Filling primers

[jpolacchi]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a good "filling primer"? I've seen the Mr. Surfacer 500 and it was described to me as "spraying bondo out of a can". Is it really that heavy and thick, or would someone suggest a different or better primer to use? I've not used Mr. Surfacer 500 primer for anything, only lighter finishing primers like the Mr. Surfacer 1000 and 1500 and Tamiya primers. Mainly, I have an upcoming project(it is a 3d print) and I am anticipating allot of "sanding and filling". I'm not a big user of fillers and putties unless it is a very large area or a small gap or void. For "superficial" unevenness I'd prefer the primer to do most of the work to sand a surface flat and take out any imperfections and I thought a good primer with "filler capabilities" would be a good choice.

[Rogviler]

Oh yeah, she thicc. An alternative would be Duplicolor filler primer. Just keep in mind that they will both start to fill in details if used heavily. Great for print lines, not so good for fine panels.

[irishtrek]

You could try Vallejo resin putty, it's acrylic based and can be smoothed using your finger tips. Comes in a bottle or a tube.

[southwestforests]

An alternative would be Duplicolor filler primer. Just keep in mind that they will both start to fill in details if used heavily.

That turned out to be not as 'filling' as initially expected/feared, which to me is a good thing. It is my go-to primer for a lot of spray painting jobs. Pretty smelly, I suggest using it fully outdoors as opposed to inside garage with garage doors open.

[dizzyfugu]

Personally, I avoid fillers these days - I found them to react with resin and IP underground, and they tend to remain somewhat soft and sticky. I prefer simple acrylic primer paint (Duplicolor is a great choice, IMHO), and the stuff is able to level out small scratches etc. - not as much as filler, but it's better for further painting steps.

[jpolacchi]

So, in other words just stay away from a primer with heavy filler in it? I was always curious about the Mr. Surfacer 500, but...it just dint sound like a good idea/choice to use on anything unless it had no surface detail. Like I said, I'm not a big fan/user of body putty/bondo (or super gules) for filling gaps or voids. There's going to be allot of sanding in this project, but I do need to get the surfaces as perfect as possible, otherwise after painting every surface imperfection will show up and its important to make the parts as flawless as possible. If it were printed in resin I might not have to worry about that, but it is printed in ABS plastic.

[irishtrek]

Does plastruc, I think that's how it's spelled, make ABS strips of different sizes like Evergreen scale models does?? With the acrylic resin putty once you've smoothed it no sanding needed, atleast not heavy sanding anyway.

[Rogviler]

You guys are on three different topics here... The OP is talking about using filler primer on 3D prints, or other suggestions for this specific scenario.

OP: I would go with a filler primer as you originally thought, unless you think you might want to try one of the 3D print "smoothers," such as XTC-3D, but those are more for larger models without much fine detail.

One caveat: I would let my last coat or two dry for several days before sanding, otherwise it can continue to out-gas and shrink, which sucks when you've gotten it totally smooth and then you paint it and see all these sunken areas later.

[jpolacchi]

I am not familiar with XTC-3d...what is it? The 3d kit is "pretty bug", but has allot of small parts to it also. Many of the pats have little to know surface detail, other parts(large and small do).I don't want to use anything too heavy and am not sure if something like Mr. Surfacer 500 would be "too heavy"?The 3d kit is printed in ABS, so no resin parts. There may be some additional work to be done to many of the parts. I'm just not sure how much? There could be allot of drilling, tapping and counter sinking. Much of this kit is assembled with socket head cap screws as a great deal of this kit is posable. I already know there is going to be allot of sanding, but if I can avoid using bondo or putty to perfect the surfaces and a good foilling, sandable primer can do most of that I think it be better. I don't like to use allot of putty or bondo unless it is a very large area that needs allot of filling and reshaping. If its a small area that needs to be sanded flat and smooth, I'm hoping a good primer will do the job. That's all I'm looking for.

[Rogviler]

Here's a good short video about XTC-3D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGk7PYkAl_w

It's basically a resin that you can pour on 3D prints to smooth it out. It's kind of a niche product, either if you want to keep the raw print without painting or for like costume armor. But it is sandable. Also, I've seen a similar but even better effect done with UV curing resin. That way it doesn't run everywhere and it won't set until you hit it with UV.

Just another option. I'd stick to traditional filling and heavy primers for most model type stuff with details you don't want to lose.

[jpolacchi]

Yeah,I probably don't have a use for those,Not sure how they would work on an ABS printed kit?All in all,I'm looking for maybe a better primer with filler capabilities, but not something too heavy like "spraying bondo out of a can".All I've ever used were mainly "finishing primers" be it Tamiya or Mr Surfacer 1000 and 1500.I haven't received the kit yet or can inspect the parts to see how rough and unfinished they may be?I've also never worked on a 3d kit befpore,certainly not one printed in ABS so I don't know how much "clean up" to expect because it is not a resin printed kit.I think that depends on as much the printing file as it does the printer itself and the printing resolution?