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I often use greenstuff to fill gaps, and feel like I can sculpt it to shape quite easily to match a protrusion or the like.

But I can only get a smooth surface finish if I work with it very quickly after mixing together and don't do too much with it. What am I missing? I use a metal sculpting tool or clay shapers, and lots of water along with it.

Help! I love filling gaps with it but hate the surface texture I'm left with on the gap-filled area.

Overfill and scrape?

Clay (or color) shapers with a little bit of water has always worked for me. I also let the GS cure for a little while before I start working with it.

What sort of surface finish are you getting? Is it sticking to the tools?

Greenstuff is softer and stickier just after you mix it and then goes a bit firmer and less sticky as time goes on... so it's odd that you say you can only get a good surface if you work with it quickly, as that's typically the hardest time to get a good surface.

I use "Colour Shaper" tools, size 6 and 0 (exemple here) so far and they work great. Size to apply on large surface of sculpt base shape, size 0 for details.
For gap filling and large sculpting job I prefere Milliput (yellow-grey) since it can be sandpapered once dried (and is REALLY easy to smooth using water)..

Keep your tool wet

If I remember well, vaseline can be used to smooth Greenstuff but I never tried this trick. Problem with vaseline is you'll have to wash the model before painting.

I have heard of people using cooking oil or olive oil to a similar effect, but don't recommend that.

For me the best result has always been to just keep both the green stuff blob and the tools wet constantly. I primarily use it to prevent fingerprints but I have gotten some remarkably smooth results that way almost by accident.

Ah, vaseline is a good idea!

rigeld2 wrote:
Overfill and scrape?

This is basically what I do for gaps. I think another likely reason for the problem (that just occurred to me) is my super glue mixing with the greenstuff, as I usually put super glue in the joint as well (gorilla brand)... and actually, I think I was putting the glue on top of the greenstuff, too . Maybe as I smooth it's mixing a bit and the glue is creating the bad surface finish?

Skink, it is odd that I am having smoother results just after mixing... maybe it does have to do with the super glue hardening and creating a slightly bumpy / textured surface that I can't flatten out. I will try my clay shapers with greenstuff and water on their own and see how it looks. Also going to give vaseline a try, nice! I sometimes feel like I have a smooth finish when working, but when the water dries I'm left looking at a slightly textured finish still.

Is the superglue wet when you put on the greenstuff? If so, that's my guess, the superglue is drying in chunks in the greenstuff, making it hard to smooth out. If you let the superglue dry entirely before adding the greenstuff (or maybe you don't need superglue at all if you are just using it to help fill the gap?) then you might be able to get a smoother finish.

The whole reason I use greenstuff for filling gaps is that I find it really easy to get smooth before it cures, so no post-sanding/scraping/knifing required. Liquid greenstuff I find terrible, it goes on twice as fast but then you waste 5 times as long post working it.

It depends on the weather (if it's warm, greenstuff cures faster), but personally I find it easiest to apply the greenstuff straight after mixing it, but then come back maybe an hour or so later to smooth it out.

More often than not, I just wet my fingers with water or, admittedly, saliva and rub them over the surface of the GS until it's nice and smooth. Now, I have fairly small hands so it gives me a lot of control, but it could be a problem if you have larger fingers.

Vegetable oil works great, and you really should be washing your mini's before painting.

Have you tried the liquid green stuff at all? Maybe that stuff would suit some your needs?

I am not the best with stuff but I know what you are doing wrong .

First if you add super glue wait til it is fully dried or it forms hard crap in your green stuff because it sticks to the green stuff like it does to your fingers "instantly even tho it takes a frickin half an hour to dry when on plastic" Maybe even over night wait would be best.

Once that is done mix your green stuff and add to area once there get a metal tool "which is what I like heard good thing about wood aswell" Apply alot of water"spit" and press firmly but not hard enough to make it go squish. It takes a while your goal will be basically softly streching it not really pressing it flat.

I like using chapstick on a sharp tool.

For filling gaps (as opposed to sculpting a protrusion) I use Squadron Green Putty. Comes in a tube, a lot more "liquid" than green stuff and can be sanded smooth

 Rusty Robot wrote:
For filling gaps (as opposed to sculpting a protrusion) I use Squadron Green Putty. Comes in a tube, a lot more "liquid" than green stuff and can be sanded smooth

To me, the whole point of filling with greenstuff is that you don't have to sand it because you can get it smooth before it cures.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Rusty Robot wrote:
For filling gaps (as opposed to sculpting a protrusion) I use Squadron Green Putty. Comes in a tube, a lot more "liquid" than green stuff and can be sanded smooth

To me, the whole point of filling with greenstuff is that you don't have to sand it because you can get it smooth before it cures.

A valid point, but Squadron is easier to use with gaps as you don't have to "work" it as much to get it smooth - which can be easily achieved before it cures. It's just a bonus it can be sanded smooth afterwords.

Don't use Green Stuff for filling. Use Squadron putty, or Milliput.

Milliput can very easily be smoothed with a wet tool, and can be sanded after it is set.

Actually yeah, milliput is good, I used that when I was living in the US, you can get it from Hobby Lobby I think. Never bothered buying it when I got back to Australia because it's more annoying to source out here. Though I never really found it superior for gap filling, it was nice that it was harder and could be post worked (which I found more beneficial for sculpting than gap filling).

I have tried squadron putty and was never all that impressed, also tried some of the other plastic model fillers like Revell and such, they always seemed much more fiddly than greenstuff to me. Maybe I got the wrong type of squadron putty, but I found the fact it acts a bit like plastic glue (slightly melting the underlying plastic) and also that it was reasonably grainy meant that it always took a couple of applications and was a pain to clean up later. Seemed better suited to things like model aircraft kits where you have long straight seams you want to fill that are very easy to sand to the correct shape later compared to most GW kits that have many seams that are awkward to sand and you often get the putty on areas you don't want (which would mar the surface since it melts the underlying plastic where as greenstuff can just be cleaned up before it cures).