UV Gel as filler?

Reading gionc's awesome thread about making pe parts triggered something...


Has anyone ever tried using UV curing nail-gel as a filler?

If you're not sure what it is, basically lots of women get 'gel nails'. My wife is into this right now, and has recently bought the equipment to do it at home. Essentially, you just need this special acrylic 'gel' that cures in UV light. She has a special UV light as well (reading gionc's thread about using a UV light to make PE parts is what made me think of this....)

The gel she uses dries within about 3 minutes sitting under the light. I thought it might be a good/quick filler for model work, as the stuff cures to an acrylic/plastic consistency.

Anyone tried this out before? As I type this, I'm wondering.... Is this the way that the Tamiya light-curing putty works?

Murray

I'm wondering.... Is this the way that the Tamiya light-curing putty works?

Murray

YEP LOL, just 1-2 sunbath's minutes with good weather, something more with alogen light over modelling's nights ;)

There are a lot of Light Curing products, also very expencives, on dental equipment's catalogs.

Hmm..I think this is the same stuff we use to repair windshield chips.

does this stuff dry crystal clear? if so, I might need to pick some up for making lenses, and other clear parts.

does this stuff dry crystal clear? if so, I might need to pick some up for making lenses, and other clear parts.

I'll have to check my wife's inventory. The stuff I quickly looked at was coloured (milky white), but I was sure she had some sort of clear coat as well...

I'll post back later...

Murray

OK. She does have some clear stuff. It's quite thick. Sorta like 5 min epoxy. It seems to dry pretty much crystal clear.

However, I put some on a popsicle stick, and it's pretty thick. Ends up making a pretty thick 'blob' on the end of the stick (about 4mm thick). When I put it under the lamp for 3 min, it did dry it, but you can tell that it's not totally cure yet. If I press my finger into it, it will leave a fingerprint. However, that was pretty thick for any sort of model filler, so I'm not surprised it didn't cure through and through yet. I expect a thinner layer would cure more thoroughly.

Then I put a little bit into a panel line on an old truck body, to experiment how well it would do as a filler. I cured it under the lamp for another 3 min, and then hit it with the file. All looked really good, and I had a really nice, smooth seam. However, then I shot it with a bit of silver spray paint, and it didn't quite look as good as I thought. Either the gel hadn't finished curing when I was sanding it, or the paint reacted with it a bit. Either way, the panel line was filled, but not 'finished' to the point of being unnoticeable.

Warants more experimentation though. There's many different types of fillers, and I may just not be using the optimal one for the job. It does dry under the light pretty quick, but it's not 'fully' cured in 3 minutes (perhaps it would if a bit thinner). Perhaps a bit more time under the light would help too...I'll try a bit more another day...

Murray