Filling tube spirals

[Prairie Flyer]

What is the best way to fill the tube spirals without adding too much weight?

[pantherjon]

I use one of two(sometimes both) Elmers Fill 'n' Finish and Micro Fil...Scoop some out of the container, add just a tiny bit of water to make it into a pancake batter consistency, and the using a paint brush paint it in the spirals..When dry sand smooth..Or the old standby, a couple coats of primer with sanding in between coats will fill almost all but the biggest tube spirals..

[MKP]

I usually don't worry about it too much but I'm sure most folks here would recommend thinned Elmer's Fil-n-Finish. I've never been able to find it myself, but I've had good results with a similar Minwax product with micro-balloons.

[tbzep]

There's a bunch of ways, but they all require considerable sanding.

Fill-n-finish, spackle, spot putty, can all be put on and sanded down. You can also fill it by priming it two, three, or four times and sanding down between coats. The primer method slicks up the rest of the tube real good while you're at it.

[pantherjon]

Actually I use Elmers 'Carpenters Wood Filler'..Same thing I have been told as Fill-n-Finish, and I use the same technique...

[Vanel]

I use the thinned Fill N Finish method - even though it requires more sanding :p

[LeeR]

I've recently been using Elmer's Carpenters Wood Filler in a tube. You can snip off a small piece of the tip, and it makes it easy to dispense along the spiral seams in a tube. I smooth with finger, and to press it down into the seams. Sands very easily.

I also just bought Duplicolor Filler Primer, with "high solids". I've not tried yet, but I like regular Duplicolor primer, and if this has more fillers, and behaves like the regular, this could become a favorite of mine.

I found both at Walmart, but the Duplicolor was in Automotive, not in the Paint Dept.

[Solomoriah]

I'm trying out that Elmer's Carpenter's Filler on a few of my rockets built over the winter, but I can't yet comment on how it works because I haven't had a decent painting day yet... :(

[Rocketking]

I found with the CWF, that in the past, there have been both Exterior use and Interior.

The Exterior is better for our uses as it tends to be flexible enough when dry to be able to Flex with the body tube and not 'peel off'.

All putties usually are marked when for exterior use. Be Sure to lOOk for and select the exterior use type whenever possible.

Just a thought from many years of use. Thanks to CMASS and Nemroc '91 for that!

[STRMan]

I just used some Hobbico Hobbylite filler to smooth out the spirals in the tubes of three rockets I've recently built, and it worked great. It was $6.99 for an 8 oz. plastic jar, which should be enough to last for a few thousand rockets at my best estimate.

[tbzep]

I've recently been using Elmer's Carpenters Wood Filler in a tube. You can snip off a small piece of the tip, and it makes it easy to dispense along the spiral seams in a tube. I smooth with finger, and to press it down into the seams. Sands very easily.

I also just bought Duplicolor Filler Primer, with "high solids". I've not tried yet, but I like regular Duplicolor primer, and if this has more fillers, and behaves like the regular, this could become a favorite of mine.

I found both at Walmart, but the Duplicolor was in Automotive, not in the Paint Dept.

I recently used some of the high solids Duplicolor primer. It takes a few hours to dry as compared to regular lacquer primer that can be sanded in 20 minutes. It does fill a little better than regular primer. The nozzle is easy on the finger, but it's the same kind that is on K-Mart's Dutch Boy primer, which usually leaks like crazy after first use. This can hasn't leaked yet, but I won't be surprised if it does.

The tube filler sounds like a good solution for applying to seams.

[ghrocketman]

Automotive LINE-X bedliner material works great for a single-spray filling of ALL tube spirals as does automotive spray rubberized undercoating by BONDO.

Single spray, everything filled !

disadvantages:
1) Weighs a ton.
2) Can't sand it worth a hoot.
3) Flammable even when dry
4) Provides a rough speckled surface that you can't paint easily, also see item 2.

But I will say it will fill tube spirals if that is the ultimate goal. :p
I have done it just to be funny and it works.

To be honest, I rarely if ever pay ANY attention to tube spirals other than by what can be filled in by one coat of Kilz or two coats of Auto Grey sandable primer.
If it fills them completely, great, if not who cares if they are slightly visible....this isn't NASA here. In my book that is MORE THAN "good enough" which is what I strive for in my hobbies.
Anything more than "good enough" and a hobby quickly becomes WORK.

[Prairie Flyer]

Thanks for all the good ideas. I was kind of wondering about hobbico filler. I had seen it at the Local store and was currious. The Elmers I have been able to find is the extreior Carpenters grade, It just seemed very heavy. Has anyone ever tried the lightweight spackling putties? They 're super light and sand easy but don't know about the durability and flexibility of it.
Definetly not trying to build a nasa rocket here just a little better job than I did as a kid.
There were times we would buy a rocket at Duckwals or Woolsworth at 10 in the morning and it would be on the pad at 2 ready to fy. :rolleyes: Not really a quality build there.
I also did some long term builds but I, like somebody else posted here, would like to apply some adult skills now. Of course this make it all the more painful when rocket goes Awol or finds a Rocket eating tree but oh well. :(

[Doug Sams]

To be honest, I rarely if ever pay ANY attention to tube spirals other than by what can be filled in by one coat of Kilz or two coats of Auto Grey sandable primer.That's about my approach nowadays. At one time, I put lots of deliberate effort into filling spirals, but now I find that my normal amounts of primer pretty much fill them without any special attention. I brush on one fairly thick coat of Zinsser (to the entire rocket, not just the spirals), lightly sand, then spray automotive primer. At that point, I rarely have any spirals showing. If I still do, then a bit of FNF, or if I'm in a hurry, red putty. The red putty dries in a few minutes and doesn't need primer over it, so it's great for when you're in a time crunch.

