Model Making: Modelling Fillers

As a model maker, I’ve used a wide variety of different fillers over the years, and as with everyone else I am also on the eternal search for the perfect product! Consequently I will often buy new fillers when I see them, just to try them out. There are a good selection of specialist fillers produced by the various model kit companies. Now to be honest I haven’t really used many of these as they tend to be quite expensive and there are often very similar and cheaper alternative around.

Firstly, of course, there is no one filler that will do everything well. It is definitely the case of choosing the correct product for the material you are working with and also for the task you are looking to use it for. So I am simply going to run through a few I have used and suggest the best uses for them.

Ready Mixed Fillers

Firstly lets have a look at Ready Mixed Fillers, as bought in the D.I.Y. store. Designed for filling cracks around the house, in walls etc., probably the most well known brand in the UK is Polyfilla, however all the different varieties share very similar properties. From interpreting the Health and Safety Datasheet I get the impression that this is more or less a mix of plaster with some PVA adhesive mixed through it.

These Ready Mixed Fillers are not that useful as actual fillers for model making, although I have seen people use them when they are stuck for other fillers! The main thing I use Ready Mixed Fillers for is adding ground work to bases or scenic displays. I find them ideal for this, as the adhesion from the adhesive content helps then stick to most materials. If too much is applied there is a tendency for cracking to occur, but it really has to be quite large amounts for this to happen.

This model is covered in Ready Mixed Filler (then sand on top),

and will be part of a forthcoming blog posting, once the project is complete.

I have recently been buying tubs of Ready Mixed Filler from the local pound store, so it is certainly worth looking around, rather than just heading for your nearest D.I.Y. chain!

A word of warning at this point, there are various types of wall repair filler available, some are described as flexible fillers, these seem to have a more silicone based mix , nearer to a mastic caulking than to a plaster based filler. They have their uses, but I would not consider them for this type of terrain modelling.

Speciality Model Making Fillers

Tamiya, Revell and several other model kit companies produce model fillers, with various different properties. Now, I must admit I have not tried many of these products, but they seem very popular in the model shops so they are clearly worth a mention.

 

I have heard that the two Squadron putties (Green and White) are very good. There is no clear difference between the two, other than the colour, but though chatting with a few people the advantages are as follows. The Squadron Green appears to dry quicker, it is also useful to be able to see the putty once set. Squadron White is reputed to be a finer/smoother texture.

Revell Plasto Putty used to fill the joint between plasticard and an injection moulded form.

I have a tube of Revell Plasto that I have been using recently.It adheres well to plastics and wood, is a nice smooth texture and dries to an off white creamy beige colour. It is a solvent based putty and does have a distinctive smell. I have found it to be very useful for filling smaller gaps,applying it with a knife. Most professional model makers find more economical materials to work with, rather than buying the branded model making materials. This also runs to fillers! Revell Plasto appears to have a very similar consistency and properties to the car body filler Cataloy Knifing Putty from Holts. As Cataloy Knifing Putty comes in larger tubes, and is priced around the same make as the Revell Plasto, I personally would recommend using the Knifing Putty.

 

 

While researching this article I discovered Tamiya Light Curing Putty, which sounds quite intriguing.  I have not gotten hold of any yet, but I’m interested in looking into the uses of a “light curing putty”, so may well track a tube down.

Polyester Fillers

Polyester Fillers are somewhat different to the previous fillers I have looked at. They come as a two part mix, the main filler and a catalyst that once mixed with the filler causes it to set hard.

This stuff has a wide range of uses for the model maker and is an essential item that I always keep on my shelf, ready for use. There are endless different brands available (just do a search for Car Body Filler), but the most well known ones in the UK are Isopon P38 or possibly Ronseal High Performance Wood Filler. Once mixed – the standard proportions are a golf ball sized lump of filler to a pea sized lump of catalyst – they usually set within around 15 minutes, to a hard machine-able finish.

In this photo I am using polyester filler to make a surround for a battery-hatch,

for a lit model that will be featured in a future blog post.

