Need help with seam lines!

[trueblueeyes]

There are three things that I believe were put on earth just to torture me...

-high heeled shoes

-underwire bras

&-annoying and hard to erase seam lines on models.

I am hoping you all can help with the last problem!

Here is the story: I was working on prepping part of a model of mine. Had assembled, puttied, and sanded the seam lines. It looked to the naked eye as if the seam lines were taken care of. I spray on a light coat of primer...and poof!...there was the seam line again...as visible as ever! This is really getting irritating. I had put a lot of time into working with this piece. Just need some advice on how to correct this and get rid of those nasty seam lines.

I don't know if I am sanding too much with a rough grit sandpaper or if it is just that my cheap putty (el cheapo bondo glazing spot putty in a tube) is shrinking after drying. Please help me out before I throw this model through the wall and call it quits.

Thanks,

Melissa

[Grayson72]

All I can offer is the steps I use:

Glue it, I either use the liquid or the goupy stuff depending on which part I'm working on.

Putty using Tamiya

Mr Surfacer 500.

Is is possible you're not using enough putty and covering a wide enough area?

Another thing I've seen is applying to much pressure while sanding the seem and you actuall flex the seem and the crack reappears.

[wm cheng]

Exactly what Grayson is saying. Man, when I switched from testors to Tamiya putty - it was like night and day - its worth the little extra for the Tamiya putty - but think of how much time and aggravation you'd save. Then I discovered Mr. Surfacer - and wow! for small seams its just beautiful. I'd start with a 200 grit sanding film (sanding wet) and then work your way up to 600/800 grit - becareful not to use too coarse of a paper especially on soft plastics.

I am going through sanding process right now with the VF-0 to get rid of seams, you might want to hop on over to page 10 of my VF-0 thread. I always try to run my nails across the seam slowly, if it catches on anything, then keep sanding away!! At least your primer is doing the job of showing you where you still have to fill and sand. I almost always have to go back and repair or re-fill or sand some part after the first initial light coat of primer or paint.

Good Luck - sorry can't help you with the bra or shoes

[captain america]

Actually, I'll go with a slightly different answer: if your seam-line still shows-up after puttying & sanding, it's probably because your putty was too viscous to fill it in the first place, and when you sanded-off all the putty that was sitting on top--poof! Seam line's back.

Take a low viscosity Ca glue and fill-in the gap. The glue flows very easily, so be careful, or it'll end-up everywhere. Wait about 5 minutes, and start to sand. If there's a substantial level difference between tour two halves ( poor molding, etc), don't waste your time with air-dry putties, they take forever to dry, and they shrink. In stead, use automotive polyester putty that you can find at a local car-care store. Make sure you get the fine grade, and un-filled. This is a catalized putty, so there's virtually no shrinkage, but be warned, it stinks to high-hell.

The putty should go on very smooth, but make sure you sand your plastic rough first, to give it some bite. It'll start to cure in a few minutes, and you can start sanding in about 15... Faster if you kick-it with a hair dryer(accelerates cure.)

If you still have problems, LMK.

[Myersjessee]

I think both ideas sound good...but we really need to be sure which one works best...so here is my plan. I shall send my VF0 to Captain America and my SV51 to WMCheng. You both build and detail the models as best you can. Then...send my kits back to me...I will compare and declare the proper answer. If it is a tie I will pick two more models and we will repeat the process till we have a winner!

[David Hingtgen]

I never, ever, putty anymore. Not even to build up areas. I use CA. (Medium--thin is like water, thick's too thick). It does NOT shrink. And it's easy enough to layer. I use it for all my seams, gaps, etc. As a bonus, it can act as a glue if normal gluing won't work/help, and it adds strength to any seam.

[captain america]

Hi Jesse

Sounds like a fair challenge. I may feel obligated to do a litle bit of tinkering on the VF-0 though... Most likely convert it to 1/32 scale and make it transformable for starters

[Pat S]

Helpful topic for me, thanks.

I couldn't find any mr surfacer at my hobby shop, so I'll try some CA glue, I'm assuming they'll know what I'm talking about if I say I need some medium CA glue?

[Grayson72]

I've used gap filling CA too and it does work well, the putty can sometimes gum up my sand paper no matter how long I let it sit.

Jesse you crack me up!

[Myersjessee]

Hi Jesse

Sounds like a fair challenge. I may feel obligated to do a litle bit of tinkering on the VF-0 though... Most likely convert it to 1/32 scale and make it transformable for starters

SOLD!

[phatslappy]

can someone tell me how to apply mr. surfacer? I bought some, and it came in a glass bottle. But I don't know what to do with it.

[trueblueeyes]

can someone tell me how to apply mr. surfacer? I bought some, and it came in a glass bottle. But I don't know what to do with it.

I just use one of my old brushes to brush it directly on the surface. I suppose you could also use one of those glue applicator syringes to apply it but I think the brush is a lot easier and quicker. Hope this helps!

[Mervin]

can someone tell me how to apply mr. surfacer? I bought some, and it came in a glass bottle. But I don't know what to do with it.

I use an airbrush with the bottled mr surfacer 1000. I thin it a bit with thinner.

Edited April 7, 2004 by Mervin