Body Putty / Filler

[FLHCAHZ]

What body putty or filler do you guys use?  I picked up a 49 Mercury snap kit on the cheap at Ollies, and want to fill in the holes in the roof where the light bar goes.  Any suggestions? 

[espo]

I use the Tamiya putty, but there are a lot of options. 

[Mike999]

1 hour ago, FLHCAHZ said:

What body putty or filler do you guys use?  I picked up a 49 Mercury snap kit on the cheap at Ollies, and want to fill in the holes in the roof where the light bar goes.  Any suggestions? 

Lots of options:

1.  For those kind of holes, don't even use putty.  Glue some Evergreen plastic rod into the holes.  If you can't find the right size, go old-school and stretch some sprue to make your own rods.  Cut the rods a little longer than the hole, glue them in and sand 'em down.  You don't have to worry about putty shrinking. 

2.  Don't even use putty II: use a toothpick or something similar and over-fill the hole with CA super-glue.  Zap it with hardener and sand it down.

3.  For small holes, Perfect Plastic Putty is great.  It's water-based.  Over-fill the hole and run a damp cloth (or finger) over it.  Done.

4.  The best "regular" putty I've found is Tamiya White.  It dries quickly.  

[Don Sikora II]

I'd fill the holes with plugs made from sections of the same kit's runners glued in place with Tamiya liquid cement with the orange cap. That cement is thick but dries hard. When you get the plugs filed down and sanded as best as you can, use as little putty as possible to make perfect. Tamiya putty works great in situations like this.

[FLHCAHZ]

Thanks for all the suggestions

Edited June 21, 2021 by FLHCAHZ

[Rick L]

If you use CA, don’t waste your Zap. Just hit it with water. It will kick instantly and  harden to sand out. 

[oldtimer]

I have found that the two part automotive Bondo works good and doesn't shrink like the solvent based putty's do. For surface scratches the Bondo glazing putty works fine.

[MrObsessive]

Dynatron Putty Cote. It's a two part putty and I've been using it for years. It's got a bit of plastic in the mixture, so if you've got some trim or whatever to go over it, it'll bond to the putty with some liquid glue.

[Mark]

If you use solvent cement to glue the sprue plugs in, make sure it dries completely before applying putty.

One thing I do with holes like this, as well as splices between pieces, is rout out the seam or slightly "dish in" the filled hole.  After the putty is applied and sanded level, I end up with a thin "stripe" of putty between spliced parts, and a round area of putty where the hole was.  I never apply primer over a join between two pieces, without putty being over the joined area.  And the first coat or two of primer is applied only over the worked areas with a brush, not blasted on with a spray can.  Only after the area is smoothed does the spray can come out.