Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Bondo is great to fill seams and gaps, but it is NOT good for filling large cavities.

I have a two piece rocket launcher (3/4" dia)and I wanted to fill the hollow because I want to drill it out. I filled it with Bondo last night. It's still not quite dry but I started to clean off the edges, etc. I turn the piece over and the solvents in the bondo disolved the styrene of one of the halves. :) Live and learn. At first I was annoyed, but then I looked at the damage done and well, it's going to make awesome battle damage on my mecha.

So, lesson learned. Do not use Bondo to fill large voids on styrene. :thumbsup:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ouch, but at least it's salvageable. I'm sure everyone has accidentally melted something into slag at at least one point in their modeling career. :) If you have a hankering to try this again though, might I suggest proceeding at a slower pace? Try doing it in a few thin layers, letting each dry before applying the next one and slowly building up to the desired thickness. Bet you'll have much better luck.

:thumbsup:

Link to post
Share on other sites
... I'm sure everyone has accidentally melted something into slag at at least one point in their modeling career. :(...;)

:D yeah, I melted a pair of Me 262 engine nacelles a few years ago using too much CA to fasten weights into the nacelles to help keep it from being a tail sitter. When the CA set, the heat generated melted the plastic :P

Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally, I am glad to find out that I am not the only one that has made this mistake. Luckily I can use the part as is and it helps me out with my "battle damage". Next time I am going to try mkimages idea of layering. It's been two days and the bondo is still not dry.

Link to post
Share on other sites

My most recent melting experience: I used an old paint jar to hold acrylic paintbrush cleaner, then left it sitting on the table when I was done. It didn't occur to me that using a plastic jar would be a problem, but by the next morning all that was left was a tiny filligree of plastic residue, mostly at the top where the cleaner didn't reach, and there was a small sea of plastic-eating fluid in its place. Fortunately none of it spread to any actual model parts.

Then there was the 500-watt bulb that melted a MiG-15 wing during a photo session... nothing like wrecking something that's already finished... :boohoo:

Link to post
Share on other sites

I may have spoken too soon. The second half is now showing signs of dissolving and the first piece has dissolved even more. YIKES :cheers:

I had placed the pieces with the styrene down and am wondering if that may have made the solvents collect at the bottom. I turned them over and hopefully this may help. If not I may be scratch building a rocket launcher out of metal tube.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
It's the glazing and spot putty

Ah-HA! That explains it. The glazing and spot putty is solvent-based, so you did the equivalent of filling the tubes with Squadron Green/White or Tamiya Silver.

Sometimes with the two-part epoxy or polyester putties, you have to be careful with the amounts, but for a different reason: the heat of reaction as it sets and hardens, which will also melt the plastic if too much is applied at one time and you get an extremely hot runaway reaction.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...