View Full Version : How to cap screw holes?
Does anybody know an easy and/or effective way to cap screwholes?
Hotwire
10-23-2009, 12:02 AM
Does anybody know an easy and/or effective way to cap screwholes?
Fill them in with an apoxy putty? I use Milliput, because that the only brand my local store carries, but most of the folks here swear by Aves FixIt.
mampy
10-23-2009, 12:02 AM
Epoxy.
BTW, I recommend that you try to read around the wealth of tutorials on kitbashing/customizing on the net. Check out Jin Saotome's over at his website, for starters. Kyle Robinson and Frenzy_Rumble also have a lot of useful tuts on their personal sites. You seem to be asking a lot of questions about basics that are already covered in-depth by tutorials.
Fill them in with an apoxy putty? I use Milliput, because that the only brand my local store carries, but most of the folks here swear by Aves FixIt.
Well, that makes sense, but it's a little rough. I guess when it's done it's done at that point eh? I suppose I should've realized the caps would be permanent.
Epoxy.
BTW, I recommend that you try to read around the wealth of tutorials on kitbashing/customizing on the net. Check out Jin Saotome's over at his website, for starters. Kyle Robinson and Frenzy_Rumble also have a lot of useful tuts on their personal sites. You seem to be asking a lot of questions about basics that are already covered in-depth by tutorials.
Am I wearing out my welcome? :) That's a good point I suppose, it's just a pain to find them sometimes. The radicon TFW area especially can be a pain. I look to those, and Jin's and Frenzy_Rumble's from time to time. I like to think that I've learned from some of them too.
Hotwire
10-23-2009, 12:47 AM
Well, that makes sense, but it's a little rough. I guess when it's done it's done at that point eh? I suppose I should've realized the caps would be permanent.
Yes. It will be very permanent. Also, once you fill the hole, you'd sand it smooth.
Yes. It will be very permanent. Also, once you fill the hole, you'd sand it smooth.
So then you have to do it after you've painted and then spot paint the caps. Do you find that it's difficult to match the paint on the caps, or is it relatively painless?
Shinobitron
10-23-2009, 01:02 AM
if u are just trying to cap factory figures paint matching may become quite difficult. If you are capping a custom piece then what ever paint you used to do the rest of the body will work just as good on the caps.
if u are just trying to cap factory figures paint matching may become quite difficult. If you are capping a custom piece then what ever paint you used to do the rest of the body will work just as good on the caps.
Yeah, it shouldn't be hard I guess for such a small spot. I had just imagined the potential for non-matching coats or brush strokes marring the surrounding finished paint job. I did mean custom piece though, and you're right, it would be ridiculous to try and do it to a stock figure! I can't imagine.
Hotwire
10-23-2009, 01:48 AM
So then you have to do it after you've painted and then spot paint the caps. Do you find that it's difficult to match the paint on the caps, or is it relatively painless?
I don't fill in the screw holes.
I don't fill in the screw holes.
Yeah, I may just leave them too, it just looks nice when they're gone I think.
BigHank
10-23-2009, 08:32 AM
Am I wearing out my welcome? :) .........
Absolutely not! We are here to share and learn, soon you'll be giving the advice.
As for capping, you can fill the holes with styrene dowels (rods) and sand them smooth and flush. Maybe a drop of glue to hold them in place, though you can get rods that will have a tight friction fit. Then you can paint over the rod. This will make it removable in the future, not sure why you would need it though.:D
Unicron-9
10-23-2009, 09:12 AM
Man I just push a wad of Apoxie Sculpt in the screw hole, smudge off the excess, then slobber on my finger to smooth it out. Slobber and Apoxie Sculpt are like magic maker goo.
Shinobitron
10-23-2009, 09:25 AM
Man I just push a wad of Apoxie Sculpt in the screw hole, smudge off the excess, then slobber on my finger to smooth it out. Slobber and Apoxie Sculpt are like magic maker goo.
LMAO glad I'm not the only one. I personaly dont fill in the holes in case I would need to take the piece off again, and or if my buyer would need to remove that piece in case something would happen to that particular part.
frenzyrumble
10-23-2009, 09:51 AM
I've actually used mighty putty for screw holes. It's cheap and it dries quickly, plus Billy Mays endorsed it, so it's gotta be good for something.
mampy
10-23-2009, 10:35 AM
Am I wearing out my welcome? :)
Not at all. While everyone is willing to share what they use and stuff like that, I've always believed that it's always best to try to help yourself first. If you still can't figure things out, then I suppose posting a question thread like this is good. Still, I imagine that tuts explain stuff like this (along with 'how to brush on enamels') better. :)
Not at all. While everyone is willing to share what they use and stuff like that, I've always believed that it's always best to try to help yourself first. If you still can't figure things out, then I suppose posting a question thread like this is good. Still, I imagine that tuts explain stuff like this (along with 'how to brush on enamels') better. :)
I don't believe I've seen a screw cap guide anywhere, OR a non-drybrushing enamel brush guide, but I suppose I could scour the internet for an extended period of time to find these things instead of asking a question and getting a simple answer quickly. I guess I'm just trying to learn and have fun, asking questions from those more experienced, if you don't want to answer leave it to someone who does. Thanks.
Hotwire
10-23-2009, 06:39 PM
I don't believe I've seen a screw cap guide anywhere, OR a non-drybrushing enamel brush guide, but I suppose I could scour the internet for an extended period of time to find these things instead of asking a question and getting a simple answer quickly. I guess I'm just trying to learn and have fun, asking questions from those more experienced, if you don't want to answer leave it to someone who does. Thanks.
Before we had this site,most of us posted @ TFW2005.com. Here's a link (http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/tutorials-how-tos/) to their tutorial section in case you haven't seen it.
Before we had this site,most of us posted @ TFW2005.com. Here's a link (http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/tutorials-how-tos/) to their tutorial section in case you haven't seen it.
Thanks for the link Hotwire, you're always very helpful. I'm not against the tutorials by any means, I just think Mampy was getting pissed about something that isn't really a big deal.
Absolutely not! We are here to share and learn, soon you'll be giving the advice.
As for capping, you can fill the holes with styrene dowels (rods) and sand them smooth and flush. Maybe a drop of glue to hold them in place, though you can get rods that will have a tight friction fit. Then you can paint over the rod. This will make it removable in the future, not sure why you would need it though.:D
Thanks for the support BigHank, I really appreciate it! I like your idea for removable caps too, but I guess it may not be necessary to have them be removable, it's just a little intimidating to seal them off for good!
I've actually used mighty putty for screw holes. It's cheap and it dries quickly, plus Billy Mays endorsed it, so it's gotta be good for something.
Lol. My wife actually happened upon some of this stuff at Michaels so I may give it a try.