David Tries ALL the Hobby Model Putty

Transcript*

Skit

Intro

Hello all, this is David from Sunward Hobbies and for this video. This studio is on lock down. Nobody’s getting in. Nobody’s getting out.

What better reason to take a look at some putties. Today, I thought we would compare some of the putties that Sunward Hobbies sells by testing them out and comparing them. So, have a seat and we’ll get started.

Here are our contenders for today’s video. I’ve got Milliput, Tamiya Epoxy, et Tamiya White putty, Ammo by Mig Made Arming Putty, AK’s hard modeling putty, et Vallejo plastic putty. All very good choices.

And to demonstrate these, I’ve got this beautiful 1/600th scale gap, courtesy of ancient Airfix.

So, what is putty, you ask? Well, putty is a viscous paste used to fill unwanted gaps while adhering to plastic. Once dry, it can then be sanded smooth to blend into the surface texture of your model. The only exception is these epoxy putties, which are two components that will only work when kneaded together.

How do I apply it? Well, you can spread it on with a craft spatula, a brush, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, Q-tips, your fingers. You can even use your tongue. though I would recommend taking a good swig of mouthwash afterwards.

Now, I really don’t think I have to stress this, but uh so many people take things so seriously now. I was just joking about using your tongue. A lot of these putties are toxic and they’d probably kill you if you did that. So, don’t.

All right. Uh, so I’m going to take all these out of their boxes and when I come back, we will start testing them out.

Vallejo Plastic Putty Application

So, I’d like to start off with Vallejo as it’s the only one that’s not going to take an entire day to dry. Uh, Vallejo , the biggest advantage they’ve got over everyone is their handy precise application tip. Uh, all the other ones have a big lip that um when you open it, it can cause a bit of a mess, but Vallejo has got that covered. It is a water-based putty, and it is the weakest of all these putties here. Uh, so it is the only one that can’t be sanded at all.

The only way to smooth this out is with either a damp Q-tip or a damp cloth. Now, that’s not necessarily a disadvantage. I personally like to use this putty if, for instance, I’m building a plane and I’m attaching the wings to the fuselage. 99% of the time there’s going to be a panel line where the wing meets the fuselage.

But if the particular model I’m working on has a small gap in between the wing and fuse lodge, but I still want a panel line to be there, I’ll use Vallejo ‘s putty.

Basically, in terms of durability and coverage, it’s the worst. But in terms of ease of use and ease of cleanup, it’s one of the best. So, I’m going to squeeze some of that on to our gap. And the great thing about the precise tip is you can get right in that gap. And you could completely cover a gap with this if you wanted to, but you would likely need several coats.

And because Vallejo is harmless, you could just use your finger to slide off the excess and push that deeper in there. Okay, we’ll give that a little time to dry and move on to the next one.

AK Interactive Modelling Putty (White Hard)

Next, AK and their hard modelling white putty. This one has almost a toothpaste like consistency. Don’t mix them up. And this one you you do need an applicator of some sort to put on. Uh like Vallejo , it is also water based, but this one is more durable. So once it’s dry, it can be sanded.

And if for any reason you wanted to thin it down some more, you can just mix a little water in here with a cup. And uh the consistency of this one is quite soft, which is good for uh getting into gaps like these. And uh what I like to do to smooth out putties is use these very handy silicone brushes. These work very nicely in spreading putty out.

Because it’s a fairly soft and uh flexible material, it can push the putty further down into the gap. You know, works basically like a paintbrush.

Ammo by Mig Arming Acrylic Putty

Your next ammo arming putty. Another water based putty. Uh the only visible difference so far is the colour. It’s grey, almost like an RLM 02 grey. So, there you go. If you’re ever building a BF 109, you don’t even need to paint it. Just use this putty. Like AK, this one is very soft as well. Going to grab my silicone brush again. Spread that out. This one I find appears to be more brittle than the AK one. It’s, as you can see, it’s rubbing right off with the silicone brush. So, that’s not really a good sign, but we’ll see how it looks once it’s all dry.

Tamiya White Putty

So, Tamiya makes the best of just about everything. Let’s see if putty is the same. Uh, as you saw earlier in the video, I held up a Tamiya basic putty, which is the exact same thing, just grey instead of white. And honestly, white is better for those of us who are visually impaired.

I mean, if you can’t see, why are you in the hobby? Just kidding. Everyone’s welcome. So, uh, yes, this one is not water-based. It does have solvents in it, so it does have a slight odour, and it’s, uh, not a good idea to ingest this. You’re going to have a bad time if you do. So, um, this one has pretty much the same consistency as the others, but because it has solvents in it, it is much more durable than the others.

Slightly thicker than the water-based ones, but still soft enough that it could be nicely spread out. Just don’t take too long with it. As you can see that the texture looks a little rougher than the others. Okay. So, we’ve got our four uh one part putties all spread out on different sections.

Tamiya Epoxy Putty Smooth

Now, we’re going to move on to the epoxies. Two-part epoxy putties are basically what you would use if you’ve got a gap where just a single part putty won’t be enough. Basically, if you’ve got a big chasm in your model, kind of like that. So, we’re going to start with Tamiya.

They uh colour differentiate it so you know which one’s which. And it’s important once you finish using these to seal them back up in an airtight container of some sort as once these dry out they are useless. And of course uh keep them separated. So uh however much you need you just cut it off. We won’t need too much. These tend to stick into the uh plastic bags sometimes. So, be wary of that. And uh don’t confuse these with taffy.

