Kit bashing info from old MW site

[boinger]

I thought this info by montarvillois was so good that I had to save it. So, here it is again.

I think I'll post this in the models forum too.

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Courtesy of: http://www.protoformproject.com/dvd/kitbash/kitbashguide

Dave's Guide To Kitbashing

updated 10/28/02

Well, I've been getting asked questions here and there for a while on

the whole kitbashing business, so I figured I'd finally get around to writing

a file that covered everything useful I could think of. Parts of this file

are taken from my old Guide To Decoy Painting.

0.0 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 - Painting

1.1 - Acrylic Enamels UPDATED

1.1.1 - Gloss Acrylic Enamels

1.1.2 - Flat Acrylic Enamels

1.2 - Regular Acrylics - UPDATED

1.3 - Nail Polish and Gel Pens

1.4 - Application of Paint

1.5 - Protective Coatings

1.6 - Paint Removal - UPDATED

1.7 - Detail Pens

1.8 - Masking - NEW

2.0 - Kitbashing

2.1 - "True" Kitbashing

2.1.1 - Glue

2.1.2 - Kibbles and Bits

2.2 - Customizing With Modeling Compound

2.2.1 - Sculpey

2.2.2 - Epoxy Putties - UPDATED

2.3 - Instruments of Construction

2.3.1 - Blades

2.3.2 - Files

2.3.3 - Rotary Tools

2.3.4 - Accessories

3.0 - Where To Find Things

4.0 - The Most Important Thing To Know

1.0 PAINTING

While using Testors enamel might give you a more durable coat, the stuff

is a royal pain to work with. Not to mention that while soft plastic toys

can bend, a coat of enamel generally won't. CRACK. The last strike against

enamels is the solvent factor. While they're careful to make model kits out

of a type of plastic that won't melt, some toys you might want to use as

kitbash bases react poorly with the solvent in enamel paints. This can

result in either softening of the plastic or a case of "ever-wet" paint that

never totally dries.

Thus, for painting your projects, I strongly recommend some variety of

acrylic paint. Acrylics are water-soluble for easy cleanup and lack of

dangerous fumes. They dry to the touch within a few minutes, and enough

to paint over even faster (especially the flat colors). There's two basic

kinds of acrylic paint, enamel and regular.

1.1 Acrylic Enamels

What the "enamel" means in this case is that the paint will dry to an

even coat, leaving less brushstrokes behind. Acrylic enamels are more likely

to bead, which helps them dry evenly but can be a royal pain if you try to

paint over a spraycoat base or anything water-repellent (as certain types of

plastic an be).

Testors used to have a separate brand called Pactra for its acrylics,

but has since melded the line into the general Testors name. There are

several sets available, with 7-9 colors each, plus loose single jars. The

basic set has a decent range of colors, plus both gloss and matte versions of

white and black. The car painting set has a few more bold colors, including

the first good purple I've seen from Testors. The airplane set has mostly

grays and some browns and red. There used to be a boat set that had more

grays, but it doesn't seem to be made anymore. Prices range from about $6 to

about $8 depending on the set and where you get it. They come with three

brushes, all of which are too big for detail work.

Acrylic Enamels are also theoretically available in larger containers

from craft stores, but these tend to be more rubbery than the Pactra paints.

1.1.1 Gloss Acrylic Enamels

Gloss acrylic enamels are tricky to work with for a couple of reasons.

First, it's a lot harder to tell when they're dry, which is why I tend to

use the flat blacks instead (since they gloss up under the spray coating

anyway). Second, the gloss acrylic enamels tend to "soak" into softer

plastics, such as found in decoys, and may not dry to a nice hard shell.

On the other hand, when you're painting a hard plastic project, the

gloss acrylic enamels are really nice in terms of giving a smooth, hard coat

to the toy.

1.1.2 Flat Acrylic Enamels

The only flat acrylic enamels I've used are Testors, but most of them

are a joy to work with. Especially the flat military colors. They dry very

quickly, so you can often lay down multiple coats continuously...the top will

be dry by the time you reach the bottom. Some colors work more poorly in

flat versions, such as white, but most of them I'd recommend regular acrylics

for anyway.

1.2 Regular Acrylics

There are two sources for non-enamel acrylics. One is the miniatures

painting hobby, and the other is a crafts store or the crafts section of a

store like Wal-Mart.

Miniatures paints come in a wide variety of colors and are easily

stored, but tend to be about two to three times more expensive than craft

paints (more like ten times more expensive, lately). Ral Partha paints tend

to dry to a more rigid coat (with the exception of the rubbery metallics),

Citadel paints often have a rubbery feel when dry. Minis paints are a bit

thicker and leave more brush strokes. I'd recommend only using them if you

can't find your colors in craft paints, however.

