Looking for some advice on adding cast texture to an Asuka 1/35 Sherman Firefly VC. I know there are a lot of specialized products, but I am having trouble finding them in stock anywhere. Has anyone had any luck with Tamiya Acrylic putty, thinned down? And what do you thin it with…plain water, Tamiya airbrush thinner etc? It would be nice to use a product I have on hand.
Cheers, Clint
Depending on the effect you want I have always found that Sherman‘s respond well to stippling with liquid cement and a toothbrush
IMHO, the toothbrush isn’t necessary; stippling can be done with the same brush used to apply the liquid cement.
You can check this:
I normally use Tamiya white putty, thinned with a solvent I can buy in hardware stores here in the Netherlands (and which I also use to glue plastic parts); Tamiya extra thin cement will also thin it, as would Tamiya airbrush cleaner because that’s the exact same stuff. I then stipple it on with a stiff brush, and once dry, sand it to smooth it out by removing all the high spots. This gives a much better cast texture than just the stippling does.
However, before adding texture to a model, IMHO you should look at photos of the real thing to see how coarse it actually was. Many Sherman castings were pretty smooth, nowhere near as textured as some kit manufacturers and modellers make it.
I use Mr Surfacer 500 and a stiff brush and stipple it until the Mr Surfacer starts to cure and leave small peaks, allow it to dry for 24 hours and the smooth it out to the desired texture with wet and dry sand paper
Great tips everyone, thank you! Mr. Surfacer 500 was my first choice but seems hard to find locally or my usual online retailler. I will try the cement and toothbrush on some scrap and see if I can get the hang of it.
Cheers, Clint
IMHO it works well. You can also very lightly bounce a steel cutter off of it for variety:
You can use the sprue gate to test with Asuka plastic as different plastic can react slightly differently between manufactures.
There are white and gray Tamiya surface primers that are thick lacquer paints and functionally equivalent to Mr Surfacer. These might be more available. On my last model I found the white left a good medium texture but the grey self-leveled and wasn’t effective. For lighter texture, like small cast parts, stippling with liquid cement works well.
KL
As has been said before, Shermans didn’t have much of a texture that can be seen in 1:35. The outrageous textures we’ve seen on DML kits represent tanks that have been hauled from the sea bed decades after the war, or have been on display for decades with multiple layers of brushed paint that has chipped and flaked off before getting yet another coat. If you absolutely must, use a “slow” glue (like Humbrol poly) and a very stiff, short-haired stippling brush. Do small sections at a time, flooding it with glue, counting to ten, then stippling it before moving on. Do it in a VERY well ventilated area!
Jakko, is the solvent you use Methyl Ethyl Ketone? I use that here in the states as a glue and it is readily available at big box and paint stores. Cheap and dissolves readily with the putty or just on styrene surfaces.
Over 30 years,I’ve done texturing using testors liquid cement and a stiff bristled brush.first apply the glue to entire area,where you want texture.then in sections stipple as the glue softens the plastic until peaks form. Repeat until the area is covered, now the surface will look rough with pointy peaks .with a damp brush go over again until the peaks blend back on the surface.you may have to restipple areas to blend the surface and when satisfied let it cure overnight.when you paint ,do it in light coats so you don’t obscure the cast texture.washes and highlights(dry brushed)will bring the cast effects out. I use testors because it’s not as hot and allows more workability and I personally think this way looks more to scale as compared to using thinned putty.to practice use a scrap of styrene or as I do,use the inside of the hull to see the effect and practice the application until you get a feel how the plastic reacts.i hope my ramblings don’t confuse you.
Thank you John, great tips…I never thought of using the inside of the hull to practice on, brilliant.
It’s a mixture of a couple of different solvents that’s sold as a stain remover and thinner for contact cement, in pretty much any hardware store in the Netherlands:
According to its MSDS, it contains 10–25% MEK, and the remains is other organic solvents. It dissolves polystyrene and many types of putty from tubes, making it ideal modelling glue (if you think Tamiya extra thin is too slow, anyway 
) and for thinning putty for things like cast texture.
Thanks for the info. Looks like a proprietary product that I’ve never seen around here. Here our Buffalo just walk over things, people, fences, cars, or wallow. They don’t dissolve anything
I wasn’t aware that we were speed modeling. Well, most of us aren’t.
I use different brands almost solely based upon the size of the applicator brush, or needle, as the case may be. I prefer the larger brush for large swaths of cement (joining two large flat pieces of styrene fir example) and I like Tamiya’s applicator for extra fine work where only a tiny amount is needed. There’s one current build on here where it looks as if the modeler has bathed the front fenders of his vehicle in liquid cement, I’d suggest the Tamiya, but what do I know?
Do the moldings not have enough cast texture?
…but they make darn tasty burgers 
I can see some modest texture on the Asuka castings, but I would like to try achieving an effect like I have seen demonstrated on YouTube…it looks more realistic IMHO, although I realize it can be overdone. The other issue is that I want to use something I already have on hand in my shop….a lot of the products mentioned I don’t have and are expensive and/or nasty dangerous. I have acrylic putty and Tamiya thin cement, so I am going to experiment with water-thinned putty and cement with toothbrush, see how that goes.
