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I'm taking a stab at filling in the various gaps on my assault marines (the biggest offender being along the top, front edges of the jump packs) and what a nightmare it has turned into. green stuff seems to be my bane. I mix it 1:1, keep my tools wet, roll the GS out into thin tubes and try to push it into the cracks and smooth it over and it just. does. not. cooperate. even with my tools wet, it wants to stick more to my tools than to my model. every time I try to smooth down the surface, the gs tears and clumps up. I can't seem to get a smooth surface to save my life. when I do manage to get it into one of the cracks, I can't seem to get enough to stay in there to bring the surface flush. I know this has to be a technique problem, so what am I doing wrong?

Get your hands on some of GWs liquid green stuff. That stuff is masterful at filling in gaps. It can take a few coats sometimes depending on how deep the gap is but its a lot easier then messing around with regular GS.

I was thinking about doing just that, but other folks suggested I should be using regular GS instead and that the liquid was only useful for hairline cracks and such. from a handful of video reviews I watched today, it sounds like the liquid stuff has a slight tendency to shrink as it dries, so it doesn't entirely fill up the gap. has that been your experience?

I find milliput to be much better. It's still sticky a bit, but much easier to mush into gaps and then smooth down.

Use Vaseline to help lubricate your tools, just a little goes a long way..

vaseline, and give it a good ten minutes or so before you put it in, don't use it when its fresh right after you mixed it. Push it in with some kind of round, blunt shape.

varl wrote:I was thinking about doing just that, but other folks suggested I should be using regular GS instead and that the liquid was only useful for hairline cracks and such. from a handful of video reviews I watched today, it sounds like the liquid stuff has a slight tendency to shrink as it dries, so it doesn't entirely fill up the gap. has that been your experience?

Yeah it does shrink once dried but thats why you need to do multiple coats. Regular Green Stuff or, as Itsacoyote suggested, Milliput will work much better. BUT for folks like you and i who have trouble messing around with the various modelling putties the liquid green stuff can be a bit of a lifesaver when it comes to this sort of stuff.

Also like Ruff and Meade suggested use Vaseiline on your tool (inb4 jokes) and that should help with the sticking issues (inb4 more jokes).


Another thing about Greenstuff is that you just have to mess around with it for a while. It can take a while to get a good feel for using it and sculpting can take even longer to get a decent handle on. Practice, Practice, Practice.

I use silicon sculpting tools and those are great for getting things into cracks. It looks like a wooden paintbrush with a silicon tip.

woah, woah, woah, you're all missing the most obvious thing here. GS used to be the satan for me, precisely for these sticking reasons until I discovered combining GS with superglue.

Before you smush down the GS where you want it, put down a tiny amount of superglue first. The sticking power of GS to your blade (or finger, for that matter) is nothing compared to the sticking power between GS and superglue.

Glue down the GS blob, wait for the superglue to set, and then sculpt the GS as normal and, provided the tool is lubricated at all (spit will do), you'll be able to do your sculpting in peace.

Just don't use too much glue, or it will be a pain in the butt for you...

It was the same for me at first. You just need to practice more. From your post, you already know everything you need to do this kind of job. If GS does not stay on the area, it could be wet, or maybe there's some kind of grease on it and you need to clean the miniature. The surface should be dry and clean, your tools - wet. That's about it, everything else is practice. All other advices in here are fine too, but plain greenstuff is perfectly fine for this job.

Lip balm works quite well for lubing metal tools to sculpt green stuff.

These days I use extra firm Clay Shapers from Royal Sovereign Ltd, UK. No need to lube them as they have rubber tips that GS doesn't stick to.

I wouldn't use Green Stuff for simple filling of cracks.

Milliput or a liquid putty like Mr Surfacer is a better choice.

Green Stuff is good when you want to make a pinned joint and fill it at the same time. Thanks to the super glue affinity of Green Stuff, noted by Ailaros, you can cement and fill the joint easily, then smooth off the edges.

E-6000 epoxy cement does a similar job without the need for super glue and mixing.

Meade wrote:vaseline, and give it a good ten minutes or so before you put it in,

Yes, it's important to let it harden a little.

Vaseline, the GW sculpting tool, a craft knife, bit of brass rod and some colour shapers are what I use, and they are absolutely fantastic together. It's more important that the metal tools stay lubricated at all times, but a bit of vaseline on a rounded colour shaper makes for some fantastic smoothing.

As for the Liquid Green Stuff, it really depends on the width (rather than the depth) of your gap. If it's less than a millimetre, LGS is fine. If it's more than about a millimetre, then it's probably worth persevering with the greenstuff itself. Remember that a miniature is often only 28mm tall, so a 1mm gap is quite large really, on the scale.

However, if you want to do any sculpting later on, then this is fantastic practice for working with greenstuff. It really does take a while to get right.

severedblue wrote:I use silicon sculpting tools and those are great for getting things into cracks. It looks like a wooden paintbrush with a silicon tip.

^this

A wet colour shaper is my best frient when I work with GS.

ok, lots of promising advice here. sounds like one issue I may have had was that I was getting the GS too wet (too much water on the tools).

I was headed to my flgs tomorrow anyway, so I'll pick up a pot of liquid green stuff and give it a whirl because it's cheap and I'm lazy :p however, I'm also a bit OCD about imperfections so if the liquid stuff doesn't work out I'll be taking all this fine advice to heart and diving back into 'real' green stuff.

cheers

lord_blackfang wrote:

Meade wrote:vaseline, and give it a good ten minutes or so before you put it in,

Yes, it's important to let it harden a little.

