Green Stuff vs. Apoxie?

[Palantirion]

In minifig construction vids I've noticed a lot of use of Green Stuff to fill gaps. I've only used it twice, so I can't claim to be experienced, but I found it more difficult to work with and not dry as hard or bond as well as Apoxie Sculpt or Magic Sculpt (both of which I've used a lot). They all take "24 hours" to fully cure (although Apoxie is sandable sooner), so I don't see the appeal of Green Stuff. What am I missing?

 

[the Baron]

Good question. I've never used Green Stuff, only Apoxie Sculpt and before that, Miliput. I'm curious to see the replies.

 

[blakeh1]

I think Green Stuff used to be a pushed a lot by Games Workshop and they even had their own brand and probably got brand recognition for it vs other products?

 

[urumomo]

You ain't missing nuttin .
Stick with Apoxie Sculpt -- there is nothing better .
...and yeah , the green stuff doesn't cure out rock hard ; it stays a bit flexible .

 

[Quaralane]

I'd stick with Apoxie Sculpt.
One of the issues with Green Stuff is that it stays flexible and cannot be sanded

 

[the Baron]

"...stick with Apoxie Sculpt..." No pun intended, or?

 

[Palantirion]

Is there a situation in which Green Stuff's flexibility might be beneficial? For example, I've been thinking about making a DIY equivalent of "cast off" clothing for a non-mini figure. Production type figures use cast PVC, because its strong and flexible. Would Green Stuff possibly work well in this role? Or is it too weak?

p.s. My thought had been to use Deco clay, since it's strong flexible and can be sanded, but that mandates baking and the molding-to-body and then removing for baking would result in at least minor fitment errors.

 

[urumomo]

I've only used it bonded into rigid assemblies so I'm unfamiliar with it's mechanical properties if utilized in that type of application .
I doubt it has the flexibility to cope with that kind of movement without cracking / breaking .
But , I certainly could be wrong .
Best way to find out is to put it to that test !

 

[urumomo]

In regards to your post script ,
You could always make a rubber mold of the figure , at least the portion needed , and make a plaster casting that can be used in the oven so the " garment " doesn't require removal prior to baking .

Use a silicon dioxide / gypsum plaster like this : https://www.dickblick.com/items/densite-plaster-bag-8-lb-bag/

 

[urumomo]

From the Kneadatite website :
" Kneadatite Green Stuff gives a very smooth, soft cut which makes it ideal for carving. It is malleable when set and can be bent without breaking. "
https://kneadatite.com/
You should try it on what you're talking about and see how it performs .

 

[Palantirion]

You're right, maybe I should do a few quick tests. Maybe combine different ratios of Green Stuff and Apoxie, or Green Stuff and Air Clay - weird if they got along.

Good idea about the rubber mold/plaster buck. Might work for some of my ideas.

 

[urumomo]

I'm all in for experimentation .
I don't know what you will gain from mixing Apoxie with Green Stuff , but I don't think you'll be able to combine an air dry clay with Green Stuff .
Pretty sure it would be impossible to homogenize and it wouldn't cure since it would remain encapsulated .
But you should definitely try it and see how much of a disaster it will be , ha ha .

Mixing a polymer clay into it would increase it's flexibility like any plasticizer -- but mixing it in uniformly would be key .

Eager to see what you come up with .
Last night I dug out the Green Stuff I have left over from the one package I bought many years ago .
There's still probably 3/4 of it left since I did not like it .
Somewhere here on SMA from years ago is a thread from me asking if Green Stuff should be so dense and difficult to knead .
I thought maybe I had acquired a bad batch or something ... and when it cured out less than completely hard that made me think that even more .

I was going to mix some up last night and experiment with it's flexibility / elasticity once cured , BUT , I don't enjoy dealing with it so I decided to see if you would do it instead ,