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 Jidmah wrote:

 Agamemnon2 wrote:

 Jidmah wrote:

 spiralingcadaver wrote:
Yeah the tube type is way cheaper by volume and lasts better since there isn't the asinine decision to package two strips of things that chemically react with each other touching already.

Can you link what you are referring to?

Here you go. https://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/green-stuff/6-warhammer-green-stuff-modelling-putty-tube-bar.html GSW also sells the GW-style strips, as well as packages with the two strips actually separated so there's no unwanted pre-mixing.

Ah, thanks. I just finished kit-bashing a bunch of kommadoz and was incredibly frustrated with my partially hardened greenstuff, I didn't know this existed despite regularly buying GSW stuff.

I like the strips, as you'll note the default proportions for sculpting isn't 50:50, usually it's more yellow than blue if you want something that's easier to work. That is how the strips are arranged.

Even strips I've had that are a few years old and the join line has gone a bit hard, I find I just mix it normally and that hardened section is easy to remove. I like the way I just trim off the length I need (normally not much if just gap filling or sculpting small bits) and the proportions are immediately good.

The tubes... I find the diameter is too big to just trim off what I need (even a very thin sliver is more than I need 95% of the time), so inevitably I end up clawing little blobs out of the end of it and waste more time trying to get the proportions right. Also greenstuff doesn't like being exposed to air for long periods, and the tubes have big open ends exposed to the air. I imagine this isn't a problem if you use it frequently, but if you go months or years without using it like me, often the stuff at the end has gone a bit hard.

The main advantage to the tubes is if you do want more blue than yellow (for a harder and faster curing putty) then that's easy to do.

I did see GSW were selling the strips with a gap between the blue and the green, not bought it to try but that sounds like a good idea.

 AduroT wrote:
It’s the fumes that cause fogging. Keep the piece well ventilated and go full hog and put a fan on low on it while it dries.

If you're gluing a canopy on, you can't really get the fumes out to avoid fogging the clear plastic, that's why people use alternative glues when gluing canopies on. For display pieces I usually use a very small amount of PVA, but it's quite weak and easy to break off so only really suited to display pieces. It's been so many years since I glued a canopy on a wargaming model, I don't remember what I used last time.

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 Geifer wrote:
But most importantly, as has been posted early on, unless you absolutely have no way of getting your green stuff elsewhere, there's no reason to buy from GW. It's a third party product and GW's is the exact same stuff everyone else sells, but at a considerably inflated price.

I can agree with that, whether you prefer the tubes or the strips you're better off getting non-GW brands. Especially these days, there was a time in the past where around here it was difficult to find alternatives. GW popularised it then other sources started to become available.

What plumbers epoxies do people use?

I've used a couple of a varieties of plumbing epoxy for, well, plumbing, and I can safely say they'd suck for miniatures. The ones I've used have a grainy texture, are way too sticky to sculpt easily, tear easily when uncured, and cure very quickly to an extremely tough finished product that is difficult to sand without power tools. Good for temporary structural repairs, terrible for neatly sculpting on a model.

I've heard of "brown stuff" in the past but never seen it in person. The two plumbers epoxies I've used were black + white = grey, and the other was some pale greeny yellow stuff (don't remember the individual part colours).

My go to for actual miniatures is either milliput or greenstuff, both are way better suited to models than the plumbing epoxies I've tried.

 kodos wrote:
Instant Epoxy used as quick base material to general form to put GS on

What's "Instant Epoxy"? I googled and the only things that came up were adhesives.

 kodos wrote:
Sorry, what you would call plumping epoxy (also called instant putty, repair epoxy, or epoxy putty here, had to Google plumbing epoxy first as this was unknown to me)
2 component epoxy that cures within minutes, and yes depending on how liquid it is, it is used as adhesive as well

Ah okay... there are certainly a ton of different varieties of plumbing, repair or structural epoxies, which one do you use specifically?

Some of the ones I've used I'd say are pretty unsuitable for sculpting or gap filling on miniatures, and many aren't any cheaper than greenstuff or milliput anyway.

 kodos wrote:
I use UHU or Pattex, which are local brands that make all kind of adhesive and modelling supplies (Pattex is also my go to plastic glue as it works with HIPS, ABS and PVC)

And usually if I make a stamp/negative with Oyumaru/BlueStuff were I don't have the time (or possibility) to hold it in place for hours rather than free sculpting
also for terrain as alternative to plaster (because it is lighter)

Pattex and UHU are both very large global corporations. I couldn't find any Pattex epoxy putty, but for UHU do you mean this stuff?

link

I'm just curious what other people use, because I've heard the "buy epoxy putty from your local hardware store" but in practice all the hardware store epoxies I've tried are god awful for sculpting and not a hell of a lot cheaper than milliput/kneadatite anyway, lol.

I have used a lot of epoxies over the past 15 years at work, a few structural pastes, a few repair putties, a whole bunch of adhesives and laminating resins, some coating epoxies... and I've yet to come across something I'd rather use for sculpting miniatures than milliput and greenstuff.

 NAVARRO wrote:
Well Greenstuff was originally not for sculpting at all but car repair in hardware stores etc
Repurposed and repackaged now after many years ago the first and best sculptor discovered and tried sculpting in it...

"Tom Meier is a sculptor, a founding partner of Ral Partha Enterprises, and the winner of numerous awards for the design and sculpture of historical, fantasy and science fiction gaming miniatures.

Meier began sculpting professionally at the age of 15 and won his first H.G. Wells award just two years later. His earliest work was in the bulky style of Heritage Miniatures for whom he briefly worked. After the founding of Ral Partha in 1975, he was inspired by the art in fables and fairy tales and developed a style which emphasized beauty and natural proportion. A second lasting contribution was the popularization of sculpting in two-part ribbon epoxy putty designed for automotive repair. Commonly known as "green stuff," the epoxy held detail better than traditional media. Between 1977 and 1992 Tom's work won more than two dozen awards and he was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1988, he left Ral Partha to start up his own company, Thunderbolt Mountain and does commission work for large and small game manufacturers.[1]"

Interesting it was used in automotive, I wonder what for? Compared to many other epoxy resins, green stuff doesn't stick very well, so I wouldn't want to use it for repairs in the same way I would a structural or plumbing epoxy.

I had considered using something like greenstuff (probably not actually greenstuff) to repair some damage on my car in the fibreglass, it looks like someone dropped something heavy and sharp on the fibreglass and it's taken out a few layers but only very localised, but I worry how good it'll do exposed to weather.