Tip O' The Day

Category:

   Construction

Submitted By:

   Paul Webb

Tip:

   Tired of waiting for filler to dry and then having to spend hours filing it down, only to discover that it needs re-filling because you missed a bit? This idea is probably "old hat", but it works for me. If you have a small gap, particularly on a figure (e.g. between arm and shoulder joints), try filling the gap with plastecine. This is really plyable and fills between folds in skin or material excellently. When you are happy with the contours, cover the surface area of the plastecine with superglue to give it a hard shell. Now paint. Plastecine is very cheap and can be bought in large quantities and in a variety of colours from anywhere that sells flower arranging materials. It's not always called plastecine, but other brands are just as good and they last for ages. I use this method a lot for figures and creatures, but it's no use on anything that has to look pristine, or that has sharp, regular contours - vehicles, etc. Most recently I have adopted this method for the AMT Ertl Rancor, and Geo-metrics' excellent Ellen Ripley model. A quick way of filling for the modeller on the move. Although I'm sure someone's got a better method out there somewhere, this is the cheapest. Right, I'm off to the patent office.