The Beauty of Milliput

[Geek44]

Modellers who build aviation invariably need to use filler or putty for the elimination of seams or sink marks. There are many on the market and I use two. But I only use Milliput Extra Fine White for seams.
This stuff is insanely good. No odour, water soluble and can be filed, sanded, tapped, scuplted, polished and painted.
It's a two part binary that requires two equal parts to be blended together and by adding or witholding water, it can be hard like cold plasticine or soft like toothpaste.

[Geek44]

I'm currently building Tamiya's bubbletop P-47 in my usual scale of 1/48. It's a fairly good kit (oddly, the Razorback is better), but there are some minor fit issues at the wing roots.

[Geek44]

I'm planning to use some funky old aftermarket decals that I bought when I did the Razorback. I have some beautiful South East Asia Command RAF decals and the Bubbletop will hopefully be a decent try at natural metal finish.
Below are the items I'll need to fix these little seams.

[Geek44]

First order of business is to mask the model to protect as much of the moulded detail as possible. To do this, I cut strips of Tamiya tape about 1mm wide. Tape this thin can conform to curves without buckling. I use thin strips closest to the gap I'm filling and then use thicker ones for coverage as I get further from the gap.

[Geek44]

After cutting two equal blobs of Milliput, one from each stick, I knead them together dipping my fingers in water now and again to soften it. I want it to be spreadable, like butter.
Once it's ready I'll have a blob with the approximate consistency of biscuit dough.



I spread this just like butter into the seam. I don't worry much about tidiness. Working time is long and everything can be tidied up with water.

[Geek44]

Using my fingers, an old dish cloth and a cotton bud, I use water to remove as much excess as I can. Smoothing and removing, I then use a stiff, flat brush to unsure all moulded detail is free of Milliput.



A bit of patience, water, a flat brush and maybe twenty minutes, the Tamiya tape can be removed. A little more refinement and you can arrive at this...

[Geek44]

I've tried other putties before. The mess, the brain damage from fumes and hours of sanding...maybe I'm using them incorrectly. But I think this product, which has myriad other uses, is far superior for this application.
Thanks for looking.

[mikeh]

Nice tutorial Nick thanks. Does Milliput have a good shelf life? How do you store it after opening? And what is the total curing time? I have tried the Squadron green and white putty but a lot of times it came out with little pits in it so needed to go over it again with CA. Now a days I pretty much stick to CA.(No pun intended) I'm going to have to get some Milliput and give it a go. Maybe it will help me get over my fear of zimmerit.

[Geek44]

I've bot three packs of Milliput since about 1987 and used every bit, it last for years.
Cures fully in around 6 hours.
I've made 1/35 Zimmerit with it before too. Works really well.

[McCoy]

Milliput is the way to go! I use the white as well as the black one...

[Geek44]

I never knew there was a black one.