Hi Guys,
with a very pregnant SWMBO, i have to reduce considerably the amount of smells coming out of my diorama building experiences.
Now I just can't work without Tamiya filler, its very fine texture is as everybody knows really ideal. its smell is really dreadful though, so I was wondering wether anybody could know a non-stinking alternative, because we are in winter, and i don't really see myself modelling in the streets
Apologizes if that topic was covered before!!
JB

Good Morning/Afternoon Jean-Bernard

I use two puttys - Squadron white and Testors
Both are low on smell, the Testors is pretty smooth and easy to use. It is so smooth that it is a bit hard to use on larger areas. I do a combo on those area, squadron 1st to fill the majority then Testors to fill in small areas and smooth it out.

Hi JB,

I have started using Milliput, which is a two part epoxy. It comes in different grades, White being the finest. It sculpts very well, but you need to keep your tools wet, as it will stick to almost everything.
No smell either

Cheers
Henk

thanks for your replys guys!
Scott thanks for telling, i will be using those two...
Thanks a lot Henk too! I know about miliput, but don't use it anymore in this fashion since it is too thick to cover the joints
thanks again!

Don't use the squadron putty if you are worried about the fumes in the vicinity of someone who is pregnant, it contains Toluene. The label on the squadron putty says: "Toluene may produce birth defects in the developing fetus"

I don't have a good alternative to offer. Milliput can be thinned out with water and a sculpting tool and sometime I use gap filling super glue. I too have been looking for a non-hazardous replacement filler.

I have to, very respectfully, disagree with Slodder concerning the Testors putty. I can't speak about the Squadron but to me the Testors smells just as bad as any other. I've yet to find any putty of any kind that doesn't reek to high heaven. I seem to be very sensitive to the fumes, as they quite often give me a headache. I find the only thing I can do is to use the stuff outdoors. The only workable alternative I've found is the two part epoxy, though I'm too cheap to buy Milliput. I normally get stuff that comes from the hardware store, and since it doesn't say "model" on it it is quite a bit less money than Milliput.

I'm going to ask the folks in my IPMS club if one of them can bring some Squadron putty to the next meeting so I can smell it and see if it would be any better than what I've been using.

Don't worry, unless you happen to live in the state of California, just look at the warning in the tube!

Well, let's get serious again. I wouldn't worry about toluene in putty. The amounts used in modeling are quite small, and if you take care of proper ventilation, you should have nothing to worry about.
Although I still wouldn't recommend pregnant people deliberately sniffing squadron putty... I think having a hobby room or avoiding building in the vicinity of the pregnant person plus having at least a window near your workbench to provide ventilation should be enough.
Still, I can't look at the warnings in the tube without thinking about those American McDonanld's coffee cups that have a "contents may be hot" warnings... Perhaps some company got sued because of the absence of elaborate warnings in the container, of Calofornia just has strickter chemical laws.

I prefer Squadron green putty myself. The texture is a little coarser than in the white kind, but it the carrier fluid doesn't have the habit of separating from the rest of the stuff. (happened to me with the white putty just once, but it reminded me of the Revell putty. Usually just clear liquid came out of the tube...)
After green putty and a bit of sanding, I take care of the rest of the irregularities with mr. surfacer if needed.
Super glue hardened with kicker is something I like to use too, with minor seams and smaller areas.

Ahem... Having gone through this a couple of times, may I be so bold as to suggest...

1) Get a nose plug for SWMBO for when you're modelling.

2) Get nose and ear plugs for you for first thing in the morning....

3) Get both nose plugs and ear plugs for both yourself and SWMBO for after the birth... It may save your sanity and lives.

Just a thought...

Oh, and congratulations!

Isn't that some famous Anglo-saxon writer who said something like "you couln't make a step without risking to make die"? oh well, thanks for the advices guys, I am going to model outside
Thanks for the congratulations too, and I will think about the plugs :-)

Ahoy JBA,

I believe all putties to contain some sort of solvent.......I have made myself
a homemade spray booth for airbrushing and when I use putty, I put the
piece in the booth and as it cures the fumes are pretty well vented outside
the hobbyroom window.

Hope this is useful to you,

Cheers
Joe

Thanks for the advice Joe. Throughout the years i never took any care of health matters when it comes to modelling, but I think i will have to build such a booth..

An exhaust fan in the window by the work bench will help get rid of the smell. Besides you should use 98% of the stuff we use with good ventilation.

Putties come in two flavours, drying and curing.

The curing type are usually two-part (like Milliput, plumbers putty and A+B) and will harden even in an airtight container, once mixed. They ocassionally smell a little, but usually don't (unless they are polyethelyne based, in which case they stink a LOT. Bondo is in this class). They generally don't release anything into the atmosphere.

The drying type are always (as far as I know) one-part and harden through evaporation of a solvent. This also causes them to shrink noticably when hardened. These solvents are present whether you can smell them or not. The concentrations are pretty low and unlikely to harm anyone unless you are snorting the stuff, but a pregnant woman can smell something she doesn't like from 200m away (this I know!).

If it purely a matter of avoiding a smell that your wife hates, ask her to smell different putties to see if there is one that doesn't offend her. Also realise that this phase of the pregnancy usually only lasts the first 4-6 months and after that most women's smell and taste are back to normal.

If you are worried about the effects of solvents on your wife or baby, then unless you are carving the entire Graff Spee out of Squadron Green, there isn't anything to worry about. Spraying paints, even many acrylics, releases substantially more solvents into the air than the amount of putty you normally apply to several models and with the putty, the release is so slow as to keep concentrations quite low. If you are worried about health effects, then getting an externally vented spray booth for your paints is significantly more effective than banning putty in the house.

HTH

Paul

That's a pretty great thought methinks :-)
Thanks a lot Paul and Dave, that's reassuring as I don't intend to model the Graf Von Spee in 1:35 before a bit of time anyway