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I’m working on a old old Hasegawa 1/32 Fw-190. It had some large gaps around the wing roots and by the trailing edge of the wings where it meets the fuselage. I had the idea to use some Evergreen polystyrene rod material that I already had on hand in various diameters to fill the gaps. I used Tamiya liquid cement to glue it in place . After it was dry I lightly sanded it . It seemed easier then using the putty I usually have used. I don’t know if this is a known practice, but I thought I’d share it, it seemed to work well for me.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
That’s one trick I also use but not the rod shape stuff. I go cutting small strips of Evergreen sheet with the adequate diameter and squeeze it in the gap. The comes the liquid glue to melt it down and any excess piece of that strip gets flushed with a scalpel blade. What I also often use is plain stretched sprue plastic and apply them the same way you describe Jay. I bet many here do one or more of these tricks to solve gaps in their models also.
I’ll have to buy some other types of plastic material and keep them for future projects.
Thanks for this useful tip, Jay @ssgt I will need to order some of that Evergreen material as well.
Hi @johnb ! I’m glad I was able to offer a small, “new to me” tip. I’ve just used various putty fillers in the past. This rod was a lot easier with less hassle . I had bought it long ago to rebuild the landing gear of a He-111 that suffered damage in a hard landing .
Thanks for the great tip, my friend @ssgt!
Glad to help the imodeler community @fiveten ! @mornem had also told me about using white correction fluid to fill narrow gaps... I used that on this FW also.
This is the 190 I’m trying to portray with the Hasegawa kit I have. I found some very old aftermarket decals for it.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
it is simply wonderful to have an actual pic of the plane you intend to represent, my friend @ssgt!
Yes, it is , @fiveten, it’s a big help. The decal sheet instructions show it marked incorrectly. Fortunately there are some good photos of both sides. Each side is differently marked... apparently JG2 liked asymmetrical markings.
Very interesting idea to fill the gaps!
It seems to work pretty well, at least it did in this instance , @lis. I will try it and the correction fluid trick on future builds.
I will be following your topic 🙂
Thank you @lis, I appreciate your interest in my plastic modeling endeavors ! ☺️
There is always the trick with the kit frames that are left over. We cut them into relatively small pieces (so that they are easy to melt) and put them in a jar of our choice with MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone) until it covers them and soon the plastic turns into a thick mass which we can use as putty. It is 100% compatible with our models as it is made of the exact same material as them.
Thank you for the tip , Michael @faraomike .
We often used MEK where I work . My employer stopped using it because it is so hazardous. We switched to MPK... not sure what the difference is, or if it is really any safer. We have a high cancer rate in my industry ( aircraft mechanic ). Our employer is always looking for less harmful chemicals, usually the new safer chemicals just bring a new set of hazards.
