they didn't have much, so I was somewhat doubtful of this one. After their grand opening, I discovered the whole aisle of train products, and with experience, I power-walked to the aisle last Saturday. I instinctively grabbed a tube of Testors' Putty product ($2.29 not on sale), (Keeping my locomotive project in mind.). After a whole half-hour of examining the newest products coming in and the new restocks, I picked out a few things. I was also very happy to see they had a majority of Woodland Scenics's products. I picked up a bottle of Hob-E-Tac ($6.99 plus 30% off), a self adhesive cutting mat for my workbench ($9.99 plus 30% off), pack of brushes ($6.99 plus 50% off), and Woodland Scenics's Track Bed ($11.99 plus 30% off).

   Now, if you read all of the previous paragraph, or not, I have a question to ask. Does anyone have some experience with Testors's Putty or have some tips for using putty? I'm new at putty, and a few first times with just dealing with the product have lead me to have some doubt about my ability to skillfully use the product. Tips and/or techniques are more than welcome!


Cheers,
Joshua

[Jim Banner]

I have not used Testor's putty and wonder if it is similar to Squadron Green Putty.  That has a smell rather like nail polish and dries in a big hurry.  The advantage of fast drying is that you don't have to wait forever for it to dry, although a thorough overnight drying is a good idea before sanding it.  The disadvantages are that it shrinks a bit when it dries, so it can give you trouble if you apply it in thick layers and it can dry in the tube or at least in the neck of the tube if you leave the lid off too long.  I've got in the habit of using a small screw driver to scoop out just enough for a couple of minutes work and immediately putting the lid back on the tube.  For the first minute or so, the putty goes on smoothly but soon after that it starts getting crumbly and I have to clean the screw driver tip and go back for more.  One thing with fast drying putty, you cannot go back and try smoothing it out a second time.  It dried too fast for that.  If you need to fill deep holes or spaces, you are better off to fill them most of the way with styrene or whatever other material you might be using before puttying.  And make sure the styrene has lots of time to dry before using putty.  Smearing putty over styrene softened up by solvent cement (like Testor's liquid for plastics) can seal the solvent in so that the styrene never hardens properly, or at least takes a long, long time to do so.

A good putty should sand easily.  Sometimes it sands too easily and you end up with a depression where the putty was because the paint or plastic around it was harder than the putty.  That is where some trial and error experience comes in.  You may also find that after you sand your putty that there were some voids or air holes in it.  The only solution is to refill them.  Actually, filling and sanding twice is pretty common for even the most experienced workers.  Some fill and sand twice, then prime and some fill and sand once, then prime, then fill and sand again, and prime a second time.  Primer is much softer than paint so it sands a lot more like putty, so that final sanding before the finish paint usually goes quite well.

You might also take a tip from auto body men.  When you are sanding a relatively flat surface, back up your sand paper with something flat.  Gluing a bit of wet and dry sandpaper to a Popsicle stick or a tongue depressor  makes a nice flat board sander.  Emery boards for finger nails can also be used, at least in the early stages of sanding.  They tend to be too coarse for final sanding.  And watch out for the protruding edges on one side of these boards.  They can put deep scratches in plastic in the blink of an eye, making more work for you.

Some people swear by files for working down putty.  Others swear at them.  Overall, I think more swear at them than by them.  I use files because I like the way you can get into corners with them.  But they clog up and are hard to clean.  My solution is to put them in a tall, skinny jar and fill it with lacquer thinner or acetone, put on the top, and let them sit over night.  Both of these are bad to breathe, so doing this job outdoors is a good idea.  By the next morning, the putty stuck in the grooves of the files brushes right out.

I hope we hear from other users of putty as I suspect there are lots of different ways that people use it.  Which brings up my last point - experiment and see what works for you.  It may be different from the way that everyone else in the world does it, but if it works for you, that is what matters.

Jim

[Santa Fe buff]

Thank you very much Jim. I'm going to test a few of those ideas, I've seen the putty shrink first hand... What a hassle!

Joshua