As far as fillers go these polyester fillers are at the heavy duty end of things, they can be messy to work with, and have to be mixed correctly, but are excellent for larger filling jobs, packing models, adding weight to lighter parts. They are also good for building more organic shapes.

I have even seen them used as adhesives for some more awkward materials such as ABS. A professional ship modeller (model ships for the oil industry) that I once chatted with, used to swear by car body filler as the best way to fix his decks to the ABS vacuum-formed hulls of the ships he worked on.

Conclusion

I always tend to keep a tub of Polyester Filler, a tube of Knifing Putty and some Ready Mixed Filler around as they get used on a very regular basis. These are the main fillers that I use while model making, although there are occasionally others (gap-filling Tensol No.12 for acrylic, PVA glue mixed with sawdust for MDF etc.). There are also the epoxy putties like A+B and Miliput and also the sculpting putties like Kneadatite and ProCreate, but I will cover those in depth in a separate article sometime soon…

Wednesday Eye Candy: Monster Rider

A new feature that I will try to post every week.
Wednesday will be scultpure, wargames figures and larger scales.
Friday will be paintings, illustrations and 3D artwork.
I spend a lot of time looking at new artwork on sites like Deviant Art, both as research for figure sculpting, model-making and the like and also due to the fact that I like good artwork. I feel that it is about time I pushed some of this stuff out there as inspiration for figure painting, wargames design and generally for the fun of it.
So here is the first Wednesday Eye Candy!

 

This sculpt is by Ryan Firchau (Deviant Art ID: Firecrow78). A fabulous sculpt, I would love to get  hold of a casting! Normally I don’t like anthropomorphised animal designs, but this one exudes quality.
Check out more of Ryan’s work at Deviant Art!

Model Making: Laser Cut Snake Oil Salesman’s Wagon

Taking a slight change of direction in the development of the laser cut models, a friend was looking for a wagon for his Malifaux  figures, a troupe of showgirls…

I felt I could put one together for him fairly quickly, we discussed it at out weekly games night, on a Wednesday, and I laser cut on the Friday.

The only parts not laser cut are the two axles, which are 2mm diameter bamboo cotton bud sticks.

Model Making: Laser Cut Fortified Tower House

After playing around with the various sci-fi fortifications and gantry systems I felt it was about time that I tried something a little more historical.

A friend of mine suggested I have a look at doing a Peel Tower and so after a little time doing some research (i.e. Google-fu) I settled on creating a tower based on the Tower of Hallbar. Not an accurate historical model, but taking the main points of the building and incorporating them into my design.

The following photos are the result. The model is built for 28mm figures and stands around 370mm high.

 

As part of the project it was important to hide the way the model was constructed, fortunately with the larger stones at the corners, it was possible to create an interlocking design that gave the model great strength as well as reasonably hiding the joins.

The actual stonework on the faces of each wall was created simply by drawing white splodges on a black background to create a very simple stone built effect. This was then repeated over the surface of each piece. The laser engraving of the stone pattern was a very slow process. The whole cutting and engraving took between 3 and 4 hours. If I removed the surface engraving, it would bring it down to around 30 minutes.

In these photos you can see that the roof tiles are actually sloped for each row of tiles. This was done by creating a black to white gradient for each row of tiles. Then using a special 3D setting on the laser cutter that cuts to certain depths depending on the different gradients of black through grey to white.

After I completed the basic tower I decided it would be interesting to a small turret, as seen on several other Peel towers. Now, the problem here is that the laser cutter will only cut flat material. All I could do was cut each ring of bricks as a separate piece and then glue them together. It worked well enough, but I wouldn’t want to have to do it for a turret that was the full height of the building…

Now clearly this model has quite diverse uses, everything from Boarder Reivers games through to fantasy battles and beyond. However the main problem with producing this tower as a saleable item is the time it takes on the machine. The stone effect is very nice, but it simply makes the model uneconomic to produce.

Model Making: Habitation Dome, Sci-fi table-top scenery (Part 1)!

I started a project to make a centre piece for a retro sci-fi wargame sometime early last years. The project was inspired by a plastic domed light fitting that I had had lying around for several years and not really know what to do with.

