Blue Putty to Hold Miniatures in Place While Painting

July 07, 2022 Post a Comment

Hi!
Many of you use some putty, for holding your figures, busts, parts, in place, while in the process of painting them (as shown in many pictures here), temporarily holding them to some support base (I'm using a large piece of cork for this) .

What are the best putties for this? Obviously some kind that one can later, once done with the painting, easily remove, with no traces on the figure/bust/parts.

I got Tacky Wax (this one: https://www.deluxematerials.co.uk/en/miniatures/38-tacky-wax-5060243900258.html ), but on first impression I'm not that happy with it.
It sticks ok to the figure, but apparently not that well to the cork! Which makes the figure unstable!

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Cheers!

Dolf
Hi Dolf, l use bluetac for holding small pieces, also widely used for holding figures in boxes while being transported, can also be used for masking. Having said that l mainly use small clamps for holding items while they are painted. Blue tac is ok for use with resin figures but l would never use it to hold a metal figure while painting.
Keith
Hi Dolf
I build all my busts as much as possible for painting but as Keith says blu tac holds well ,there is White tac here in UK , might be available in Portugal .....never trust it though for metal figures only resin .

I would suggest you insert a pin in the pieces and put that into the cork to hold .

Nap
Hi Keith and Kevin,
Thanks a lot for the replies

I did some research, and it seems that Blu Tack (think it's the right spell) is produced by Bostick (a well know brand producing glues, at least some of them easily found on the market here).
I'll have to check on some retailers if they do have this Blu Tack.

Kevin, believe the White Tack is exactly the same as the Blu one, only a different color if not mistaken, right?

I now remember that a long time ago I used this, or a similar kind of glue, to fix cradboard pieces on a mapboard, or to fix mapsheets to the wall. Guess it's the same kind of stuff.

Why not using it with metal figures? Just because it's not strong enough to hold metal figures, or does it have some negative effect on metal?

" I would suggest you insert a pin in the pieces and put that into the cork to hold . "

In some cases it's simply not possible to dig holes on the figures, nor the parts, in order to insert pins in them.

For instance I'm painting a 120mm Verlinden figure now. There are resin pins at the bottom of the legs, where the boots will be inserted. So it would be impossible to use that method in this case. The alternative would be to insert a pin on the space where the head will be assembled to the rest of the body, but I'd have to paint the figure upside-down... not very practical I guess...

I'll look for the Blu Tack and see if available here

Thanks again.

Cheers!

Dolf

EDIT: Done, it exists here, 2.50€ from a models store online.
Hi Dolf, For all of my figures I take off the resin or metal lugs provided by the manufacturer. I then drill between 1 and 2 CM (depending on the scale) into the leg and insert a metal rod about 4/5 CM long. I drill into the base a whole deep enough to take about 2/3 CM of the rod when the figure is ready for mounting on the base. For supporting the figure during painting I use a wooden block which clamps onto the rods. This means whether resin or metal your figure is firmly supported during painting and when mounted on the base very secure. I suspect that about 90% of the people on planet use this or a similar method. The increase in the use of resin has probably rendered this method a little over kill but for metal figures it is pretty well essential.
Avoid Blue Tack for holding the figure while painting and don't use white tack as it is much more sticky than blue tack and harder to remove. Neither will have any detrimental effect on Resin or metal. Using a mini drill and pinning your figures and small parts for painting is the best approach.

Hope this helps....Keith
Hi Keith,
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply, really appreciate it, and indeed it helps a lot

I do have a few questions though.

Yesterday I was reading this other thread here on PF, "Making a Holder": https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/making-a-holder.37077/

Guess that's about the method you use, right?

I must confess one thing, I'm really scared to death of drilling holes on my figures (or busts in the near future, when starting my 1st one) ...
I fear that while drilling a hole on small size resin parts (I never worked with metal figurines; I do have 1/24 scale old cars that have parts in metal, but that's as far as I've worked with metal kits/models) it might brake the piece! Also, by removing the resin lugs that come with the figures from the manufacturer, I may lose an important ideal placement of the piece that goes into that lug (for instance, my 120mm figure I'm working on right now, I do have the two boots that later I'll have to glue to the legs, but I have no idea which boot is the right or the left oot, only when assembling them I'll know, as they are built in a way that the left only fits on the left side, same for the right one, see what I mean?)...

I perfectly understand your process, but I guess I'm just too worried that I might screw things up if I try that method...

" Avoid Blue Tack for holding the figure while painting "

Why is that?

I see a lot of pics of modelers, here and elsewhere, using some putty (be it Blu Tack or some other brand, IDK...) for holding their figures in place while painting them...

" don't use white tack as it is much more sticky than blue tack and harder to remove. "

Ok, I got that one, it's indeed a good reason for not using it

Again many thanks

Cheers!

Dolf
Hi Dolf.
1) I use a pin vice and drill bit for drilling into my figures-I have a Dremel but seldom use it as it is too powerful and one slip can cause some damage-do it by hand slowly and surely. Just make sure that the drill is central to the leg and the leg is straight enough to drill into-common sense stuff really.

2) Blue tack should be OK for holding a resin figure for painting but not metal, it just isn't strong enough.

3) If you find some bluetak nothing removes bluetak better than another piece of bluetak.

Keith
HI Again, forgot to mention that like the thread you highlighted I use similar mounting blocks for holding my figures for painting depending on the scale and weight of the figure.
Keith
Hi Keith,
Thank you very much!

You've been very patient and helpful (sadly rare qualities nowadays) and I really appreciate it and am very grateful

I see now why you suggested that Blu Tack would be ok for a resin figure but not recommended for a metal one

For removing the Tacky Wax the manufacturer recommends using just hot/warm water (IDK if it works, I'll have to see that later) .

I don't have a miniature drill, so if I ever did it (carefully following your advice on how to do it) it would be hand made anyway.

Yes, I might build one of those mountings, or similar, as those shown on that other thread, they look fine and will certainly hold any figure in place in a stable way.

Again many thanks

Cheers!

Dolf
Hi Dolf
Sorry for lack of response ...packing up the house ready to move soon

Wise words from Keith there

White blu tac ...I have heard others say it's better than blue will try some when I move

I always pin irrespective of material the model made of ..99% of mine are resin though !

A hand drill is what I use ...better control

Hope this helps

Nap

PS WU all sorted thanks
Thank you Kevin. You confirm what Keith said before (even though you also use the same system for your 1% metals), so I guess I'm in good hands
I'll have to try that, I guess...

Cheers!

Dolf
" PS WU all sorted thank "
I've just PMed you about this!

Thanks God! Please let me know the details by PM.

Cheers!

Dolf