And you got to make sure you get the exact same amount of this one as you got with the other one. It should look like a very pale teal colour. Now, I probably don’t need this whole thing, so I’ll just break off a small piece. And just press that onto your gap. And I find the best thing to spread it out with is just your fingers.

You can still kind of see the gap, so I’ll add a bit more. And once that is completely dry, it can be sanded into a much smoother finish, even though uh it’s already going to dry quite smooth.

Milliput Standard Yellow

Save the strongest stuff for last. Milliput is without question the toughest putty that we sell. Uh, not only can it be used on plastic, but it can be also used on ceramics and even metal.

So, uh, whatever you’ve screwed up, this should fix it. And just like the Tamiya one, I’m going to cut open what I need and immediately take the plastic off this time. Uh it’s uh a lot more pliable than the Tamiya one. Even that’s probably going to be too much.

This one’s a little bigger. This one does kind of get your fingers a little messier than the Tamiya one. So, while I’m kneading this, uh feel free to leave in the comments uh what your personal favourite putty is or if you’re still looking for what putty you’d like to use.

I really need to know. Okay, that should be thoroughly mixed. I’ll take only as much as I need. As you can see, that covers just about everything. Okay, that is all the putties spread onto this gap.

Overview/Vallejo Clean Up

So, uh, we’re going to do the Vallejo one almost immediately, but all the others we will leave for an entire day to dry. And after that, we will then sand them and see how the end result turns out. As you can see, the uh, Vallejo is already pretty clean. There’s not too much excess to remove.

So, it’s very simple. All you need is some water. And I’m sorry, we don’t sell this product. You’ll have to get it elsewhere and a Q-tip. Or you can use a cloth. But, uh, I like a Q-tip better for its precision. Uh, don’t get it too too wet. and literally just rub it off.

Just be a little careful. Make sure you don’t rub off the actual product in the gap. So that’s Vallejo. Easy to apply, easy to clean up. may need a few coats depending on uh what finish you want, but a very good option.

Skit

So, I’ve done all I can do for today. Now, normally I would go home, but I’ll be damned if I let Kevin hijack the studio again. So, I’m spending the night here. And when I wake up tomorrow, all those putties should be nice and dry and ready for sanding.

So, good night.

24 Hours Later…

Oh, my review.

All right, now that those putties have had a whole day to cure, let’s try sanding them. Good morning, everyone. Now that I’m well rested and these have had a whole day to dry, we can start sanding them.

And it’s a good thing I labelled which is which because I already forgot. Anyway, uh yesterday, as I mentioned, Vallejo putty, all it needs is a damp Q-tip or a cloth to be cleaned up. I mean, you can’t sand it anyway.

So, that’s basically already done. So, we’ll just immediately move on to AK, which uh is a water-based putty, too, but they do claim that it can be sanded.

So, to test that out, I’m going to be using a 400 and an 800 grit sanding file from Alpha Abrasives.

AK Interactive Modeling Putty (White Hard) Sanding

And we’ll see how these sand. Well, it’s looking quite durable so far. Okay, let’s try the 800 grit now. Well, the uh the marker came off before the buddy did, so that is a good indicator of how tough it is.

So, I would say the AK putty is pretty good.

Ammo by Mig Arming Putty Sanding

Now, we have ammo, which uh I don’t need to be a psychic to know that this is probably not going to sand well.

I mean, it didn’t even fill the gap well either, but we got to give it a shot. Okay. Yeah, that just slid right off. Okay. So, yeah, the ammo putty, uh, not ideal for sanding. Uh it’s basically like a slightly inferior version of the Vallejo one.

So um I mean I I guess if uh you weren’t intending to sand it, just use it to uh fill in a a gap with a toothpick or something and you’re very careful not to get any mess. Uh, I suppose it would be fine, but uh, no, I don’t really recommend this one.

Tamiya White Putty Sanding

Now, we have the Tamiya white putty. And being a user of this myself, I know 100% that this is sand-able and durable as well.

Uh now I I can’t remember if I mentioned this yesterday but um whereas with Vallejo you can thin it down with water, Tamiya putty you can also thin down but it has to be with lacquer thinner.

So if you wanted your putty to be uh a little more uh liquefied then that’s what you would use anyway. Just like the AK. Nice and durable. can be sanded very smooth and uh yeah, absolutely no complaints with that one.

Tamiya Epoxy Putty Smooth Sanding

Now, we’re going to finish off with the epoxies starting with Tamiya . And that dried rock hard. So, um we’ll see how it sends. Since epoxies are so tough, it takes quite an effort. effort to sand it down at all.

And uh again, epoxy putty, in my opinion, is really a last resort if you’ve got a chasm of a gap in your model, which unless you’re awful at it, shouldn’t happen really at all.

So yeah, Tamiya Epoxy. It’s tough. Maybe a little too tough, but again, the epoxy putty really only for emergency use.

Milliput Standard Yellow Sanding

And I imagine Milliput is going to be very similar. Yeah, just as tough. So, but despite the uh effort it takes to get these things sanded smooth, I do recommend them once again for emergencies only.

David’s Verdict

And that is my verdict.

In conclusion, I really don’t think any of these putties are bad. Some are better than others.

But, uh, AK, Vallejo, Tamiya , Milliput. Um, I don’t know where the ammo one went. Um, all of them are pretty good in their own way, but if you had to ask me, my favourite putty is Spruu, which I am not revealing the formula to.

I already did a video on that a while ago and I don’t intend for the whole world to know. So, let us know in the comments what your favorite putty is. And if you ever need a top up, you can find it at Sunward Hobbies in store or online. So, thank you very much for watching this video.

Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one, adios.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by Daniela Castellano
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano