Stupid Milliput question

[Mark Yungblut]

This is amazing...I was going to post this same thing today, after trying Milliput redux today, because my luck with A+B epoxy has been nothing short of throwing money down the toilet. The B part is so crusted and useless, it's done and I always have about a half of the A part left and NO B LEFT!
Now, I'm talking this is with 10-12 boxes of this stuff, on three different orders...(how yours stays good for years is totally beyond me).
So, I tried Milliput today....and I fully remembered, after 5 minutes, why I gave up using it so many years ago....absolutely terrible stuff, IMO. Hope Milliput supporters are not offended also, but the A+B stuff, even with the crummy B part, is miles ahead of Milliput. Even though frustrating as hell.
As far as shelf life, I'm talking about opening a brand new A+B, and having the crust well on it's way down the whole B bar...just infuriating; I find the shelf life is terrible...in fact, I have complained to the supplier I use, and they have sent me just B bars to make up for the loss on the crusted ones! All crusted , too.
So, I guess it's on to something else...but really a bummer lately with the A+B...and just forget the Milliput...I wasted $12.00 today.
I'll use this "super fine" for groundwork...rocks and ground cover I guess.

\Well I have yet to find a putty that does not skin to some extent. So what I did with my last batch of a&b is cut it up then shave the skin and then package it for freezing. If you don't have a vaccuum pack just stick a piece of thing (3/16") tubing down one side of the zip bag, zip it all the way to the tube and suck out the air, pull the tube quickly and zip it shut.

For the tubs and jars like Aves sells I squirt some of this in as I close which replaces the air and aids in presurving the putty.

http://www.micromark.com/XTEND-IT-10-OZ,8729.html

Hope this helps.

Also if you get some really bad A&B return it. In fact I'd contact he manufaturer. You may get a REALLY fresh replacement


Cheers,

Mark

 

[gordy]

For the tubs and jars like Aves sells I squirt some of this in as I close which replaces the air and aids in presurving the putty.

http://www.micromark.com/XTEND-IT-10-OZ,8729.html

no way... $30 for 10 oz. !!

I'm in the wrong line of work..

Granted , my putty never sits around long enough for me to save it but I think for that kind of money i'm buying a fresh pack.

Does it actually work, preserving the putty?

 

[Mark Yungblut]

It's worked for me and it only takes a little squirt I have used 1 can in a year and a half.

 

[TWOMOONS]

Paul...you mix Milliput with Fimo oven hardening modelling material? What ratio?...sounds like oil and water;that's kind of amazing.
The FIMO just becomes air hardening and takes on the properties of the Milliput?
As we used to say back in the day...far out.

 

[gordy]

Mark which version of Aves are you using ? the gray or white ?

 

[tomapaul]

Paul...you mix Milliput with Fimo oven hardening modelling material? What ratio?...sounds like oil and water;that's kind of amazing.
The FIMO just becomes air hardening and takes on the properties of the Milliput?
As we used to say back in the day...far out.

I read about this here and i wanted to try it.
The mixture hardens because of chemical reactions from the two milliput components, air does nothing in the process.But for a complete hardening process I bake it in the oven.
I use a maximum of 50% fimo(lately I use about 30%).More fimo I use, the easier it carves in the end.

 

[Mark Yungblut]

Mark which version of Aves are you using ? the gray or white ?

Actually I use a couple of their putties. I use the white and the gray for most sculpting, but I also use the Epoxy clay for when I need a stiffer putty. They also have a putty that has aluminum power in it and I use that when I need a high strength putty.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Einion]

Jean, this same problem recently became an issue for me with my large tubs of Magic Sculp and I was going to post about it in the new year after finding the same thing with my tubs of Apoxie Sculpt when I started using it again for the first time in a couple of years.

The fix I used was to wash the sienna-coloured gunk off the surface using a couple of pours of hot water! With the AS I found it wasn't as soluble as with the MS so I used a cheap bristle paintbrush to scrub over the surface to help loosen the tar.

There is no adverse effects to using the yellowed section unless it gotten hard. Is this correct?

With MS, apart from the unattractive colour the putty appears pretty much unaffected when you blend in the discoloured stuff, although I'm generally careful to mix in some sub-surface putty if the area I'm working on will be on the surface of the finished piece.

Not the same for Apoxie Sculpt though: when fresh this cures for me very hard, noticeably harder than MS, but IME if you mix in any major amount of the tarry stuff it doesn't harden the same way and can even remain slightly flexible in thin section when cured. This may affect the carving or sanding properties if that's an issue for anyone.

I hope I don't offend anyone here by saying this, as I used to use Milliput back in the day. But, there is no reason to use milliput these days when there are third and fourth generation epoxy putties available that have been specifically formulated for sculptin and modelling and that are (IMHO) easier to use and are more stable.

Agreed. But particularly if one sculpts rather than carves.

In addition to the short shelf life (the surface hardening or "Milliput leprosy") is too often seen when the package is just opened and only gets worse with time. Apoxie Sculpt and MagicSculp, in addition to being much easier to mix (cleaner, and much faster, particularly in cold weather) appear to have a nearly unlimited shelf life in addition to all their other good properties.

Paul...you mix Milliput with Fimo oven hardening modelling material? What ratio?...sounds like oil and water;that's kind of amazing.

Epoxy putty + polymer clay is now an old trick for extending sculpting time, while still having the putty set up at room temperature (sort of).

With more than about 30-40% I've found that it's best to still heat the finished piece - I would generally boil rather than bake, for safety - to get it as tough as it's capable of going. I wouldn't generally recommend more than about a third Sculpey or Fimo if one intends to do much post-hardening shaping.

Einion

 

[Einion]

What I like about milliput:
It has different qualities at it's various stages
1-5 minutes it's like a paste or spackle
5-20 mintues it's waxy non-sticky like
20-60 minutes it's still pliable and resiliant
60-120 minutes it's choppable and diceable and still maintains its' form [/LIST]

That's much like my list for the properties of MS

There are similar stages of curing for the other big two clay-like putties, but both MS and AS have (significant) advantages including the biggie IMO - superior plastic properties for those who prefer to work 'wet'.

Einion

 

[Mark Yungblut]

I agree though I have found that Aves apoxy clay tends to be stiffer right when you mix it up. It does not go through the "soupy" stage that so many other putties do. The one cool thing I found with Aves is that you can thin it with alcohol and make a slurry out of it for filling very fine seams and use it to paint over a surface to smooth it out. I generally smooth my Aves and A&B with 90% Isopropyl Alcohol.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Mark Yungblut]

Just so you all know, I just got a package of A&B from http://calrepcoinc.com/.

The B side was bad and I called them. They are aware of the issue and they are sending out a new B bar to me. They even ordered a bunch of new B bars because of this issue and are sending them to people that have bad ones straight out of the package.

Apparently the manufacturer is aware of the issue. It seams that the new packaging is not as airtight as the old foil/plastic/paper that they used to use...

So if you bought from them recently and got a bad B bar contact them and let them know. The owner seemed very eager to fix this issue.

Mark

 

[Mark Yungblut]

Hey All,

Just an update. I just got a new B bar in the mail and it's perfect! So they are good to their word. So now I'm cutting it up into smaller portions, bagging it in ziplock freezer bags with the air taken out in then itno the freezer.


Have a great weekend,

mark