Craft paints come in rather large plastic containers, with 2 ounces of

paint each. The prices vary from 44 cents to $3 for a container, with

metallics generally being more expensive. My experience with them has been

very good, as they cover well (even colors like white and yellow, which can

take five or more coats in Testors) and dry without leaving obvious

brushstrokes. If you find the container size unwieldy, you can always get

some empty miniatures paint containers or other small jars and pour paint

into them.

A note on metallics: all the "true metal" colors are available in craft

paints, and a few "jewel" metallics as well. Green, blue and purple have

good metallics in several sets. I have found only two sources of good

metallic red paint. One is made by Reaper Miniatures, and is pretty

expensive as you might expect. The other is Metallic Regal Red by Folk Art.

1.3 Nail Polish and Gel Pens

In addition to clearcoat (see below under Protective Covering), nail

polish is useful for a few colors, especially the weirder pearlescent ones.

The key to nail polish is to apply many, many layers of it before

painting anything else in the area, then be very careful at the borders

between polish and paint. You get a very nice finish, but it's bad for

detail work.

Additionally, "Gel Pens" like those made by Pentel can be used for

adding details. The red gel pen is one of the best metallic reds I've found

to date, although even it is not too shiny. Silver and gold gel pens are

also good for circuitry detailing. The main problem with these pens is that

the ink takes ages to dry on a non-porous surface, so smudging is a real

problem.

1.4 Application of paint

The brushes that come with a Testors sets are pretty good for basic

work, laying down early coats and so forth. Most craft sections or stores

will have fine brushes for detail work, but even with careful cleaning these

will gum up pretty quickly. The solution I came up with for that was to take

a long sewing needle and build a handle for it out of Sculpey (with later

putty reinforcement when the Sculpey crumbled). While there's some things I

still need the detail brushes for, the needle is good for most fine work, and

it never gums up...you can just scrape the paint off.

I have not experimented with airbrushing or spraypaint, so I can't

really give any tips on that. I am told that Testors has an inexpensive

airbrush system available if you don't want to go to the full kit.

1.5 Protective Coating

One disadvantage of all acrylic paints is that they're a bit fragile.

You can compensate for this by spraying the finished product with a layer

of clearcoat or matte fixative spray. Once this dries all the way (it

dries enough to touch in about 15 minutes, but takes several hours to

hard dry) it's a fairly durable shell.

Unfortunately, it's not durable enough to prevent paint from being

rubbed off at joints and other transformation contact points. So if you

paint a Transformer you'll need to either figure out which areas to leave

clear, or resign yourself to never transforming the repainted toy again.

I'm not sure if non-acrylic model paints are strong enough to withstand it,

although I'm reasonably confident that automobile paint will do the trick

(someone who was displaying painted war machine minis at Origins had used

Ford automotive paint on some Eldar Titans). You also need to compensate

for the thickness of the paint itself, especially if painting in a color

like white which needs several coats.

Now, here's the fun part. If you stand your project or partial project

on newspaper or aluminum foil and then spray them (assuming they don't keel

over), you end up with stuff stuck to the surface. The paint layer sticks

far better to the coating than to the project.

One trick I use to avoid this is to hang the piece by some copper wire

(light gauge) stuck through some not very visible location (preferably an

internal location if you've taken apart a toy to repaint). This way, most of

the piece is open to the air, and you can spin it around to spray it

completely. And if the wire sticks to the toy, you can do a quick touchup

job. As long as you pick a hanging point that doesn't need much protective

coating (as the feet do), this works great. Pretty much anything you paint

can be hung from some harmless point with wire and sprayed safely, although

in some cases you may need to attach the pieces to the wire with mounting

putty (poster-tack).

One thing about the coating, unfortunately, is that it does seal so

well. If you have to paint over the coating, the paint will start to bead.

This is more of a problem with acrylic enamels, as mentioned above. So be

very sure you're done before spraying this stuff on.

In addition to spray coating, you can use nail polish topcoat, some

brands of which even have an acrylic base. You have to be careful, since the

solvent may wash away some of your paint job, and the fumes can get to you in

a large project. But this has the big advantage of control...you just coat

what you want coated, so hanging the thing isn't necessary. Topcoats are a

lot more durable than spraycoats, and will resist some transformation of the

toy. But they're still not proof against paint wear. Also, be very careful

to not leave any topcoated parts in contact with each other for very long

until the topcoat has had overnight to dry, or the parts may bind together.

