Railroad Forums 

  • Blanking Windows

  • Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.

Moderators: 3rdrail, stilson4283, Otto Vondrak

 #1069162  by HexOmega2319
 
Hello All,

I tried my luck today at blanking some windows on a walthers Amtrak 10-6 sleeper, hoping to convert it to a dorm lounge. I was using squadron products white putty. Honestly, I am less than impressed by this product. I applied the putty over the windows I intended to blank, let it dry overnight and then began sanding it but the putty started cratering and cracking. Am I doing something wrong, or is there a better method of blanking windows?
Thanks!
 #1069180  by Eliphaz
 
It's better to cut rectangles of .020 styrene sheet and weld them in. If you carefully bevel the edges and match the corner radii, you can get a very flush fit. Apply Ambroid or similar liquid to the inside and they will be instantly welded in place.
http://forums.railfan.net/Images/NScale ... primed.jpg
If there is still a visible join line, Liquid Paper is a very nice surface filler.
It dries fast, sands super smooth and takes paint nicely.

another option is to pour liquid casting resin. that is self levelling and drys glassy smooth.
You have seal to the inside with masking tape before pouring and set the car level before pouring.
 #1070722  by JBConn
 
I have had luck (with a lot of extra labor) using squadron white putty in thin layers with much sanding in between. It's got to be really dry before you sand and add more or it will crack, so thin layers are better.

Another product I recently tried that seems to work well is Bondo glazing filler from the auto parts store. be warned that the solvent in it seems aggressive and may be too much for some plastics, and probably most paints. It is finer textured that squadron white, sands smoother, and is better at filling fine cracks and shallow surface imperfections.

I have not tried the liquid paper, but am intrigued by the suggestion.
 #1070993  by SlowFreight
 
Don't waste your time with Squadron putty. Get a tube of automotive spot putty. One tube will be waaay too big to finish, but it's fairly cheap. It has two big advantages. First, the stuff doesn't shrink while it dries. Second, it dries in 5 minutes if you're using thin coats--which means faster progress on your models.

If you're blanking windows, I think anything other than cutting styrene fillers (doesn't matter if you like .020, .030, or .040 best) compromises your control and makes the job too complicated. You can handle it two ways. The first (and my preferred) is to spend enough time sanding and fitting carefully that you don't need filler. This is an example of major surgery where I carefully filed everything to a slip-fit and used MEK to glue it all together. There is (almost) no body filler here:

Image

On this project, I made styrene wrappers for the tank and had a big vertical seam in the middle to hide. Notice how when properly sanded you can't see the body filler on the adjacent styrene. If you don't sand it down to where the filler is completely gone from the surrounding surfaces, you'll see it after you paint. Take your time sanding everything down thoroughly. I do rough stuff with 220 grit to save time, and then finish with 400 or 600. You can use 1000 grit or something equally fine, but it's not critical.

Image

I'm sure everything you've done is salvageable right now. If you're going to repaint the car, strip it and give a light primer coat before you do the body work. If you'll be spot painting, use masking tape to protect everything you're not working on. And post progress pics, so we can see how you're doing!
 #1073947  by HexOmega2319
 
It appears as though sanding down putty while also trying to avoid fluting is a damn near impossible job! Looks like I'll have to call walthers and see if they can send me another car side. I'm hoping they can as I would prefer to not have to purchase another 35 dollar car just because I forgot to mask the fluting!
 #1074487  by SlowFreight
 
HexOmega2319 wrote:It appears as though sanding down putty while also trying to avoid fluting is a damn near impossible job! Looks like I'll have to call walthers and see if they can send me another car side. I'm hoping they can as I would prefer to not have to purchase another 35 dollar car just because I forgot to mask the fluting!
I've never found it possible to do that kind of large sanding job without masking off the surrounding area. Even if you have to scrap the car out for now, keep your eyes open at swap meets for other damaged stock. Never know when you can rescue a fallen project.
 #1076075  by Otto Vondrak
 
HexOmega2319 wrote:It appears as though sanding down putty while also trying to avoid fluting is a damn near impossible job! Looks like I'll have to call walthers and see if they can send me another car side. I'm hoping they can as I would prefer to not have to purchase another 35 dollar car just because I forgot to mask the fluting!

I have had the same problems with Squadron green. I don't think it bonds well to the types of styrene we use, and if it gets too thin, i just cracks and lifts away. Agree on the suggestion to use automobile putty. Cutting styrene blanks as close to size always helps, though. Have some pictures of your project?

-otto-