Long-term storage of MagicSculp / Apoxie Sculpt

Einion

Einion

New member
Anyone got MS or AS that's getting on a bit - more than a few years old - and it's beginning to show its age?

There are two common ageing problems:
discoloured surface on the hardener (if it's very bad you'll have a sienna-coloured greasy residue building up in creases);
hardened grains in the resin (you might notice it as an occasional grittiness when mixing, or as small uncured bits in the hardened putty).

If you're getting either or both of these, and maybe thinking you might need to ditch what remains and buy a fresh batch, don't worry, they can be sorted.

How about any other weirdness?

Einion
 
Shawn R. L.

Shawn R. L.

New member
I've used, almost exclusivly, Magic-Sculpt for years. I remember reading that if the putty hardens in the can that warming it up will restore it. I just looked on the can's I have and didn't find that..........but I'm positive in years gone by that I saw that.
As far as storage goes I would assume a cool (or cold) place should help. I have A and B in 2 1/2 pound cans, been using it for years and didn't do anything but store it on a shelf out of direct sun. It's still good. The hardner is a bit firm here and there but no real problem.
 
Einion

Einion

New member
So anyone who has that coloured residue forming on the surface of their hardener, if it's bad enough you may want to remove as much of it as you can - if your mixed putty is strongly discoloured it affects the final strength, sometimes significantly (AS in particular in my experience).

Good news is a lot of it can simply be rinsed off with water. Pour hot water directly into the tub, let it sit for a while then swish it around a little and dump it out, do the same again and you'll have removed a fair bit of it. If you want you can scrub over the surface with a stiff bristle brush to help dislodge the gunk from the crevices.

While you're fussing with your putty anyway you might as well scrape off the top 15mm / 1/2" or so (a spoon works great for this) so you have fresh, unaffected hardener available again; it'll be just like it was when fresh. The discoloured stuff can be cleaned further if you want by kneading it in water for a short while, or just reserve it for coarser jobs, groundwork and the like.

Afterwards you want to stop the problem recurring and the most reliable way to prevent it is to keep the hardener cold, so store it in the fridge or freezer. Storing AS in the freezer apparently does it no harm (it's recommended by Aves to extend shelf life) and presumably the same will be true of MS, which is very similar chemically.

Now the resin component, the small hard lumps are due to crystallisation of the resin*. While this might seem bad it's easily reversed by warming thoroughly - makes the stuff good as new. Just pop the container in a large pot of hot water for 10 minutes or so. You can warm the tub of resin in the microwave but be very careful not to overheat it - heat in increments, maybe 20 seconds at a time and no more, checking the putty a couple of minutes after each blast to see if it's warmed sufficiently (remember you only want it warm, not hot).

You can keep your resin in the fridge or freezer too, but it's not really necessary IME.

*There's a note on the MagicSculp website that they're now using a new resin so this should be a thing of the past now with MS.

Einion
 
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