One warning about nail polish topcoat. In some cases it will seem to

dry nice and hard, only to turn sticky a few weeks later. I have found to my

dismay that this happens with Transformers decoys, and recently had to

retouch several of my later pieces because of gooping.

1.6 Paint Removal

With decoys or newer toys, you can usually just get by with painting

over a mistake. But if you're repainting an older toy, you'll probably want

to remove any flaking paint before you start, since the new paint will flake

off when the old does.

Most paint used on Transformers is soluble in acetone. Unfortunately,

so are most Transformers. So, unless you're really careful or find no

other way around it, I'd recommend not using chemical solvents. My Jazz

GoBot is still kind of gummy-looking in places where the acetone started to

dissolve it.

A great paint-remover for brittle paint like that used in the

ActionMasters is a small Phillips head screwdriver, like the one you used

to take the thing apart in the first place. Applied correctly, it will

easily remove most of the offending paint without damaging the plastic

underneath. A pocketknife or razor will remove the remaining stubborn

bits.

The fastest way to remove paint, however, is with a rotary paint

stripper, such as is available with rotary tools like the Dremel. Beware,

however, as this may also take some of the plastic under the paint.

UPDATE: Wal-Mart sells pure acetone, in case you're wondering where to

get it. Some plastics are not soluble in acetone, such as the plastic used

for Mage Knight figures (I've turned many of them into Transformers). A

Q-tip or similar cotton swap (with cardboard shaft, NOT PLASTIC) dipped in

acetone makes for a good "unpaint brush" even on plastics that can melt.

Just be careful and patient.

1.7 Detail Pens

There's always cases where you want to add detail too fine for even a

tiny paintbrush. That's what pens are for. If you want to get really fancy,

you could get a set of technical pens for drafting, but that's generally

overkill.

Koh-I-Noor makes a line of disposable pens under the Grumbacher name,

available at Michael's and JoAnn's Plus (and a few are available at Meijer as

well). I find that I always end up ruining the nib before the ink runs out,

so these are a decent choice at about six bucks a piece. The grey-bodied

craft pen is best for giving a black line that won't rub off, but it only

comes in .35mm size.

For finer lines, you might look to memory book pen sets. For fifteen

dollars, you can get a set of six colors in the 005 or .25mm size, good for

finer details. These inks will smudge off, so be careful with the work until

you can get a spray coat on it. I use these a lot for putting eye colors on

miniatures (with light grey eyes, it looks better than pure white eyeballs).

1.8 Masking

This is something I've gotten into recently (2002). Once in a while,

you'll be repainting something and want to leave a bit of original detail

alone, such as an Autobot symbol on a Spychanger or something. A masking

fluid is available that cause anything painted with it to shed further paint

like rain off a duck's back, but I haven't worked with that and am told it

takes some care.

Enter the ever-versatile poster-tack. Place a small blob of it over the

detail you want to leave unpainted, then peel it off once you've finished the

rough part of the painting and fill in the edges. I've had no real problems

with leak-under, although the paint will pool in the cracks around the edge

of the bit of poster-tack. Scraping carefully with a hobby knife will

usually take care of that. Of course, if you're working with a color you

have to mix, this may not be the best option, since it may be hard to get an

exact match when it comes time to go back and fill in the gaps.

2.0 KITBASHING

So, you've moved beyond just repainting your toys, and you want to start

altering them in physical ways. The term "kitbashing" comes from the idea

that you take bits from several model kits and, well, bash them together to

create something new. It's since been extended to mean any physical

alteration of a toy or model, though.

There's two basic categories of kitbashing. "True" kitbashing by adding

parts from something else, and customizing, where you use modeling compound

to create completely new parts. After I discuss those, I'll talk about some

tools you need for both types and for kitbashing in general.

2.1 "True" Kitbashing

Most of what you do here is find appropriate pieces from something else

and devise a way to attach them to your figure. One way of doing this is to

use modeling compound (see below), and this is generally the best way in most

cases, since you can also smooth over any mismatches or seams. However, even

when using modeling compound, you'll still need to know about...GLUE.

2.1.1 Glue

Since most of the stuff you'll be working with is plastic in nature,

there's plenty of good glues available for you.

Superglue - Good strong hold, but only if the pieces are nice and flat

and clean. Doesn't handle twisting very well. Best for attaching detail

pieces or holding things in place until other means can be used to attach

them more firmly (such as adding putty).

Modeling Glue - A good middle-ground. Not as strong or as quick-drying

as superglue, but it's also more forgiving of mismatches and twisting.

