Re: Mini Figs Tip; Number Two.....

On Fri, 25 Jul 1997, Andy Skinner wrote:

> Kevin Walker wrote:
> 
> I had a tube of putty that I finally threw away.  It smelled terrible,
> and had warnings all over it to not breathe it.  It was hard to
> form, mostly because I didn't want to touch it with my fingers
> because of all the warnings.	Is there a putty that is easy to
> use and doesn't produce toxic fumes?

Knead-a-tite is the way to go (details on a previous post).  Milliput
also
works, but is also toxic via absorption in the skin and a little harder
to
work with -- it has a more grainy feel.

> While we're talking tips, I know some people use spray paints from
> hardware stores instead of paints specifically for miniatures.  I
> ran out of white primer and want some more, and I'd like to save
> some bucks by going to Home Depot or something.  On the other hand,
> I want it to not cover any details, to spray nicely, to cover the
> surface nicely, and to do whatever other things are good for priming

Auto primer works very well -- I use Krylon brand.  I wouldn't use any
of
the spray _paints_ as they tend to go on a bit thick and glossy.  I've
never had any problems with obscuring detail.  You do need to be careful
as it comes out faster than the hobby primers, so you're passes across
the
figs should be quicker and you need to pay attention on how close to the
figs you spray; 10-12 inches is about perfect.	And shake the Dickens
out
of the can to homogenize the primer.  3 minutes when you first get the
can; 2 minutes before a spraying session; 30 seconds if you don't leave
the can more than 30 min. before spraying again.

To more elaborate on the subject, Krylon also makes good fixatives.  I
do
a layer of Crystal-Clear (which is a semi-gloss), let it dry then do a
layer of their Matte.  The Matte is harder to find outside the art and
craft stores, but I've found it at Fred Meyer here in the US.

A temporally displaced		Bill Nitsche (bnitsche@u.washington.edu)
	hobbit			Oceanography, University of Washington