Filling large areas?

[Hanyoutai]

I'm having issue with filling large areas, such as the insides of Zoid legs. I have some modeling putty (the kneading kind that's 2 parts) but it's very expensive for a very small amount, more ideal for fixing panel lines and stuff.

Does anyone have recommendations for something on the cheap side that would work for these larger areas? It's a necessity that it be air-dry. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Snowflake]

What about custom cut plastic sheets?
Or even just taking a random spare part and gluing it into the hollow area so it no longer looks all that hollow

[greengai]

Depends how you want it to look in the end. Flat? Shiny? Want to put details on it? Do you want to paint it? Want it to feel heavier/more sturdy?

You could just pull a mold and make a wax filler. Or a resin, or even a cheap/low-melting metal like tin or pewter/pewtalloy if you want more sturdiness.

[Hanyoutai]

Thanks for the tips!
The project is articulating a Konig Wolf. Metal and wax may be a bit too heavy for the ball joints. Ideally I'd still be working with putty or something malleable like that, rather than covering up the holes. Some areas will later be supporting ball joints so it's important that they be filled, rather than just covered.

The final finish I'm not too concerned about. The whole thing will be painted and sanded. I'm not as concerned about how 'sturdy' it feels since it will be relying on some smaller ball joints, so super heavy may not be ideal.

[greengai]

Wax shouldn't put that much more weight on than puddy.

But if you don't care too much about the finish; soft polymer clay or the like is your best bet for keeping things lightweight plus malleable. Play doh's got "Soft Packs" that run pretty cheap. Used it for molding once, decent enough stuff for holding jewelry-level detail but I've never painted it. My guess is a soft polymer more intended for adult crafts will serve you better since those are likely to have painting/finishing in mind.

[imateria]

There are various different makes of modelling putty like Tamiya's and Milliput, there's also two part epoxy putty's that are good for filling as well.

[Maethius]

When I filled the insides of my kits, I actually built the inner panels using styrene... but it depends on what kit you are working on:


Eradicator (using model parts cut to fit)


Eradicator (guns- sculpted styrene)


Sihbhan (sculpted styrene)

[Hanyoutai]

Right at the moment I'm using Tamiya Epoxy Putty but not sure I'll be able to finish the whole kit with it.

I admit I'm curious about the styrene. How does that tend to work out? Your customs look amazing of course, but how does it hold up to being painted?

[Maethius]

The key to it is that I use thick styrene, use PC Weld to make certain there are no seams, and then make certain to use fine grit sandpaper to prep the surface. I paint using an airbrush, and I've read that you don't need to use a primer with airbrush enamels... however, I want the base coat with the detail, so I started spraying with Testor's Gunship Gray as a primer. The paint is almost exactly the color of primer. With all of that in place, you should have no difficulty getting smooth colors.

Oh, one other thing; I am now using both white and black styrene depending on the final paint colors I have in mind. The black can be a bit of a pain to mark for cutting, though!

[Illandrasen]

For some customs I have done, especially older kits that had a lot of engineered hollow point, I fill with sheet rock mud to fill in the large space and then cap it off with polystyrene similar to how Maethius has shown above. I do this to give a kit some weight, because I find it gives me a little bit more stability when placing kits on Dioramas without gluing them down.

Such as this: