Ever-Green Stuff

[Unlucky General]

Okay comrades ... why does my Green Stuff never set or harden properly. I'm sure I'm mixing 50/50 yellow and blue. What am I doing wrong? Should I change to another product?

[Andym]

Green stuff should set in about 4 hours. I don't know if temperature makes a difference. It is definitely Green stuff and not some sort of clay you need to bake in the oven? Beesputty or Fimo for example.....

[snitcythedog]

Okay comrades ... why does my Green Stuff never set or harden properly. I'm sure I'm mixing 50/50 yellow and blue. What am I doing wrong? Should I change to another product?

Temperature can make it harden faster but you could also have either a bad batch or some old green stuff.  Four hours as mentioned is about right for cure time so if it is still soft after that you could try the oven at low heat something like 50 C for five or ten min and test it out.  Just a reminder that plastic will melt at that temperature so try it out with a spare lump.  You could also try to use more hardener.  It is usually the blue part of the mixture.  Hope that helps.
Snitchy sends.

[Wirelizard]

When I first started using Greenstuff I had a couple of batches that never cured properly - having to scrap it off figures and bases was a massive pain.

The trick is to mix it (the initial kneading together of the two parts) for longer than you think. My usual guideline is to mix it for the length of one song (I almost always have music going while I do hobby stuff!) so it gets 2-4 minutes of mixing. Same with Milliput.

Haven't had a bad batch since I started one-song kneading!

[Captain Blood]

It never sets rock hard, like Milliput. It always retains a very slightly elasticy feel to it. This caught me out when I first started using it. If you mix a little too much blue in, it'll definitely go harder and set harder faster...

[dampfpanzerwagon]

This link might help.

http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/working-with-green-stuff.html

Tony

[Unlucky General]

Many thanks comrades. I have taken no care in storage and it is several years old. I'll try he baking/drying and upping the blue mix in the meantime.

[ARKOUDAKI]

But if you mix a little FIMO into the mix (say 20-30%) it will remain flexible while sculpting but also harden up just the same.

[Hammers]

It never sets rock hard, like Milliput. It always retains a very slightly elasticy feel to it. This caught me out when I first started using it. If you mix a little too much blue in, it'll definitely go harder and set harder faster...

I you want something with less viscosity (shape memory), and more plasticity, which dries harder, try brown stuff or miliput. The trade off is that miliput and brownstuff is more brittle. What you often see people do is that they do the basic shape in green stuff and the details and hard edges in brownstuff )or a mix of green and brown stuff)

[beefcake]

I had some stuff that was about a year or two old and it didn't mix too well as some of it had cured already (where the blue and yellow pieces meet). I have definitely noticed a difference in quality between old GS and new GS.

[Melnibonean]

Use a 50/50 mix of Greenstuff and Miliput. Effectively it's a 4 part putty but it works great. It gives you the best properties of both products with none of the drawbacks. It's very easy to use and cures to a good hardness that is very east to cut, file and sand. Heat will help speed the curing process, but don't use heat with plastic figures/components or else they will warp.

[beefcake]

Yep, what he said, plus it makes it slightly cheaper than straight GS (well it does for me)

[HerbyF]

Make sure you mix it completely. If you can still see any yellow or blue keep kneeding it. If you don't get it mixed thoughly it doesn't harden all the way.