Sunday, February 28, 2010

Fixing Micro-Cracks in Pewter

Casting errors are an unpleasant fact of life in this hobby.  The ones that can be fixed subtractively (by removing material) are considerable easier to correct than the ones that need to be removed additively.  In the case of the micro cracks seen below in the highlighted area, you will need to fill them or they will show up in your final product.
In terms of additive material, we'll need something that will flow (or be pressed) into the cracks, but not change the surface of the sculpt.  Two part putty is difficult to limit to just the cracks.

The trick is something you probably already have in your kit: Citadel 'ard Coat.  Unlike regular acrylic paint, the varnish is nicely self leveling and isn't as prone to drying with a texture.  Brush a thin coat of varish over the cracks and let dry.  The shiny results are shown here.

After a little Reaper brush-on white primer, the cracks are gone and the surface of the cloth appears unchanged.

Now to go fix the rest of the flaws that show up in the photo....

3 comments:

  1. Nice tip - I wouldn't have thought of using varnish. I have some Mr Surfacer, but have never tried it out. Would that fill in casting pits like these?

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  2. @Sholto: I haven't used Mr Surfacer before, but from what I just read it might work if you thinned it down somewhat. Without thinning it probably would be too putty-like. It also requires thinner to clean the brushes, and I try to avoid using chemical solvents in the house as much as possible.

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