Rough Areas on Metal Minis

[Aliengod3]

Hey Everyone,

I have a couple of Rackham minis that have some some rough areas of the cast. The areas look like someone poked at them with a needle creating a bunch of small indentations in the cast. What is a good way to fix these types of rough surfaces so they are smooth? Thanks.

 

[aapjeBOB0]

its funny you say this cause i just bought a gamezone miniature ( vampire champion) and i had exactly the same thing. i just filled them up with a little bit of greenstuff

 

[airhead]

thinned milliput -
rub with wet finger.
let dry/cure
then 600 wet or dry if needed.

 

[Aliengod3]

What does \"600 wet or dry\" mean? Is that like 600 grit sandpaper? I guess I answered my own question lol

@Airhead: Which milliput works better for this sort of thing, the white or the brownish colored one?

Thank you for the tips!

 

[DXM]

Go and find Tamiya Tube Putty.
The best. Used it for the last 20 years.
Sticks to plastic and metal, It\'s softer than Milliput so you will not be sanding away the plastic/metal details before you get rid of the milliput. When dry, like was mentioned, wet sand with 600 grit sandpaper.

 

[Shadzar]

Superglue coating for the metal mini for the rough areas.

For any excess super glue, use a Q-tip with some rubbing alcohol to lightly buff the excess glue down flush.

If you have more steady and quick hands, you can just fill the needle pricks with the superglue, with a needle tip worth of superglue.

Just remember the needle will collect the glue, so clean the dried glue off the needle often if you have many spots on the mini.

This was a big problem with some minis when they first switched from lead to more brittle metals, and I could do the needle glue thing back them. Now it is more of a glop on glue and buff thing for any left.

But that\'s just the way I do/did it.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Aliengod3
What does \"600 wet or dry\" mean? Is that like 600 grit sandpaper? I guess I answered my own question lol
Wet & Dry Emery Paper as used in the Automotive repair business. (The Darkish Grey Paper) Much finer and even particles than normal Sandpaper. Used \"Dry\" is ok. Used \"Wet\" Gives finer smoother finish. Like here

@Airhead: Which milliput works better for this sort of thing, the white or the brownish colored one?
Doesn\'t really matter as what you are looking to achieve is a \"slip\" something like what a potter glazes their stuff with. Once it\'s dry you are going to remover the excess and polish the metal with the Wet & Dry
Thank you for the tips!

I\'ve used a PVA dropped onto the area and allowed to dry to achieve a similar thing when the pitting was in an akward area.
To be honest I don\'t think that there is a single \"One Size Fits All \" solution to this but with all hints that you receive its best to try to find the one that you are most comfortable with using and go with the one that suites the particular need.

 

[freakinacage]

@dr could you sand the pva when dry or did it unstick?

milliput washes work pretty well generally

wet and dry:

\"Wet and Dry\" is a type of sand paper designed to withstand wet sanding then washing for reuse. This type of sandpaper is widely used in the auto paint industry. \'Wet and Dry\' is usually black and is a glass type paper coming from a grit of 100 - 2000 grit. (Grains per inch)

very handy stuff. when glued to a cocktail stick is great for smoothing hard to reach areas (thanks anders!)

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by freakinacage
@dr could you sand the pva when dry or did it unstick?

Yep Sanded Ok. BUT I did allow 24 hours to dry.
I have also NOT sanded as the finish was smooth enough to paint over and look like material.

 

[freakinacage]

aye the pva is normally super-smooth! i would be concerned about the surface tension leaving a noticeable ridge around the area you put it. having said that you probably use so little, it doesn\'t make any difference. i suppose you could also use superglue for this as it dries quicker and can be sanded nicely

 

[Dragonsreach]

When I\'ve used PVA I usually drop a small amount into the Pitted area and allow to dry then add more, just like you do with water effects. This stops a meniscus forming.

 

[johnboyjjb]

Depending on the amount of holes I generally use vallejo plastic putty. It is primer white and water soluble so it can be thinned and smoothed after the hole gets packed and painted right over once it dries.

 

[Donga]

I\'ve started using this:

http://www.creativecoldsnow.com/browse.cfm/4,4251.html

It\'s very user friendly, it\'s probably like the Tamiya & Vallejo products. It dries ROCK hard and sands really well. When wet it is also easy to smooth with a wet paintbrush.

I\'ve been using a bottle of this stuff for over a year and barely dented it. It\'s also good for filling scenic bases/scenery.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

What I\'ve seen from using A LOT of two part putty is that letting it cure on it\'s own works well...but if you warm it up it not only speeds the curing up but it get\'s the stuff very very hard. Such that regular curing doesn\'t always do. Especially when working small areas this hardness is crucial.

 

[BPI]

You could try Automaton\'s (Seb) mini prep method which includes using a miliput slip to fine out pitting. This link mentions it all but others may know of a step by step inc. pictures?

http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?t=2190

and this one shows a comparison of a mini pre & post prep.

http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?t=878&sid=ebd06e68744ef853757b3125aac67b4a

B.

 

[ThriKeen Priest]

Smoothing Pitted Areas

I use Magic Sculpt for this: rub it in with dry fingers, smooth it out with wet fingers. Use tools for small areas & for clean-up. If possible, dragging an X-acto blade across the wet putty works well for a very flat surface.

 

[freakinacage]

dam,n, how the hell did you find this thread?!

THREAD-O-MANCY!

 

[Chrome]

At least this particular case revived a fairly fresh one. :rotfl:

 

[TreManor]

This is called " heat Pitting " what happens is when the metal satys hot in an area too long it starts reacting wierd and " pulls " tiny bits inward creatign the pits. I am not explaining it correctly but this is how it was explained to me somewhat. Usually this occurs when a figure goes from thick to thin forcing the caster to turn up the heat of the metal to get it to flow into the smaller parts of the cavity. Metal starts cooling the instant it starts flowing, so if a cavity has a very thin point to fill at the opposite end from the where the metal flows into the cavity then the meatl may not be hot enough to flow into the cavity and fill all of the details.

Aves apoxie sculpt works really really well for fillign this stuff in as well.

 

[freakinacage]

Aves apoxie sculpt works really really well for fillign this stuff in as well.

aye it is, also sylmasta a+b