Best Wood Filler to use on ship hull

[Burroak]

What wood filler does everyone use for the ship hull?

[Jaager]

Wood flour of the planking species mixed with PVA ( Titebond II for me).

[Burroak]

On some of the build logs I've seen builders using a white creamy looking filler. I haven't seen it at the local Lowes or Home Depot. I will try at Hobby Lobby next.

[robnbill]

I found that a number of different fillers worked depending on the situation. If it is a small crack that will be painted over, then the white speckling compound worked great. For small cracks that would be stained over, I tend to put some wood glue in the crack then sand over it allowing the dust to fill in the crack.

 

If you are painting over an area and have a large defect to fill, then you could use epoxy in it's various forms since it can be sanded and shaped after setting. If you are staining, I have not found any filler that could be used on larger areas (other than a small crack) that would not show up after sanding. The manner it absorbs the stain and the texture give it away.

 

If you are truing a first planking for a second planking, then almost any filler would do as long as it adhered well to the wood.

[MarkBseau]

Hobbico's HobbyLite wood filler works well.  Easy to use, easy sanding, adheres well and is strong.

[overdale]

If the filler is to be painted or planked over, then I have found spackle compound the best for the job. It sands very easily and has such a fine grain it is undetectable under paint. 

A good tip is to wipe some super/crazy glue over the entire filled area after you have sanded it smooth. The filler soaks up the glue and it hardens and toughens to an amazing degree.  

Edited March 2, 2016 by overdale

[grsjax]

Elmer's WoodFiller.  Easy to work with.  Goes on blue and turns white when it is dry.

[Roger Pellett]

Have you tried Bondo? It is east to mix, hardens quickly, sands to an invisible feather edge and is cheap. 30 Yeats ago I build a clyindrical body od the boiler for steam cutter model by turning a slug of Bondo on a metal lathe. It has held up well. I should also add that it bonds well to wood. I keep a can in my shop and use it often.

 

For those readers from across the pond, Bondo is the proprietary name for a polyester paste putty used by the auto body repair trade.

 

Roger

[mischief]

I have good results using Tamiya Putty, white no. 87095

[mikiek]

I use the Tamiya white putty also. Rather than waiting for it to dry and then sanding, I apply it wait about 5 minutes then wipe it down with lacquer thinner on a paper towel. You'll find that a lot of the putty wipes off with no sanding - what's left smooths out nicely. Also the paper towel is rough enough to leave a bit of texture to what's left.  If you do your last wipes following the wood grain, the texture kind of steaks with the grain. What putty is left looks a little like a wood surface.

 

Just be sure to do this in a well ventilated area.

[texxn5]

Fortunately, I needed very little filler. Where I did, I used Testor's Contour Putty (gray tube). It dried fast and sanded easy. The other thing was that MS Primer was extremely thick. So when I primed the area, it filled the gaps nicely and retained the plank shapes defining them nicely. It also sanded easily. My only problem was that MS's paints do leave brush marks, and the primer wasn't that easy to completely cover sometimes taking 3 coats, but overall I was pleased with the outcome.

John

[AntonyUK]

Hi.

I do the same as Jaager. Mix a little of the fine dust with the PVA glue to a soft putty. Works a treat.

 

Wood flour of the planking species mixed with PVA ( Titebond II for me).

Regards Antony.