This Guide has been written to provide wargaming and role-playing hobbyists with useful tips on how to prolong the shelf-life of GREEN STUFF modelling putty, preserve freshness after manufacture and extend the working life before or while sculpting with it.

FOR BEST RESULTS KNEADATITE / DURO GREEN STUFF SHOULD BE KEPT IN AN AIR TIGHT CONTAINER AND STORED OUT OF DIRECT SUNLIGHT IN A COOL PLACE.

THE SHELF LIFE OF GREEN STUFF MODELLING PUTTY IS ABOUT TWO YEARS WHEN STORED IN THESE CONDITIONS.

However it is possible to extend the shelf-life of Green Stuff beyond this period if the following steps are taken.

• Store Green Stuff in a fridge or freezer, but take care to ensure it does not get 'frosted' - use an air tight container to prevent contact with ice that builds up in most domestic freezers or fridge-freezers.
• Only break off and mix a small amount at a time, no more than you think you'll need to use in any twenty minute time period.
• Avoid freezing, thawing and refreezing your unmixed Green Stuff. Keep your Green Stuff frozen, snap off what you need and it will thaw while you mix it in your hands.
• Separate the blue and yellow strips so that they are not in contact with one another, store them separately and only bring them together when mixing. This will prevent the Blue and Yellow component parts 'curing' where they touch each other.
• Use of an airtight container will help prevent premature curing where the Blue part becomes too hard to use and the Yellow part develops a thin skin which will cause yellow lumps to remain in the Green Stuff after it has been mixed, making it useless for all sculpting save bulking up the middle of models.

Once mixed Green Stuff remains workable for approximately 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the ratio of Blue to Yellow used in the mix. Again the curing time can be slowed down beyond this period by placing your ready mixed Green Stuff in the freezer. I have found a large chest freezer can keep Green Stuff workable for up to four days after mixing; a small freezer compartment in a fridge can keep it workable over night; while placing your miniature in the fridge can stall curing times by up to half an hour.

Just as it is possible to slow down the curing time of Green Stuff once mixed, or extend the shelf-life of unmixed Green Stuff by keeping it in the freezer, it is also possible to speed up the curing time of Green Stuff by raising the ambient temperature in which you place your sculpted or converted figure.

Strange as it may seem, the more experience you have working with Green Stuff, the more you notice a change in the putty’s performance depending on the conditions under which you are working, even to the extent that the weather can have an effect.

Sculpting under a strong desk light or halogen lamp can prove to be warm work, add into the mix your central heating on a cold day, or hot stuffy weather on a summer day and your Green Stuff can become unusable in less than 20 minutes of being mixed.

Equally if you’re sculpting in a cool environment your Green Stuff will take longer to cure when left standing so you may find you need to warm it a little in your hands or under a lamp in order to work with it.

IF YOU DO CHOOSE TO STORE YOUR GREEN STUFF IN THE FREEZER LET THE OTHER PEOPLE YOU LIVE WITH KNOW WHAT IT IS AND WHY ITS THERE, OTHERWISE YOU MAY FIND, AS SOME OF MY CUSTOMERS HAVE, THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS THROWN IT OUT!

Green Stuff Putty

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