Model Lite vs Model Magic vs Red Devil Onetime

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Jimmy D. Jones

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Did a comparison of 3 products to see which I thought was best as a filler. Compared Model Lite to Carl Goldberg Model Magic to Red Devil Onetime.

Model Lite and Model Magic are fillers sold at hobby shops. I don't think Model Magic is available anymore but I had an old container around here from the 1990's. Red Devil Onetime is a spackling compound you can get at home improvement stores.

I put a some of each on a different section of a scrap piece of 1/8 inch plywood I had lying around. I made sure each was smooshed into a crevice and also spread onto an area of undamaged unsanded plywood. Let them all dry overnight and then sanded each.

I don't have any pictures or anything just my personal off the cuff evaluation.

I found the Model Magic to be best of them by far. It acted like a true filler and filled in the crevice as well as working as a wood grain filler. Too bad its no longer available. I don't know what it cost but I don't remember it being that much.

Model Lite was bar far the worst performer of the three. It didn't do a good job as a crack filler and didn't seem to fill the wood grain much at all. In fact when I was sanding almost all of it came off - you can't help but think to yourself why bother using it of it doesn't do anything and just ends up coming off? This was the most expensive of the three. A small jar costs about $15 at hobby stores.

The cheapest by far and middle of the road performer was the Red Devil Onetime spackling compound. A one quart container is about $10 or $11. The Red Devil did a good job filling cracks but not as good as I had hoped as a wood grain filler. It may be that it really isn't intended to be used for that. I was impressed enough that I mixed a little water in with some to make it a bit thinner and compared as a grain filler to the just out of the tub Red Devil. The slightly thinned out did a better job as a filler than the raw out of the tub material.

All three may have similar ingredients, but you can tell right away they are not the same.

Again, these are just my opinions. Hope this helps.
 
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