Careful, though, you can leave a mess on your figure.

Hot Glue - This is great stuff, if messy. Not only can it hold things

together, it can also be used to fill space. When you're adding on model

pieces, you sometimes want to fill in the hollow spaces for balance purposes,

or so you can mount another piece over what would be a gap. However, hot

glue won't hold some materials together (notable Sculpey), and it's hard to

paint over. Hot glue is good for strengthening a weak area if you're not too

worried about it being visible. It's also nifty for adding organic bits like

tentacles or bulging veins. I've found a mix of hot glue and buckshot really

helps give weight to a hollow piece that I need to be solid.

Two-Stage Epoxy Glue - Haven't worked with this much outside the lab,

but it's strong stuff. Definitely your best bond, but a pain to work with.

2.1.2 Kibbles and Bits

Now that you have your glue, you want stuff to use it on. Here's a few

sources of pieces to use in your projects:

The Toy Itself - You often have to cut bits off the toy, and you can

often use those bits elsewhere. For instance, when turning Ramulus into Vox,

I removed one of the ram horns and turned it into a tail.

Other Toys - Whenever you remove a bit that looks like it may be useful,

stick it in a baggie or something. I often find castoffs from one project to

be just what I need in another. Additionally, if you have any old, broken

toys lying around, feel free to hack them up for donor parts.

Hobby Styrene - Hobby stores of the type that sell model trains and

military models and stuff will usually have a bunch of plastic bits available

for the model-maker. Tubes, rods, sheets, etc. Some can be cut easily with

a scissors, others will require a little more work. Many can be snapped

apart after you cut a scoring line.

Model Kits - This one should almost be obvious. Making a tank

Transformer and need a turret? Get it from that M-1 Abrams model kit. Need

spare robot bits? There's plenty of Japanese robot models floating around

the hobby shops these days. If you're lucky, you can even find some on

clearance. Comics and gaming conventions are good places to look, there's

often one or two guys with Japanese merchandise for sale, and they bring

their clearance stock models along to unload. I drew heavily on model kits

for my Defcon, Arcee and Bowshock kitbashes.

Legos - And other similar building kits. With the proliferation of

specialized bits (a fact bemoaned by some purists), there's lots of

ready-made bits for you to use. You can also use Legos to build diorama

bases for the figures. I've glued such bases to the feet of several of my

more top-heavy toys.

Miscellaneous - Once you've gotten into the right mindset, almost

anything made of plastic can be used in a kitbash. Plastic scoops, trading

card protective sleeves, overhead transparency sheets, bits of wire, etc.

And yes, I've used all those things.

One advantage of bringing in outside materials is that you can add new

functions to the toy. Don't have bending elbows? Cut off the arms and

replace them with ones that do have bending elbows. Want a gun that launches

missiles? Integrate it into the design. You can even do funky things like

pick up a couple of rare earth magnets ($1.59 a pair at Radio Shack) and glue

them into the toy so it can stick to metal surfaces.

2.2 Customizing With Modeling Compounds

By "Modeling Compound" I mean anything that's soft and pliable at some

point, then hardens. Even Play-Doh can be used, although I only tried it for

one project. And Crayola's "Wet Set" clay results in a slimy icky mass

that's rock-hard. So your best bet is some kind of polymer compound. These

can be broken into two basic groups: Sculpey and Putty. Resin kits are an

even more advanced method, but I haven't moved into that area yet (lack of

space to work, for one thing).

2.2.1 Sculpey

Sculpey is a brand name for a particular heat-hardening modeling

compound. Other brand names include Fimo and Premio, but I'm just going to

give the lawyers fits by using Sculpey as a generic term.

Sculpey is commonly sold in smallish bricks for about two dollars a

brick in a multitude of colors. It can be found in any craft store and in

the craft sections of most department stores (I've seen it at Meijer,

Wal-Mart and Big Bear Plus). It's fairly firm in the brick form, but can be

kneaded until it's soft enough to mold.

The key to Sculpey is heat. It has to be baked for 10-20 minutes at 325

degrees or higher in order to fuilly harden. Less heat can result in a

crumbly mess. Unfortunately, very few toys can survive that kind of heat

long enough for the Sculpey to harden.

Here's a few ways to get around this:

- Use a hairdryer. If you have some kind of metal mesh you can lay the

figure on, that's even better. Direct the hot air at the Sculpey for about a

minute, then press the "cool" button so the hairdryer doesn't overheat. It

may take half an hour of this to really harden a thicker bit.