Balsa grain, OTOH, usually needs more than just primer, FWIW.

Doug


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[Tom Swift]

I've recently been using Elmer's Carpenters Wood Filler in a tube. You can snip off a small piece of the tip, and it makes it easy to dispense along the spiral seams in a tube. I smooth with finger, and to press it down into the seams. Sands very easily.

I've always use one of those tubes as well. If the paste dries out even a little though, you'll have trouble getting it to stick to the rocket. Tough to dilute inside the squeeze tube so there goes the tidy little dispenser. Oh well. I just squeeze some into a plastic cup, dilute it a bit, apply with a popsicle stick, and smooth it with my fingers. Give it a few seconds to set and most of the excess can be wiped off. Very little sanding needed afterward with 320 or 400 grit paper.

I once tried using some lightweight spackle on shallow tube spirals but found it didn't stick AT ALL. Does it need to be thinned or treated in some way?

[Ltvscout]

I brush on one fairly thick coat of Zinsser (to the entire rocket, not just the spirals), lightly sand, then spray automotive primer. At that point, I rarely have any spirals showing.
What do you brush it on with, a foam brush?

[Doug Sams]

What do you brush it on with, a foam brush?Scott,

I have an art brush, about 3/4" wide, that I picked up with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby, and I use it on most everything MR. After that, for bigger birds, I use a plain old 1" or 1.5" trim brush ala house painters. (Bear in mind that filling HPR spirals requires a bit more than just primer.)

A key trick I learned way, way back is to use a steel brush and comb the paint bristles while cleaning. I can keep a paint brush looking brand new for many years that way. Also, confining the bristles, while still wet from cleaning, helps keep the shape. For art brushes, I have some clothespins, modified with popsicle sticks, for clamping the bristles. The sticks were cut down to about 1.25" in length, then glued cross ways in the jaws. They're sort of hammer head clothes pins now :)

Doug


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[Daniel Runyon]

I spiral a line of masking tape around the tube on each side of the spiral, and when done am left with the spiral isolated into a little "trench". Then I thin some Fill N Finish (same stuff, but actially named Light Wood Filler I believe) into a syrup and "paint" it in without having to worry about making a mess. I then let it dry for about 30 minutes, and when I remove the tape it leaves a perfect raised groove around the spiral.

Next I use a #11 hobby knife to gently scrape the groove down until it's almost flush with the body... it is then VERY easy to sand flush with 400 grit. If there are any places that the scraping pulled up too much, I get a little Fill N Finish (full concentration, not thinned) onto my finger tip and rub it into that spot, wait 15 minutes and then sand that down flush.

I actually REALLY enjoy the spiral filling portion of rocket building... it is very Zen, and my son and I are generally watching an episode of Star Trek while doing all of this so we are pretty relaxed about the process. When I am done I feel like I have really bonded deeply with both my son, and the rocket.

[LeeR]

I actually REALLY enjoy the spiral filling portion of rocket building... it is very Zen, and my son and I are generally watching an episode of Star Trek while doing all of this so we are pretty relaxed about the process. When I am done I feel like I have really bonded deeply with both my son, and the rocket.

Dang -- I want to come over and build rockets at your house! It is nice to hear about activities like this. I remember building an Astron Sprite as a kid (on the coffee table), while my dad and I were watching a Gemini launch. He was not a hobbyist, but was supportive and took interest. I did rockets with my daughters when they were about 4 and 7, but it didn't stick with them like it typically does with boys, but that was OK. We did do rockets a few years later later when I ran model rocketry program in elementary school with their teacher, and my youngest asked me to come help when her junior high science class did a model rocketry program several years after that.

They cherish the memories of those activities, and I do too. And while your son is no doubt thoroughly enjoying it now, he will certainly look back on it with great fondness when he gets older.

[Daniel Runyon]

And while your son is no doubt thoroughly enjoying it now, he will certainly look back on it with great fondness when he gets older.

It's definitely leaving an impression... in many, many ways. We got ahold of all of Star Trek (from the original series on up) and we try to watch three episodes every evening while we build. So he is not only getting the experience of the time we spend together, but he also gets a LOT of thought stimulation from the subject matter of the shows... he asks a TON of questions about it, and thinks about it all day... all of the pictures he draws at school are of rockets/spaceships and family (and almost all of them feature both).

Last year he brought home a picture of a rocket with an astronaut tethered to it on a space walk. It had a note from the teacher on it that he did not follow instructions... that he was supposed to draw George Washington. I asked him what the rocket was and he said it was a Saturn V. I then asked who the astronaut was and he said... "George Washington"!

He was 5 then, 6 now. We just finished watching Capt Picard get assimilated by the borg while working on some Bertha clones, and now he's off to bed!

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

A key trick I learned way, way back is to use a steel brush and comb the paint bristles while cleaning. I can keep a paint brush looking brand new for many years that way.

My trick is to run the brush under a little water, then set it somewhere and forget. I bought a whole bag of these brushes for a ridiculously cheap price. They're spread out all over my deck, my shop, the utility room. Most of them have more rust than the floor of my 1974 Duster, and NONE of them look new.
Yeah, I'm a neat freak's nightmare. :D
And my Duster didn't actually have a floor. :rolleyes: