System Base 001 Part 2

Bring in the toothpaste
The more laborious part of the work on System Base 001, according to my plan, begins with this posting. ^^

Before that, excessive Tamiya panel liner paint on all the parts from the panel lining applied in the previous posting needs to be wiped away using thinner-soaked cotton swabs first.




Some paint work has been planned for some of the parts, so I'll be revisiting some of the details to reinforce them with normal panel liner. ^^

Even if the panel lining work is to be done now, it's still not the complicated part of the task I have in mind, as mentioned at the beginning of this posting. ^^ It's actually about these parts:


Formed through the parts' molding process, all the hydraulic pipes have hollow spots on one side. It's a common characteristic on one-piece parts, but it's still noticeable, and pretty unpleasant-looking. ^^; The latter part is unfortunately being magnified on this display stand set, as there are more than ten fake hydraulic pipes designed on various parts, and all of them have the same hollow spots on one side. ^^;

I can choose to ignore the spots, and paint them normally, much like the completed base shown on the box art, but I really don't like seeing those hollow spots. ^^; So, as usual with my plamo work, it's time to get into extra trouble to take care of unnecessary business. XD

Drawing from past experience, a good putty can be used to fill up those hollow spots. From fixing my old MG Zaku II's hips to enhancing the cockpit clear parts of MG Sinanju Ver. Ka, Tamiya Epoxy Putty Quick Type had served me well in dealing with hollow spots on model kits. For simplicity and a little bit of change, I'm going to use a different type of putty for the hydraulic pipes. ^^


Tamiya Putty White




Warning text in Japanese and English on all sides of the box.



Unlike Tamiya Epoxy Putty Quick Type, no mixing is required to use this putty, as it's ready to be applied to the parts you desire straight out of the aluminium tube. ^^


With white as its color, and having an aluminium tube as its container, it's really hard not to associate it with a regular toothpaste.
"Warning: Not toothpaste" should come as a optional warning sticker to be attached to the tube. XD




The putty is applied into all the hollow spots using toothpick.
Ease of use is the main benefit of Tamiya Putty White, and that benefit can be seen very clearly with the work on all the hollow spots, but perhaps it worked a little too well I think. ^^ The flow of the paste isn't easy to control, especially when compared to Tamiya Epoxy Putty Quick Type. Like the excessive paint from the panel lining work applied in the previous posting that was cleaned off earlier on, there's a huge amount of excessive putty that needs to be sanded away when it has hardened. ^^;