Fine Model Wood Filler/Sanding Sealer

Use this:

 

http://midwestproducts.com/pro...nding-sealer-3-1-2oz

 

It worked for all the RC planes I use to build.

Thanks, but that sounds like the specialty hobby material I was trying to avoid, that

has to be tracked down at a hobby shop, and is sold in small, expensive amounts.  There have often been some really good ideas, that I am using, offered on here that

can be found in the home and auto stores.

Most cases you can use drywall compound to fill wood grain and small holes. Sherwin Williams Paints has a very good sander sealer in spray cans called ProBlock which is sand-able.

I used ProBlock on this Roundhouse floor and roof.

DAP woodfiller can be purchased at any hardware store, and even Walmart. Be aware that the new formula isn't sandable.
Minwax makes a sanding sealer in both pints and quarts, and can be purchased in the stores mentioned above.

My prefered products are automotive primers and polyester spot filler. Since I paint my models, the auto primers work very well in sealing and filling the grain, and the polyester fillers adhere well, are sandable, and won't shrink like the spot putty that comes in a tube.

All of the above products are cheaper than the hobby specific one's, and come in quantities that will last for quite a few O gauge models. Hope this helps.

I'm still using a quart can of Parks Sanding Sealer that I bought at Hechinger's.....

 

Minwax makes a lacquer based sanding sealer.

 

As for shaping wood roof sections, that was just part of building a craftsman kit - still is.  And, it's pretty easy to do - all you need is a 4-in Hand, a couple of sanding blocks, 60, 120, 320 grit, some sanding sticks, and patience.  I actually short cut that process a bit using a 4" upright belt sander......

You can also use sandable auto primer to seal the wood and hide the grain. I used it to paint and seal the wood structure of our concrete bridges.

"water putty" for filler, can be mixed in any consistency. as a sanding sealer the tried and true shellac. drys almost instantly and inexpensive, can be cut to your needs with plain denatured alcohol. both available at any big box store.

 

OK, then try this (like Martin said):

 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_162054...__?productId=3202081

I have used on the layout, a similar product to the Durham product pictured, with good results.  This product is used a lot as underlayment patch and feather for sheet vinyl flooring materials. It dries hard. Only downside, is that, IMO, not easily sand-able.

Here is a slideshow of a section of the layout using a similar product.  Click on the underlined phrase. Application usually involves two or three thin coats.

Station Feed Store

this product is shellac that has already been thinned with alcohol, probably a 1lb cut. full strength would be a 3lb cut. you can also buy it in flake form and mix it as you use it as it has a mixed shelf life of about 1 year. check the date in the can when you buy it.

Product notes say soap & water cleanup, indicating that the product is water-based, so I would not recommend it for use on a wood or paper model, because of potential warping or swelling that water can cause on wood with thin cross sections. Shellac would be better, though I prefer clear aircraft dope, thinned with lacquer thinner. I have had MinWax oil-based clear satin polyurethane varnish, thinned with mineral spirits, recommended to me for this purpose, but I haven't tried it yet. I have used it to seal bench work on modules and furniture quite successfully, so it seems like it should work, provided you can thin it to a consistency that will soak in and avoid build up on details like scribed siding. Try to apply it on both sides (inside & out) to help prevent warping.

 

Bill in FtL

The stuff is made to put on wooden floors (from the link):

 

Base 32 fl oz Sanding Sealer

• Use on unstained, bare wood floors, furniture, doors and cabinets
• Seals wood grain providing an even finish when topcoated
• Easy to sand
• Quickly dries in 1 hour
• Cleans up with soap and water

It's not coming off easily once dried, the soap and water cleanup I suspect is for cleaning the brush used to apply it.

 

As a matter of fact, that's what I used on the wooden roof of my All-Nation Observation car, might even still have the quart can in the garage.

check the expiration date

The can of Parks that I still use has to be prior to 1999 when Hechinger's ceased operations. 

If your looking to fill and shape and plan on painting the area, try car bondo works great.

as long as it hardens it is good, when bad it stays tacky

I tracked down a spray sanding sealer, but the big box stores were hopeless.  They want to sell you a washtub full of thick stuff for floors.  "Sanding sealer" used to be in every dime and hardware store when I was a kid...now zip.  But now that I have closely studied the roof of the prototype photo, it looks like it was covered with thin strips of canvas or roofing tar, which will cover the sanding imperfections. (no mention of that in the instructions...just bare wood offered).  Thin paper or fine sandpaper applied in strips may be the answer.   (Only one out of three Sherwin-Williams stores

had heard of "ProBlock", and they just had a primer with that name...I did not do an

internet search)

It helps to know how to put the lid back on a can securely,

 

....covered with thin strips of canvas or roofing tar, which will cover the sanding imperfections. (no mention of that in the instructions...just bare wood offered).  Thin paper or fine sandpaper applied in strips may be the answer.

It's not mentioned since very few bother to go to that level of finishing, but it does aid as your note in dealing with imperfections due to excessive and/or aggressive sanding ( ), although one can generally replace the divots with a bit of wood filler and then be more gentle.

 

I generally use 50% overlapping single layers of paper napkin strips (I get mine at Panera,  ) that are put down in place with 50% aqueous glue letting it wrap over the edges.  An exceedingly sharp scalpel removes the excess paper (and finger tips!) when dry.  Most of my roofs done this way are painted Dark Lark Grey (Floquil).

Since I am temporarily stalled on shaping, filler drying, and sanding those "corners", rounded, where the roof clerestory rounds off into the roof (another one of my pet gripes about these kits..some provide the curved strips..this one does not, and these look like they could be cut in with the original cutting), I made a chase to the far away hobby shop.  They have "sanding sealer", but it is for balsa airplane models, and the shopkeeper said to only use it with "model airplane dope", or it will peel with other spray-on paints.  Be warned! And I passed, and will, as suggested by "mwb", experiment with thin papers, which I have used for structure roofs, if not

cars.   Who knew you need to get up on top of an old heavyweight coach and see

what the roof really looks like...in this case it looks like overlays of thin asphalt?roofing strips.  This car does not have too many roof top appliances, but has a bell,

a couple of fuel tanks (to be made from dowel) and a headlight.  The automotive type engines in these old conversions of a heavyweight into a gas electric were mounted in louvred "boxes" hung under the frame, so that won't be hard to model.  It looks as though radiators were part of the "boxes" under the car which leaves you wondering about cooling on the prototype.  Drawing seems to picture two radiators, one behind the other, on each "box".