coopwyo
Active Member
Does anyone have a good way to fill in the seam lines on a body tube? Do you just put on a heavy coat of primer and then sand most of it off, or actually fill it with something? Thanks!
Best way to fill in seam lines on body tubes?
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mh9162013
Well-Known Member
The best way is to do a search on this forum or in Google. You will get more opinions and techniques than you care to know. Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference.
Sanding sealer and primer do a decent job for me.
If you will try Timbermate https://www.amazon.com/Timbermate-F...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070155469629&psc=1 You will love it. Dilute it with water smooth it on, and sand it. It is the easiest sanding you will ever experience. It works great.
Ditto and ditto.
My best results (although far from flawless) come from Duplicolor filler primer. Put it on nice and thick, enough so that you think it’s just about to run, and then that should be perfect. Wait a few minutes, repeat!
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It depends a lot on the tubes. Paper tube seams can usually be filled with high-build primer, but phenolic tube seams require a separate filler. (I like SuperFil, but many like wood fillers.)
This is the #1 topic for TRF. doing a search will give you enough results for 4 hours of reading, and everyone has their favorite filler.
Soller fiberglass sleeves.
Search the forums for "fill spirals" or filling spirals. The only topic that generates more feedback is "best glue for (whatever)".
Filler primer first then a light coat of sanding sealer typically does it for me.
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Of course, some people do go both ways.
Yeah, if you ask ten people, you'll get twelve answers, and they're all correct. Quite a few people swear by Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler for cardboard tubes. They say to thin it with just a little water until it's the consistency of peanut butter. I thought it came out of the tube already the consistency of peanut butter, so I guess it depends on the brand of peanut better you like.
My preference is this:
It also come in tubes, which may be easier to find at Lowes Depot.
mh9162013
Well-Known Member
So true!
When I use Elmer's CWF, I thin it to the consistency of cake batter. How else can it fill in the tiny seams of LPR main body tubes?
That's certainly more what it looks like. My stuff is like cake frosting.
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Product is the same, packaging has changed:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-Patch-Plus-Primer-8-fl-oz-Spackling-Compound-SHR-8-PC-12/204344783
I've also used the DAP stuff in a squeeze tube. They seem fairly similar.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Plastic-Wood-3-oz-Natural-Latex-Wood-Filler-00580/206667338
I like to fill the spirals before filler-primer, because it means I don't have to sand the whole rocket down through enough FP to fill the spirals.
Also, search "spirals" here: https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/ @hcmbanjo
and... https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-least-amount-of-sanding.164105/#post-2092806
That's a worthwhile other location to search pretty much any topic related to building or finishing model rockets.
The Bondo stuff seems to be priced best at Wally World:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bondo-Glazing-and-Spot-Putty-00907ES-4-5-oz-1-Tube/16927984
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That's about what I do, I was going to describe it as melted milkshake. It shrinks a little bit so another application might be needed, or a lot of primer might still be needed.
I filled the spirals on some kind of phenolic tube one time using some old JB Weld wood putty that I happened to have.
so many fillers, so little time.
