I've seen a few pictures posted of seams being filled using the new filler seam mix. One builder used a plastic spoon. The filler was thick and probably took too long to sand it down.
I use a drop of filler on the tip of an old, dull knife blade. The tip of the blade stays in the seam and allows you to push the filler into the open seam.
Fill for an inch or two, then lightly drag the flat edge of a razor blade over the filler. Notice in the picture that the filler bead is flattened and forced into the seam. The majority of the filler material is removed and left on the underside of the blade. Wipe off the excess filler from the blade.
I'm not cutting off the filler bead but pulling the blade over it towards the bottom of the picture.
The first sanding pass is with 220 grit sandpaper on a block. You don't need to sand to the tube surface yet. You are just trying to remove most of the filler.
Switch to 400 grit then sand to surface.
Enlarge the picture and you can see the filler left in the tube seam.
Later on, any remaining dips in the seam will be filled with primer.
Again, this is just another way to fill tube seams. Your results and methods will probably vary from mine.
I used your method over the weekend (4:1 mix in the seams, sand the seam, masked primer on the seams, sand the primer smooth) and it worked GREAT. When I put a couple of coats of primer on the whole tube and then painted it - there was no trace of a seam anywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd now that I've done a couple of these and can see what works and doesn't work, it really doesn't take all that long to do.
Thanks Mushtang,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it worked!
Like you wrote, it doesn't take all that long to do.
Taking that extra few minutes on each step makes all the difference on the finished model.