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Curious as to the subject asking about filler on plastic in Filler for plastic shell | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum (ogaugerr.com) as I am asking the same question about metal shells.

I can never seem to get a uniform finish where I have done modifications to metal shells.

I always fill the area with plastic in order to use as little putty as possible to prevent shrinkage.  I use automotive spot putty to finish.IMG_20220802_160445124_HDR

See the picture of a Lionel Mogul I removed the steam turret on and filled.  Plastic plug, putty ,sand, paint the filled area , then feather the paint using a piece of well worn 1000 grit paper - wet (most sands off).  Feels good to the touch, but the paint always shows different.  This is over a factory finish.

I'm not using an air brush yet as I need to learn, but using existing stock of Scalecoat 1 (metal).  as you can see the non modified areas come out well, but the other areas show.

Don't have as much problem on plastic and I didn't use a primer as I had a factory coat for and underlay.

Suggestions?

Thanks

Gray Lackey

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Gray, ….IMO, automotive putty isn’t fine enough for this hobby,…..for filler work, I use JB Quick Weld. A little tougher to sand, but 10X smoother application than putty ……also, you can’t rely on paper alone to finish. You need to fashion blocks for leveling. I have some blocks less than 1/2 “…….I start with 800 or even 600 if it’s a lot of leveling. Just running paper over filler with your finger tips will leave you with uneven surfaces…..changing directions when running the block also helps…..

Pat

@NHVRYGray posted:

Curious as to the subject asking about filler on plastic in Filler for plastic shell | O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum (ogaugerr.com) as I am asking the same question about metal shells.

I can never seem to get a uniform finish where I have done modifications to metal shells.

I always fill the area with plastic in order to use as little putty as possible to prevent shrinkage.  I use automotive spot putty to finish.IMG_20220802_160445124_HDR

See the picture of a Lionel Mogul I removed the steam turret on and filled.  Plastic plug, putty ,sand, paint the filled area , then feather the paint using a piece of well worn 1000 grit paper - wet (most sands off).  Feels good to the touch, but the paint always shows different.  This is over a factory finish.

I'm not using an air brush yet as I need to learn, but using existing stock of Scalecoat 1 (metal).  as you can see the non modified areas come out well, but the other areas show.

Don't have as much problem on plastic and I didn't use a primer as I had a factory coat for and underlay.

Suggestions?

Thanks

Gray Lackey

Just a question, you mentioned using automotive spot putty, I have used the spot putty with excellent results.

Are you using the red putty or the green?  The red is the putty I use, it is actually the finish putty before paint, l have used it for both metal and plastic. The red putty comes in a tube and has the smell of lacquer, it sands to a very fine finish when wet sanded.

Ray

@NHVRYGray posted:

Oh yes, I use a block with paper for flat surfaces.  Learned a long time ago that fingers aren't flat.

As a question, for super expensive cars with finishes that cost more than a house.  If auto putty isn't fine enough what is used on them?

In the automotive restoration world, it’s epoxy primer first, then putty work, then more epoxy, then filling primer and block smooth…..a bit too much for our models, Gray,….the process I use is cured completely JB Quick, on a an abated surface, block that smooth with a final block of 1500, then a primer leveler, ( I have automotive products at my disposal ) then block to blend….at that point, I’m ready for top coat …..JB Quick sands beautiful if it’s cured properly ( overnight ) ….it’s all in how you spread it, …and beings it’s basically a 2 part epoxy, very little if any shrinkage …product is way more dense than any polyester putty I’ve come across in the modeling industry…..you don’t have to strip the entire engine to do small repairs like the one you have pictured above,…..I’d scuff that area with some 800, fashion a perfect spreader from thin styrene, and wipe the area level….block and repeat till it’s level,….I’ll post up some pictures this evening of some pretty nasty sized holes I’ve filled in with the Quick…..even tiny holes where class lights were, but weren’t supposed to be there…..😉

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

If y’all want a tutorial, I’ll do a thread on filling, blending, and touch up work on die cast shells, ….sounds like it may be useful, ….but y’all say the word, …I don’t mind doing it…..I’ll drill a hole in a junker shell and show y’all how I do it,…😁

Pat

I'm makin' the popcorn Pat.  Sounds like a good Saturday night double feature.  😂😂

Ok, no problem,….let’s shoot for Friday evening,…let’s just do it right here on Gray’s thread if he’s cool with it, …no need to start a whole new thread….this one already exists…..I just need to finish up Mike G’s Commodore Vanderbilt then we’ll do this …I’ve got a handful of projects to get done, but poor Mike has been here forever and he has the patience of Jobe, so I wanna make his build spectacular…. So I’ll do his build thread, and then we’ll jump on some body work …

Pat

Ok gentlemen & ladies if present, ….let’s get started!…I have this dead Niagara shell we’ll use as our demonstrator ……We’ll mimic the kind of job like Gray is doing where he’s removed a device for relocation, or omitting all together….leaving holes that need to be filled in,….so I’ve drilled a couple holes in the shell, and we’ll fill them in, smooth it all out, and blend the area in with color for a seamless job,…..first thing I do is to clean the entire shell, being sure it’s free of oils, grease, and dust …next thing to do is protect all the surrounding areas with masking tape in layers,…another trick for close quarters combat is foil tape over precious details …again in layers if need be…..we start by examining the area…obviously my drilled holes have raised material as well as blown a hole, so we need to take that into consideration,….also, when filling in perfect holes, we want to have a divot to fill in rather than a perfect hole,….so with a dremel tool and a cut off wheel, you can see where I’ve dug down on top of the holes….this divot will do two things. The filler will form more of a rivet type patch, as opposed to a perfect plug. So the repaired area will be stronger……also, it’s much easier to level a divot than a perfect hole ….next, I lightly scuff the repair area with either fine paper or scotchbrite, then wipe the area clean with alcohol….AE3D88BA-740D-49D8-B7A8-21652606FF9182C20F6A-28E0-40D4-9F3B-2A20A3DF5ABEC2688D9B-6ADD-4A7E-BCAF-253A80EF2046C055D616-9FD3-4E43-95EC-7E1DDFD4A89DD7D97D3E-0F04-4D79-89B7-4148C799721CEB5F4DB8-7D83-44EB-9D8D-6B215CE915E17CCC4F6B-4CE4-4454-B4A5-F141853FB984I fashion spreaders out of whatever firm sheet styrene or card stock, or whatever is stiff and thin….tonight’s spreaders are made from scrap firm gasket material….waste not, want not …..most of y’all get this part, and I’m sure y’all are more interested in the blocking and smoothing process. So I’ve purposely kinda did a lumpy wipe so I can better picture the blocking process,…tip # 1: when you’re ready to spread the JB Kwik, you have 5 minutes work time before it locks up, BUT, don’t be so eager to spread directly after mixing!..wait about 45 seconds to a minute!…the filler will firm to a more paste texture than a flowing liquid state ….so we’ll let this cure overnight, I’ll remask the entire area and begin blocking this down,….it may require a second wipe, but we’ll see,…also, for you DIY guys, I’ll be using the common rattle can products as opposed to the automotive refinishing products I normally use so you can duplicate this process at home in your shops….

Pat

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@NHVRYGray posted:

First question.

  Since my hole was much large, I plugged it (as best as possible) first.  Is this still needed?  For a larger hole, I would think some type of backer would be needed to keep the filler from falling through?

Sure, I’ve should’ve mentioned, in my example I have masking tape as a backer. But yes, anything that won’t react funny to the filler can be a backer,…..

Pat

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