gambit3131 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 I had the same thing happen when I used a bunch of Squadron putty in the nose of a MiG-17. The nose pretty much melted right off. Not good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mkimages Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chuck1945 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 ... 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EF Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 A nice alternative to Bondo is Aves Apoxie Sculpt, it dries in 2 1/2 hours, it's odorless and sands easily: http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_...xie_sculpt.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Yes, completley melted the nose on a revel 1/32 F-15 using sqn green putty. Julien Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mist Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Whew! Glad i use the kids' old Play-Doh for nose weights. Thanks for the warning guys Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gambit3131 Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David Walker Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 A nice alternative to Bondo is Aves Apoxie Sculpt, it dries in 2 1/2 hours, it's odorless and sands easily I've used that on a couple occasions and your're right, it's a great product. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ckalina Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 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... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 I'll add my experience to the list, 1/72 Monogram F-15A back in about '74. Squadron green putty and ball bearings in the radome. It took about two years to completely harden. I use bird shot and 5 minute epoxy now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gambit3131 Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 I may have spoken too soon. The second half is now showing signs of dissolving and the first piece has dissolved even more. YIKES 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gambit3131 Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 Well, the bondo had it's way with my rocket launcher. I wonder if I had turned it over if the solvents wouldn't have done this? I bought some brass tubing to create a new one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Horrido Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 What kind of Bondo did you use? Was it the glazing putty for spot applications, or the two part polyester putty? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gambit3131 Posted April 22, 2007 Author Share Posted April 22, 2007 It's the glazing and spot putty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Horrido Posted April 22, 2007 Share Posted April 22, 2007 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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