Heh. Penis jokes.

Xenith wrote:

lord_blackfang wrote:

Meade wrote:vaseline, and give it a good ten minutes or so before you put it in,

Yes, it's important to let it harden a little.

Heh. Penis jokes.

i lol'd too

GS is almost a modelling compound imo.

I use a Tamiya product, which is a lot thinner than GS, but does the job. Its extremely fidgety, and if you go wrong it can be disastrous, but its viscosity scores points.

Most of these products do shrink as well, you should expect to have to re do certain applications - don't try to do it all in one hit - apply, walk away then re apply.

Also - get yourself some wet sandpaper. It may have another name where you are in the world, but its basically a finishing paper for car paint and primer. I've seen it up to 2000 grit, so no fear of scouring your models. The benefit it that you rinse it while you work - keeping it lubricated and also reusable. 800 or higher is more than safe on small models.

I know I am horrible. I use saliva. Though I think I have sculpted some pretty good things over the years. It also helps to keep people from using your tools.

Maybe try Squadron green putty, it not unlike liquid green stuff but you get a load more for the price.

well, to know one's great surprise (even I had low expectations), the liquid green stuff wasn't really up to the task. even after multiple applications, it wasn't filling the gaps up to an even surface. to be fair, it's really not what it's designed to do so I'm not looking down on the product. for super-fine cracks, it works fine. I just don't happen to have a lot of those on my models at the moment

I'll be going back to regular GS tomorrow and incorporating all the words of wisdom here (minus the saliva and penis jokes, of course).

Lord Scythican wrote:I know I am horrible. I use saliva. Though I think I have sculpted some pretty good things over the years. It also helps to keep people from using your tools.

Lol, same. Hell, im lazy and cheap to go get scuplting tools. I always intend to, then i buy paints or a kit. Been getting by with saliva and safety pins to sculpt....god im a scrub.

the distilled genius and wisdom that is dakka has prevailed! between allowing the GS to harden for about 20 minutes after mixing, using a bit of vaseline on my tools, not using any water at all and the epiphany of treating GS more like a second skin and less like a filler, I'm starting to get the results I want.

I have two follow-up questions:

1. how long do I need to let the GS cure before it's safe to prime over it?
2. what's the best way to clean off the vaseline off before priming?

cheers,

v

What's worked for me for assault marine jump packs is to liberally apply extra thick superglue to the seams. It hardens after a few hours then I take a file and grind it down to shape.

warm soap and water will clean off the vasoline. If it doesn't not want to come off, use simple green and scrub with toothbrush. Its rather painless, another trick to using GS is using mineral oil.

edit.. lmao changed soup to soap. Its what I get for giving advice while really sleepy lol..

24 hours is enough for it to cure so that you can wash it and primer it.

Sorry to hi-jack the thread but currently the thread title sums up my feelings, I have been working with green stuff for some time now but lately whenever I mix it up I'm getting hard lumps of the yellow appearing in it that just wont disappear. I've tried mixing in different comination and avoid the contact point between the yellow and blue due to it already being cured but nothing seems to help. Advice would be much appreciated

ruff wrote:warm soup and water will clean off the vasoline. If it doesn't not want to come off, use simple green and scrub with toothbrush. Its rather painless, another trick to using GS is using mineral oil.

Soup?? I had visions of using watered-down chicken broth for a minute there. But yes, soap and water. I found that washing up liquid doesn't work quite as well, but can still work with the toothbrush method.

Melcavuk wrote:Sorry to hi-jack the thread but currently the thread title sums up my feelings, I have been working with green stuff for some time now but lately whenever I mix it up I'm getting hard lumps of the yellow appearing in it that just wont disappear. I've tried mixing in different combination and avoid the contact point between the yellow and blue due to it already being cured but nothing seems to help. Advice would be much appreciated

That sounds like your greenstuff has gotten too old, I'm afraid. Green-stuff has a life expectancy of a year or so, which can be shortened by heat, or extended through freezing it. Your best bet is to get some more fresh from a reliable seller (not eBay!) and then plonk it in the freezer until you need it. Some people recommend chopping it up into small chunks so you only take out as many chunks as you want.

OT: I never ever thought when I got started on Dakka that I'd end up knowing what the frak I was talking about when it came to sculpting. Shows how far you can come on the advice from here.

LadyCassandra wrote:

ruff wrote:warm soup and water will clean off the vasoline. If it doesn't not want to come off, use simple green and scrub with toothbrush. Its rather painless, another trick to using GS is using mineral oil.

Soup?? I had visions of using watered-down chicken broth for a minute there. But yes, soap and water. I found that washing up liquid doesn't work quite as well, but can still work with the toothbrush method.

Melcavuk wrote:Sorry to hi-jack the thread but currently the thread title sums up my feelings, I have been working with green stuff for some time now but lately whenever I mix it up I'm getting hard lumps of the yellow appearing in it that just wont disappear. I've tried mixing in different combination and avoid the contact point between the yellow and blue due to it already being cured but nothing seems to help. Advice would be much appreciated

That sounds like your greenstuff has gotten too old, I'm afraid. Green-stuff has a life expectancy of a year or so, which can be shortened by heat, or extended through freezing it. Your best bet is to get some more fresh from a reliable seller (not eBay!) and then plonk it in the freezer until you need it. Some people recommend chopping it up into small chunks so you only take out as many chunks as you want.

OT: I never ever thought when I got started on Dakka that I'd end up knowing what the frak I was talking about when it came to sculpting. Shows how far you can come on the advice from here.

lol, yes use soap not soup, chicken doesn't not cure all problems.. lmao