Milliput / putty

[Holeinthehead2]

Doing a car that will require filling door seams etc. I used Tamiya putty a little. 
Appreciate any info.

[Mark]

Milliput will work just fine.  Get the "fine" (white), not the "medium" (green).  Rout out the panel lines before applying the putty.

[bobss396]

I used to use Nitrostan in the big tubes, the cap is very shallow and I had a couple of tubes go bad. Now all I use is one from 3M or Bondo brand. Nothing else is as good IMO.

[NOBLNG]

Milliput will work fine. I use it almost exclusively. I’ve tried various single stage putties, but they all take a long time to dry completely, and they shrink.? I have some Tamiya epoxy putty, but it doesn’t sculpt nearly as nice as Milliput does. Like Mark said, get the fine white stuff and scribe the panel lines so the Milliput can key in better. Just a very tiny bit of water will make it VERY soft and easy to work into the crevices. For larger jobs, I like how it can be sculpted to a near final shape so very little sanding is needed…and it sands nicely.

Edited July 13, 2024 by NOBLNG

[Mark]

Single stage, lacquer-based spot putty is at its essence extremely unthinned lacquer primer.  It's going to shrink over time, and it will "reactivate" at its surface when lacquer primer is applied over it.  It's okay for minor flaws, but for filling routed-out panel lines and everything beyond minimal depth, two-part epoxy is the way to go, period.

[JET.]

super glue is the best filler 

[bobss396]

Anything with putty, goes into the dehydrator. Not for long since I use very little. 20 minutes does it and it will not shrink after that.

[TarheelRick]

Acrylic fingernail filler works really well, dries hard and doesn't shrink. However, it has a pungent odor, very difficult to sand, and reacts rather weirdly in a dehydrator. I have used it quite regularly on my builds, especially when filling a butt type joint. Once dried, and it dries rather quickly (minutes), it is stronger than the surrounding styrene, so you do not have to worry about a seam coming open while sanding.

[Holeinthehead2]

Thanks, hard to sand doesn’t sound attractive…

[Mark]

I have found the super glue to often be harder than the surrounding plastic.  Some putties are softer.  You want the filler to be approximately the same hardness as the plastic, so that it is easier to sand it smooth with the area around the fill.  That's why some builders use "sprue filler" (pieces of sprue dissolved in a solvent or cement).  But that shrinks too, because the solvent evaporates over time.  I used to use that stuff a lot, but have since found the two-part epoxy to be pretty close to styrene in terms of hardness and sandability.  That's why I now use it for jobs like seams and splices.

[NOBLNG]

For filling door seams I would scribe them slightly with the butt end of a .030” (or appropriately sized bit) and then glue in some matching Evergreen half round with Tamiya thin. Sand smooth and add a touch of filler if needed.