- Boiling water. Because water conducts heat pretty well, you can cure

(harden) the Sculpey in a pot of water at a rolling boil. You may want to

acquire a special pot just for this, to avoid getting plastic residue on your

cookware. Obviously, of course, this won't work if there's any water-soluble

bits in your project. Chemstry tip: add a lot of salt to the water, this

will raise the boiling point. It will also be more corrosive, though, so

don't do this if there's metal parts on your toy.

- Quick trips to the oven. Since the Sculpey is likely to be on the

outside of the figure, it'll heat before the figure does (mostly). So if you

just put it in the oven for a minute at a time, you might be able to avoid

meltdown. Make sure the figure doesn't fall over...Star Wars customizers

often tell of "flat butt" from when this happens.

Do not attempt really fast heating methods, like microwaving or putting

a soldering iron to the Sculpey. It will overheat and start to bubble and

brown. I have a few projects where the Sculpey got rock-hard...but also

deformed from the excess heat.

A few other general notes on Sculpey:

- Use thin layers when possible, to make it easier to heat.

- Beware cracks! Not only will thick Sculpey crack because of uneven

heating, but if there's something metal touching any part of the Sculpey

(like a screw), it could make that part heat faster and cause a crack.

- Get it shaped as well as you can before heating. In most cases, it'll

be too brittle to file or cut too much.

- Cure one part before going on to mold the next. It's so soft after

being kneaded that you can easily mess up a carefully-molded piece.

- Buy translucent color Sculpey. It gets more and more translucent as

it cures, so you can more easily tell if it's really done or if it's just

hard on the surface.

- Sculpey can be kinda sticky, so make sure any shaping tools you use

won't take chunks of Sculpey with them.

- Because Sculpey can come away in taffy-like strings, it's good for

making hair or fur. Just chop at it with a plastic toothpick or other thin

shaping tool.

- If mixing Sculpey with Kitbashing (as seen above), be careful to check

and make sure none of your added bits have really low melting points. I've

lost some bits of figures because they just drooped away. Also, do all your

Sculpey work BEFORE using the hot glue gun, since the glue will melt long

before the Sculpey cures.

To sum up, here's the advantages and disadvantages of Sculpey. Good:

it's cheap, easy to find, pretty easy to mold, and you never have to worry

about wasting it. Bad: it's brittle, hard to shape after cured (without

breaking bits off), very hard to make sharp corners and mechanical bits with.

And, of course, you run the risk of melting the figure.

2.2.2 Putty

Epoxy putty comes in numerous varieties, but it's a little harder to

find than Sculpey. Hobby shops that carry model trains and military models

will probably carry some sort of epoxy putty, although some just carry a

really expensive variety used for filling cracks.

The brand I use is Milliput. It comes in several varieties and

"grains," each with its own colors. I find that the Fine Grade is difficult

to use, since the silver and white colors are hard to tell apart, so you can

easily end up with an insufficiently mixed batch. The yellow and grey

Regular Grade works very well for me. A websearch revealed a couple of

online shops that carry it, so poke around if you can't find it in your

area.

Epoxy Putty works like this. You have two batches of claylike material,

each a different color. You take equal amounts of each and then blend them

together until you can't see the different colors. It will now harden on its

own in a few hours by chemical reaction. Because this is a chemical reaction

and not a heat reaction, it happens evenly through the entire mass, so you

don't get cracks. And so long as you did mix it completely, it will harden

all the way eventually (like, within 36 hours no matter what). Once hard,

it's very robust, like a moderately soft plastic. I've accidentally dropped

putty pieces a couple of times, and they didn't break, unlike fragile

Sculpey.

While it's still soft, you can wet your fingers and smooth it around,

virtually eliminating fingerprints (which can be a problem on Sculpey). This

is messy, however, and will get a a thin layer of putty all over the figure

if you're not extra-careful. So expect to repaint the whole thing.

If you wait a minute or two without messing with it, the putty will get

rigid enough that you can work other areas with only a tiny risk of damaging

the parts you've already done. You can even go back to a bit up to half an

hour later and do some remolding. So, while the hardening time is longer

than with Sculpey, it's actually faster to work with on a large project.

Also, putty doesn't stick as much, so your choice of shaping tools is wider.

I find that a simple piece of paper can be used to create smoother surfaces,

whether flat (press against the table) or round (hand-shaping).

After about 4-6 hours you can do some rough shaping with blade and

file. However, cuts will be a little rough as the putty deforms at the point

of cutting, and files will quickly get gummed up. It's better to wait at

least 24 hours before doing any serious finishing work. See notes below for

suggestions on blades and files. Filing can give you some really nice flat

surfaces and sharp corners. You can also cut or drill out details with

little worry that you'll break off a large part of your work.

