How to use filler for small holes?

[54strat]

Hi all,

I never seem to get on with filler, especially when it comes to filling in small holes. I've a few Farish VGA's and I've removed the red 'RailFreight' boards as most didn't last long on the prototype. This has left the bodies each with a few 1mm diameter holes.

After filling and sanding, the hole is still apparent, either there is still a 'dimple' or the surrounding plastic has been lowered. Filler hardness is obviously not the same as the plastic's.

Has anyone got any tips, tools or techniques that would help?

Cheers

Paul

[Agrippa]

Try Milliput, comes in black, white, silvery grey etc. It takes a while to cure and can be smoothed with a wet finger , flat piece of plastic like a credit card , the long curing time
allows opportunity to make corrections. Once cured it is as hard as iron. Also useful for adding weights to wagons etc where you don't want lead to be exposed, you can make a
cover. Good for sanding and making curved sections.

[Dock Shunter]

Definitely a job for Milliput.......
It comes in two parts which you rub together.
Goes off hard as rock.......

[tutenkhamunsleeping]

Another option is to plug the holes with plastic rod of a suitable diameter glued in with a solvent adhesive and then trim when dry - I'm not a great fan of filler where it can be avoided!

[54strat]

Thanks for the replies.

So with milliput, or indeed most fillers, is it better to smooth it out as much as possible before it goes off? As it dries as hard as a rock, sanding it when adjacent to plastic would result in an uneven result. This is where I think I may be going wrong possibly, not so much as the filler I use but with how I sand it.

I like the plugging with plastic rod idea, but it'd still leave gaps. I think I recall something I read about using liquid poly to dissolve plastic to use as a filler. I would think this would give you a nice homogeneous fix, not unlike a weld so any sanding would degrad the filled hole as evenly as the surrounding plastic, so possibly no ridges. I'm after a mirror like finish if possible.

I'll have a play about with your suggestions. I did run into this issue a while back when I removed the boards from some peco grain wagons. I'll revisit those before I mess up the VGA's.

Cheers

Paul 

[Agrippa]

Why not drill a hole in a piece of scrap plastic and try filling it with Milliput and then
smoothing and / or sanding it too see the effect. The amount used would be minute. With Milliput it comes in 2 tubes and these are mixed together and kneaded until the colour is uniform and it becomes like plasticene. As you are only filling small holes you
could probably use a wet finger to smooth it.

As it takes a while  to cure you have plentyof time to smooth it when  the consistency changes during hardening.

[Rabs]

2 things I would suggest here:
1) Tippex/Snopake as an easy to work with filler for non-structural applications which, as a liquid, I find easier to use for small holes than putty type fillers.  It sands nicely
2) Sand using emery board or a small sanding block.  If you are inadvertently sanding away the underlying plastic there are two possible solutions - one is to make sure that the filler is less hard than the plastic.  The other is to make sure that the sandpaper stays flat so that it removes whatever is higher, regardless of hardness.

Good luck!

[red_death]

Games Workshop liquid green stuff makes a nice filler for smaller holes and dimples.

Steve's idea of plugging the hole with rod is a good one as well.

Cheers, Mike

[RST]

• Squadron putty -excellent stuff and sandable afer mins rather than hrs
  Tipp-ex ....very soft sanding and surprisingly durable.  Tad brittle though
  Small holes sometimes filled with cynao -but leaves a hard residue (easily sandable)

...Best thing for me is styrene dust and MEK solution -very good, scuplt while "wet", scalpel off while green / semi-set and fills small holes perfect, almost homogenous with the surrounding plastic which is when I'd advise either of the above to finish.

[Agrippa]

Good idea , hope it works out.

[54strat]

Thanks for all the advice

I used some Squadron Putty and with careful use of a chisel, took most of the putty off that was left proud and then gently sanded then wire wooled it to as smooth as I could get. Looks good. One thing I did do was to drill out the holes then back them with some plasticard to prevent the filler falling through. I'll prime it and see how well I've done.

Thanks again

Paul