The Maulerfiend projects goes better than expected. This week I found little time to spend on the hobby but at least made good progress towards preparation for painting. As I mentioned before the model has a significant join line problem that needs fixing with a putty. I had acquired Liquid Green Stuff before but lacked the tools to apply it correctly and didn’t want to risk the model going bad. So I remedied that situation and got to work! Check out the results and my tips and review on the new tools after the jump.
Liquid Green Stuff (LGS) is, as I see from this week’s sessions, a very fiddly product. Its consistency resembles that of cream food products during application which aids malleability by a great deal, especially if you have to apply it to uneven lines like those of Chaos models. GW states that the product is designed to be applied to smaller defects and bubbles for resin and plastic models.
Goopy and holds its consistency surprisingly well.
When applied to a surface the product sticks to it and you can then spread it around to wherever you’d like to apply it with a tool. Think of it as a layer paint: one coating on its own is not really enough for larger gaps where you might fare better with the epoxy putty or the packaged Green Stuff. If the applied amount is too much you have about 1 minute to remove it from the surface before it starts to dry out. And that is why I think the product is fiddly: it dries out very fast in clumps both on the tool and the spread surface. So plan ahead about how much you will apply on a model or better yet, reapply the stuff in layers like I did.
So you might be asking now how much is correct for application. While I have to note that your mileage may vary, I have used VERY little of the stuff to fill out the relatively small gaps. Without a proper tool it is very difficult to move around as LGS has granules in it that stick to new surfaces like crazy. Fortunately I had acquired rubber brushes from my favorite tool store, Güven Sanat (thanks to Chris from Buypainted for the idea by the way) to do the job.
Here’s my thoughts on LGS and the new rubber brushes I got:
- LGS dries very fast. Work quickly and in the right doses to avoid destroying details on models.
- Use a wet tool to avoid clumps settling on the brush. This also helps with retarding the drying process.
- Apply LGS in layers. In larger quantities you will lack the finesse for smaller areas and will change the model.
- Similar to the Citadel basing paints range when you spread the LGS it becomes very thin. This is both great and terrible: it’s easy to remove from surfaces but spread it too much and you can’t control it back to shape.
- Avoid napkins (or paper towel type products) like the plague. Not only will it not remove the LGS from your tool it will stick tiny little hairs on it. Then you’ll have to wash the brush for good.
- Since the tools are from rubber they collect dust very fast due to the nature of the material. Keep them either in your clean brush case (I need to get one) or back in its package.
- To remove excess use a tool you have confidence using, such as a mold line remover or a smooth file. Avoid using sharper objects for they will either scar the putty, the model, you or all the above!
I think I’ll need to try out the brushes with the regular GS to see if they work better there. For now, the LGS works just fine and I’m happy with the results.
Next in line will be preparing the sub assemblies on painting sticks and priming the pieces with the spray, then proceed to the base coats. The learning steps in this kit will also be weathering, but I have not yet decided on how to do it. I’m open to suggestions both on this and the kind of base I’ll use for the model.
See you on the next update!
Filed under: Black Legion, Chaos Space Marines, Maulerfiend, Review, WIP Tagged: assembly, black legion, chaos, chaos space marines, daemons, maulerfiend, miniature hobby, solo figure, tips, tools, warhammer40k, WIP