Once you're done shaping, you can either glue additional parts on or go

right into painting. Because it's not crumbly, putty takes glue pretty well,

but bear in mind that only really well-filed surfaces will work for

superglue. And putty is slightly porous, so paint will be sucked into it and

require an extra layer or two to match the non-putty parts of the toy. On

the plus side, those first layers will dry really quickly.

Here's some notes on a few other types of putty I've tried out.

Testor's Contour Putty - This comes in a tube the size of a tube of

model glue, a sort of warm grey color rather than the red of model glue.

I've only seen it at hobby shops. Its main purpose is to fill in cracks and

pits and stuff. It's not very strong, and takes a long time to harden if

applied in a layer thicker than a millimeter. This is because it contains

loads of acetate/acetone/etc-based solvents to keep it liquid, and these have

to fully evaporate before it hardens. I think there may be two separate

stages inside the tube, which mix in the nozzle, since sometimes I get a

gooey blast of just clear fluid or just black goop. About $2 a tube.

Tamiya Putty - This is Japanese, and the instructions are also in

Japanese (I had a friend read as far as "apply with finger" to make sure it

was safe to do that, tho). You get about twice as much putty in this tube

than in the Testor's, and it's also mainly a contour putty. It comes out as

a grey paste and dries to a dull metallic sheen (at least the variety I got

does). Like Testor's contour putty, it takes a long time to harden when

applied in a thick layer. However, it dries a lot stronger and harder, and

files down to a metallic sheen. It's a bit messy to apply, but any that

sticks to your fingers can be removed later with a bit of sticky tape. I've

only used this once so far (as of 11/1), but I really like it. About $3.50 a

tube.

Duro Epoxy Putty Sealant - This stuff is available in major hardware

stores in the glue/sealant section. It's a two-stage putty like Milliput,

but it has the two stages in one piece, one wrapped around the other like a

weird snack food. You wouldn't want to eat it, though...it smells horrible.

When the blue and yellow stages are mixed together you get a sticky green

goop that's lumpy...several minutes of working it did not get the lumps out.

The lumps may be due to hardening at the border between the two colors. It's

hard to work with because it'd rather stick to everything like warm taffy.

Once hardened about 24 hours, it's more like hard rubber than stiff plastic.

I haven't tried filing or Dremeling it, because I suspect it'd just gum up

the works. Avoid this stuff. In general, try to avoid any putty where the

two colors are already in contact in the package, since you're bound to get

lumpy bits from the boundaries.

Superglue Epoxy Strips - Found this in the hardware section at Meijer.

Superglue also makes another variety I saw at Target, and while the colors

are touching each other you might be able to pick around from the

non-touching parts. Anyway, this type comes in the form of two strips sealed

in plastic, so they're not touching each other. The colors are black and

white, so it's really easy to tell if you have it properly blended. Once

mixed, it's a bit on the sticky side, about like poster putty, and doesn't

soften as much with water as Milliput does. I haven't tried molding it

around something yet, but I suspect it wouldn't blend as easily as Milliput.

It doesn't get completely rigid when it cures, retaining a little flexibility

(which can be both good and bad). The package claims it sets like steel, but

it has a bit more give than a similar shape in steel. After 36 hours it has

cured enough that it doesn't leave gunk in files or Dremel bits, and it takes

a nice smooth finish when filed or mitered. $1.67 for a half ounce supply,

it's a little more expensive per ounce than Milliput, but probably easier to

find in stores. And the strip form makes it easier to make sure you cut off

equal amounts of both colors.

Squadron Putty: This comes in tubes and is available at many hobby

shops. It's available in white and green, my experience is with white. It

works about as well as Tamiya but dries white so that it's easier to paint

over. However, I only use it for small jobs, where its lack of strength

isn't as much of an issue. If you wait for a minute after applying a glob,

you can shape it with your fingertip and not have it all stick to you instead

of to the project.

Putty's more expensive, messier, and if you make more than you need

it'll harden anyway, but overall I find it a much better medium than Sculpey

for almost everything. Since I started using putty, I haven't used Sculpey

at all.

2.3 Instruments of Construction

Whether you're removing parts, adding parts or building them from

scratch with putty, you're going to need blades and files. You'll also need

a few accessories to go along with them and make your life easier.

2.3.1 Blades

For most uses, your best bet is an X-Acto or similar craft knife. The

standard blade will carry you through most uses, but you might want to get an

assortment of other blades (like the chisel) for cases where the standard

blade doesn't quite fit. Be sure to discard old blades when they get dull,

because dull blades are dangerous.

