Car Body Filler

[PetarB]

Im sick of spending money on expensive fillers etc..
...so the other day I thought I would try two part car body filler, el cheapo stuff. The type where you get a tin and a small tube of catalyst that mixes 50:1, and smells quite heavy! I noticed on the packaging that it mentions it contains a fair amount of styrene... so that sounded right!
I've used it a bit... seems quite sandable, etc, not sure about the final finish I will get out of it though.
Any tips, warnings, advice about working with this kind of stuff?

[max142]

i really like using bondo, after sanding I go back and use spot and glazing putty. Both are bondo brand. You can get some nice smooth finishes. sand outside it does make a mess. Use outside I used once in the kitchen when wife was out of town....man the fumes.

[DX-SFX]

That sort of filler is basically polyester (fibreglass) resin mixed with talcum powder to make a paste. The smell is the styrene in the resin. It doesn't stick to plastic kits brilliantly well particularly if there's any flex in the structure but it sticks well enough for more rigid assemblies. It flakes off styrene sheet very easily. It get's used a lot for scratchbuilding larger models using other materials and there's a fine easy sand version if you find the standard one too hard going. The smell is not good for you but as long as you're sensible and don't stick your head in the pot for any length of time, it's fine. If it were that dangerous, they wouldn't be allowed to sell it.

[PetarB]

Haha, yep, last night I just cracked the lid off the main can in the kitchen and my wife - who was in the next room at the time - immediately ran in with a wrinkled nose and demanded to know what the hell was going on!
But last night's experiments went well. One thing I have learned; this stuff is staying outside until cured!

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Spot putty is the same stuff with a little less hassle.

[CaptainHawk1]

Bondo glazing and spot putty is a dream and you can get it for around $8 for huge tube. I dries to sand ridiculously fast and does not shrink.

Think of it this way; if it's good enough for your car, it's good enough for you styrene and resin.

-Shawn:smoke:

[kenlilly106]

I'll second the Bondo putty, but I'll add that if you're planning to scribe a panel line through it (not normally recommended, but sometimes you have too), it doesn't work to well.
Bondo red is coarse-grained and the scribing tool pulls the grains out, causing pits in the formally flat surface.

I use 3M Acryl Blue whenever I have to rescribe, otherwise Bondo red is great for quick putty jobs, especially those where you'll shoot some lacquer filler/primer over it before the finish coats.

Ken

[paul01]

I use it all the time and have had great results. The only problem with it is scribing lines. Its nearly impossible as there are often airbubbles under the surface which make the lines go croocked when scribing. So I tend not to use it on areas that require scribing

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

I use it all the time and have had great results. The only problem with it is scribing lines. Its nearly impossible as there are often airbubbles under the surface which make the lines go croocked when scribing. So I tend not to use it on areas that require scribing

When mixing bondo, I was taught that you spread the mixture, then scrape it up on the spatula, scrape that mass back on to your mixing board, then spread that across the mixing board again.

This avoids stirring in any air and presses out any bubbles in the mixture.

I also will spread the mixture on the board, scrape up half the length, then scrape up the other half, drop and spread, then scrape it up crosswise to get a good mix.