molding plastic buildings

[Anonymous]

I was about to glue a plastic model kit together (after preparing the pieces, ie.sanding the egdes) and I wondered how I was going to cover or fill in those ugly gaps between the pieces of plastic. Any wize words from you folks.

Thanks Hal [:)]

[FJ and G]

Take the sprus, make shavings from them, put in a cap w/glue, mix well into a paste, insert

[timthechef]

I use white putty from Suadron products. It dries fast and sands smooth. You can get it at your LHS.

[bogp40]

In any quality kit, if the pieces are sanded for proper fit, you shouldn't have any major gaps to fill. I don't know how particular your trying to be, but paint and weathering will usually take care or most seams. If kit bashing and trying to hide obvious splices, then some filling/ blending may be needed. The Walthers kits can be troublsome, even following the directions, many times pieces end up w/ a bad fit. I improvise and dry fit many steps ahead to eliminate trouble spots.
Bob K.

[CNJ831]

As Bob K relates, most plastic structure kits today are of a quality that very little sanding or adjustment is necessary to get a very good fit. Large gaps at corners or between pieces are more likely caused by not being careful and exacting enough in assembly. In the case of significant assembly errors, the resulting gaps can be difficult to hide.

In gluing plastic parts make sure any flash, nubs, or minor irregulaties are totally removed. Check especially for any warping of parts and be sure to straighten them before assembly. When the joint is made, be sure they are squared up exactly and clamp the pieces tightly in some fashion until the bond fully sets up.

Following the advice above should leave you with, at worst, a few fairly small, fine gaps. These may be filled with Zap-a-Gap CA applied to the crack with the edge of a small needle or a pin. Once dry and painted, no evidence of any gap will be visible.

CNJ831

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your replies guys. I appreciate all the advice. It's a DPM kit and some of the spurs where really big - hard to sand totaly flat because the plastic wasn't as soft as some kits I've used.


Thanks again. Hal [:D][:D]