Okay, a few of you are probably wondering *why* dull blades are more

dangerous than sharp ones. Well, for one thing, dull blades hurt more when

you cut yourself. But more importantly, you're more likely to cut yourself

with a dull blade. A dull blade needs more force to cut through something,

and once you get through, there's that much more muscle power that has to be

reined in. The first time my pocketknife slipped into my hand, I put it away

and went out to buy an X-Acto (well, first I cleaned and bound the wound).

Because the blade has to push away both sides of what it's cutting,

you'll find it's easier to cut the very edge of a thing than to cut down the

middle. For bigger stuff, you may want to use a scissors or a kitchen knife

(be VERY careful with kitchen knives, I nearly took off a fingertip while

cutting some plastic tubing), then use the X-Acto to trim the edge of the

cut. Similarly, when shaping putty or Sculpey, always try to shave off a

thin layer at a time. The cutting is easier, and you're less likely to crack

the wrong side of the cut.

One useful trick when cutting thicker plastic is to not cut it at all.

Instead, "score" it. Cut a thin line along where you want it to break, then

just snap it apart. When cutting cylindrical tubing, you can get a nice

score by pinching the tube in a scissors and then turning the tube. Be sure

to score all the way around a hollow tube, or it might break unevenly. You

can clean up the edges of the break with your X-Acto or a file. (Note: a

sort of vise-like gadget is available for cutting tubing, check Big Lots and

dollar stores.)

The usual Boy Scout rules about cutting still apply, but odds are you

may not always be able to follow them, so exercise caution.

2.3.2 Files

Blades can give a decent surface, but there's usually some ripples. Not

to mention, some things you can't cut. That's where files come in. You

probably want one larger file (I got a 10" triangular file at a hardware

store) for heavy work, and then a set of needle files for details. You can

find needle files at hobby shops and hardware stores for an arm and a leg

(typically $20 for a set of 4-6). I got lucky and found my set of 10 at Odd

Lots for $1.49. I've also seen a decent set at Radio Shack for $6, and you

can grab some rare earth magnets while you're there.

Files will fill up with dust...and fill your house up with dust. Be

sure to have something to wipe the dust off onto. If the file starts to make

odd squeaking noises, it needs cleaning.

The edges of files are powerful things. One slip and you can put a

notch into your project so deep that only adding more putty will solve the

problem. Round files may not result in nicely flat surfaces, but they avoid

the edge problem and are useful in touchy areas.

Skilled use of a file can give you a surface as smooth as anything you

could get with sandpaper, with the added benefit that the file itself forces

flatness. Also, a file is less likely to hurt your skin when you slip than

sandpaper is...you can even use your finger or thumb as a file guide.

2.3.3 Rotary Tools

There's two basic craft rotary tools out there. The Dremel line, and

Black & Decker's Wizard. They come in both cordless and corded varieties,

although the Wizard cordless requires a separate battery pack. The bottom of

the line in price is the $30 Dremel MiniMite, which comes with battery,

charger and four bits. The next up is usually about $50 and includes a case

and many bits, although you might find them on sale for less (two weeks after

I got my MiniMite and a $12 bit set, Wal-Mart had a bigger one with two

batteries and 50 bits for $40, d'oh). Additionally, you may be able to find

other brands out there, I've even seen an "As Advertised On TV" set for $20

with 70 bits.

Any rotary tool will let you do a lot of laborious work in minutes. It

will also generate an unholy amount of plastic dust or shavings in that

time, so have a vacuum handy. Only use a rotary tool if you've had

experience with powertools before, or have someone to teach you. Even a

fairly innocuous bit like the paint remover can hurt you when spinning at

10,000 rpm.

One problem with rotary tools is that they're marketed mainly to people

working with wood or metal, it seems. There's a list of recommended speed

settings for plastic, but plastic is not some monolithic material class.

Some plastics need different speeds. I often found that using the low speed

on most toy plastics would result in the carving bit or drill bit getting

caught on its own shavings and jamming, while the high speed worked fine.

You'll need to (carefully! experiment on your own with any new plastic.

WARNING: Dremeling through hot glue will remelt it and gum up your bit.

I learned that the hard way, then spent a while with a straight pin picking

out glue.

Here's some common bits (attachments) and notes on their use.

Drill bit - Always have a guide hole, or the bit will skid aside and at

best mark up your surface...at worst, mark up your hand. A round engraving

bit makes a good guide hole. You can also start the hole by pressing the bit

against the surface and spinning it manually, using the Dremel as a really

expensive pin vise.