The project has stalled somewhat at the moment, as I work on other things, but I have recently been working up a few more scenic items for the sci-fi game and so I will probably get around to finishing it off sometime very soon!

As I built the model I photographed the whole process and so here is a run through of the construction.

Cut two 18"x 18" squares of 1" polystyrene which will make up the base of the piece. This is quite a good size for me as I have a series of base boards that are either 18x18 or 18x36, so this will fit in nicely with those.
I have also knocked up a simple plan, just to give myself an idea on how to proceed. The ground floor will be set into the top layer of foam, giving an extra inch of depth for headroom within the dome.
There is a central lift shaft which also supports the first floor control room.

 
2 sheets of 1" styrofoam, cut 18"x18". The top sheet is marked out with the position of the dome the site of the entry ramp.

This is the base ring for the light fitting.

This is the dome in place.

Now I have to cut the ground floor out of the top sheet of foam and also cut the sloped entry ramp!
I just cut out the top layer of foam using a large hot wire cutter. I set the wire at about a 10 degree angle (just to make it a little more interesting than vertical).

 
I also cut the entry ramp, which was a little trickier due to the compound angles. So after cutting it I found I had to sand it quite a bit to get it level.

 
I have now glued the 2 layers of foam together and also glued in the entry ramp. I have used quick drying filler to fill the gaps and left the model to dry overnight.

 
Then I cut a 80mm diameter postal tube to use as the central lift shaft. Also, using 6mm MDF, I have cut the interior dividing walls. Due to time constraints and also some aesthetic concerns, I have abandoned the central ring corridor.
My projects always tend to evolve as I move them into 3D!

The black rectangle in the lower right of the photo is going to be a freight lift door set into the ground beside the dome, designed to suggest that there are more floors below ground.

 
This is the upper floor, cut slightly smaller than the outer ring of the building so that the roof dome will locate into the ring. Again 80mm postal tube used for the lift shaft.

Dome in place, checking the fit of the inner floors and postal tubes.

Then I cut the connecting doorways between each of the rooms. Normally on a wargaming model I would simply add door frames onto the wall and paint the wall as the door. But for this project I felt it would be nice to use some slightly thinner material for the doors, adding to the realism. I may also model one or two of the doors in the open position.

Here I am gluing the doors to the inside of the lift shaft. I used some of the same tube to make the doors with. Fortunately the difference in the curve was not enough to cause any problems.

I have been spreading flexible filler on the interior floor polystyrene, in an attempt to disguise the polystyrene beading. A slow process of fill, dry, sand, repeat!

I used a smaller diameter tube for the actual lift cabin. I thin the size will be deceptive, once the only way to see it is through the open doors!

The open atrium area is now cut, also the cream coloured object is part of a yogurt pot that is going to be my main computer bank (very retro).
Added doors to the doorways, glued the main walls in place and added a coat of gray paint.

Here you can see the open lift doors and open door on the lower deck.

I added the dividing wall on the upper deck. This will divide the control roof from Hydroponics.

The gray is darker than I would like. I will probably repaint a good bit lighter. Here you can also see the central lift shaft. I have placed a cone of card into it, and hopefully with some concentric rings and tapering lines painted onto the cone it will give an illusion of a deep shaft.

Looking straight down the shaft!

 
Close up of the open door on the lower deck. The walls are made of 6mm MDF, the doors from 2mm MDF.

At the moment I am working on strengthening the polystyrene sheets, mounting a card edge to it to match my terrain boards and covering it with papier mache for strength.

Card re-enforcements for the edges of the polystyrene:-

Papier-mâché used to cover the polystyrene, strengthen the whole board and hide the polystyrene's "bobbly" texture:-

Adding more paper:-

That is about where I have gotten to at the moment. I am slowly working on the main entry ramp and door at the moment. 

Also I have decided that even though the interior is purely 28mm scale I will keep any obvious scale items off of the outside, so that I can use it for my 15mm sci-fi games as well.

Part 2 of this post will hopefully come along sometime in the next month or two.