Painting

[CaptainConcorde]

What is the best method to use to cover that spiral wrap line on unpainted rocket kits? I have used primers and many coats of paint but that just adds weight.

 

[samb]

Fill it.
This:



or this:




Apogee has some great reference material:
filling spiral - Apogee newsletter

Chris Michielssen's blog is another great reference:
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search?q=fill+spirals

 

[neil_w]

Filling spirals has been discussed here.... "a lot".

Here is some info on using Carpenter's Wood Filler: https://www.nar.org/educational-resources/model-rocket-building-techniques/filling-seams-balsa/

Also check Chris Michielssen's blog: http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/Filling Seams

Some folks do just us a *lot* of primer to do it, usually some variety of filler/primer which has a lot of solids and is able to fill gaps more effectively. The key to this approach, though, is that you are going to sand off the majority of the primer, and mainly leave it in the seams. The end result is that you haven't really added very much weight at all.

We really need some sort of FAQ to cover this stuff.

 

[CaptainConcorde]

Excellent. mMany thanks for the advice. I suspected some sort of filler was needed but wasn't sure what type. Looks like I will be doing a lot more sanding down.

 

[lakeroadster]

.... We really need some sort of FAQ to cover this stuff.

We have it... it's called Search for "spirals".

But, we'll cut @CaptainConcorde some slack... add some links for him and welcome him to the forum.

 

[samb]

Sorry Captain I notice you’re in the UK so those products I posted may not be available. The Bondo is lacquer based and the Elmers is water. Hopefully you’ve got something similar.

 

[Rex R]

Spot putty sticks best to primer so, prime first then apply putty.

 

[waltr]

Another Spiral Filling thread........

Do a forum search for many more of these threads and a hundreds ways to fill them.

 

[KenECoyote]

&

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/madcow-4-patriot-finishing-paintriot.173543/post-2294809

 

[samb]

@waltr One of the staples of our little forum.

 

[waltr]

@waltr One of the staples of our little forum.

Yep, glue and spiral filling...

 

[Hobie1dog]

spackling compound can also be used, it sands very easily, but if you do a search for spirals, then you're still busy reading all of the previous stuff on here

 

[David Schwantz]

Damn Ken, I think you're supposed to do that BEFORE you glue the fins on

 

[KenECoyote]

Damn Ken, I think you're supposed to do that BEFORE you glue the fins on

Nah, after fins are attached, there's less spirals to fill!

 

[rkoenn]

I use Rustoleum gray primer and spray the tube. Then the old elbow grease and sand off most of leaving just the spiral filling. Sadly it typically takes two to three coats to fill it in. I've tried the Elmers method and also spackling once and it was difficult for me to get it reasonably smooth on the spiral when applying it which made the sanding nasty and also would sometimes go into the tubes finish roughing up some areas. I went back to the Rustoleum gray primer.

 

[Dane Ronnow]

I use Krylon gray filler/primer, and just spray the spirals, not the entire tube. Less sanding. Two quick applications, sanding after each one, then a third application on the entire tube and fins, sand, and move on to the top coats.

 

[smstachwick]

My Level 1 rocket’s build thread basically turned into a spiral filling thread. Suffice it to say that various putty-like products utterly failed to satisfy me, so I just threw up my hands and went for the spray primer. No thinning, no sealing, no finger/putty knife/credit card smoothing. Spray can just goes psssshhhh!

Of course, I’m not finished yet, and the pessimistic side of me thinks that God will decide to play games with me and have that fail in the same way the putties did, but if I had a cooler head I’d say that that’s not likely.