Engraving bit - This is what I'm calling the round-headed carving bit.

Appearances aside, this is not meant to go into the surface like a drill

bit. Instead, lay it sideways to make the mark.

Miter bit - Okay, that's not its real name. A cylindrical carving bit,

basically. Usable for shaping surfaces, best at high speed on most

plastics. It doesn't give you very flat surfaces, however, so you'll need to

use a hand file for that. Tends to get gummed up with putty if it's not

really hard (like, 48 hours of curing or more). Easy to clean with a pin,

though.

Sander bits - A rough sander will give you reasonably flat surfaces and

eat up a lot of material very quickly, depositing it on your shirt unless

you're left-handed. The fine sander will smooth this out a bit, but still

leave you with a surface that needs filing or mitering to get down to a nice

smoothness. The sander belts will get gummed up with putty residue no matter

how hard it has been left to become, and cannot be easily cleaned.

Fortunately, you usually get several belts with each set.

Grinder bits - Stone heads mainly meant to grind metal. However,

they're pretty good at removing burrs from plastic and smoothing things out.

But they can get fouled with putty, so be careful.

Cutters - These are pieces of emory board used to slice through stuff.

They do a good job, leaving a smooth cut, albeit with some flash (melted

plastic). You probably want to use these on a lower setting, since they can

really heat up your material. I got splattered with molten plastic when I

tried cutting a piece of a model kit on high speed. You definitely want

protective eyegear when using these, since they fail by shattering. So far I

have not had any pieces launch at me this way, but I'm not really looking

forward to it. Tap any cutter before using it in case it's on the verge of

breaking...you want it to break before you start up.

Paint remover - This is a wire whisk that removes paint and can also

strip down softer plastics slowly. It's also great for cleaning putty gunk

out of your manual files, although you have to be careful not to lose control

and have the file scrape up against the shaft.

2.3.4 Accessories

You will definitely want a cutting board, it's mind-bogglingly useful

for more than just cutting (for instance, if space is limited, you can keep

your project on the board and just move it to the shelf). Use the bottom for

projects and the top for cutting food should you ever be so inclined.

If using files, you'll want a barbecue grill brush, and you can find

them for a buck at dollar stores. When a file gets gunked up, the only way

to totally clean it is to take a pin and scrape out each channel

individually, but a grill brush can get out most of the gunk and save time.

Thus, you'll really only need the pin if you get impatient and file before

the putty totally hardens. Oh, and if you're using a needle to paint with,

don't use this needle to clean the file...it'll get worn down fast.

Copper wire is available at the hardware store, and it's really useful

stuff. You can use it to hang painted bits, to poke holes in soft modeling

compound, add details, or even bind parts together while glue dries.

Finally, you'll need a vacuum cleaner. Kitbashing tends to leave lots

of little plastic bits all over the place, plus dust from filing things and

scraps of leftover plastic. It can make the floor pretty nasty.

3.0 WHERE TO FIND THINGS

Here's a list of some national (or at least super-regional) chains and

the kinds of things you're likely to find there for kitbashing. Stuff like

superglue and model glue not included.

K-Mart: Testprs paints, X-Actos, base figures (normal price), model kits,

cutting boards, glue guns

Kay-Bee: Cheap clearanced figures to use as bases, model kits

Michael's: Craft paints, X-Actos, some plastic bits, Sculpey, art pens,

glue guns, various craft stuff

Meijer: Testors, base figures (normal price), model kits, X-Actos,

Sculpey, art pens, cutting boards, some craft paints, glue guns

Radio Shack: Files, magnets, electronics for really ambitious projects

Target: Base figures (normal and deep clearance), X-Actos, cutting

boards, glue guns

Toys R Us: Testors, base figures (normal and clearance), model kits

Wal-Mart: Testors, base figures (normal price), craft paints, glue guns,

cutting boards, X-Actos, Sculpey, various craft stuff

4.0 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW

Don't be afraid to mess up. It's just a few bucks of plastic, yes?

Never kitbash with anything you're nervous about losing, because fear can

really get in the way. So, if you have that Japanese Arcee model kit you

really want to fix up, don't make that your first project. Start with stuff

you're not worried about. Once you can look at that big expensive project

without fear, it's time to tackle it.

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montarvillois

Founder of the M.A.s (Macrossoholics anonymous)

Group: Members

Posts: 396

Joined: Aug. 2002

Posted: Mar. 08 2003,01:22

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Boy I wish I had time to read all this but being lazy as I am I need pictures.

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Famous HG exec quote "if morons would fly, this place would be an airport"

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Edited March 2, 2004 by boinger