Those following my project will know I have been doing a lot of filler work. In spite of this I have still not got my skill/confidence to the level you see on those TV programmes where the guy whacks a load of filler on, deftly smoothes it off, and then once it has gone off, easily sands it back to a smooth finish first time.

I tend to not put enough on with the first pass of the scraper, then when you try to add a bit more before it goes off and you reapply the scraper you "pull" the surface and generally make a mess of it. Then when you guide coat it and sand it back, your find a few small areas where the surface is still low, so then you have to add a bit more, etc etc. When sanding these reapplied areas you have to be careful not to push the existing good filler surface back down as you try to blend in the newer bit of filler. Another irritation is that when doing these small repair applications I always seem to mix up too much filer, so the excess is wasted.

Then as the surface comes good you find still more very small flaws, and sometimes areas of porosity when you had air bubbles in the filler. These I have been addressing with premixed "spot putty", which is a pain as takes a long time to go hard enough to sand and it is always going hard in the tin.

Last time I was in the body shop materials supplier, It was recommended that I try "Dolphin Glaze self levelling finishing putty" for these small touch ups. This stuff is fantastic. It comes in a tube, you squeeze out just as much as you need, squeeze a similar length of hardener onto it (the nozzle sizes are calibrated to suit this) mix it up and skim it on. It is the consistency of runny honey, and it does "self level" to an extent. You finish applying, clean the scraper and by the time you turn back to the job it has gone off. It is very easy to sand, and is a bit softer than filler, so it levels out easily.

Another product that was recommended to me is "3M dry wipe guide coat". This is a canister of a black powder than you apply by wiping it over the filler with a (supplied) sponge. You would think than it would just blow/brush off, but it stains the filler and works very well. Advantages over the traditional paint spray from a rattle can is that is much cheaper, can be sanded immediate after application and doe not clog the sandpaper anything like as badly as paint.

Wish I had discovered these products years ago.

Cheers

Fred W B






[Edited on 22/8/11 by Fred W B]