Crack Filler

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

There comes a time when every Rocketeer has to give in and do some crack filling.

It may be filling spiral grooves on a craft paper body tube, or maybe it's smoothing out a seam on a blown plastic nose cone... but eventually, we all give in.

The big question appears to be, what product to use to fill the cracks, seam, chip, or wood grain.


There seems to be three schools of thought on this:

  1.  Wood sealer of some sort is used to seal the pores on balsa wood and not show the grain
  2.  Wood Filler putty or plastic wood is used to replace chunks of wood that are missing.
  3.  Bondo putty is the choice of many, as it is made for shaping and filing gaps, and is an automotive product.
  4. Perfect plastic putty or Tamila Model Crack filler are used for small seams or on PLASTIC models to smooth out the finish in preparation for painting.
Now, I have used all of these products at various times, and have made some discoveries which I will share with you now.


  1. Wood sealer comes in a liquid and can be dangerously volatile or aromatic. It requires ventilation. But you can  use something like diluted wood glue instead, cut with water to make a slurry that seals as it dries quickly.
  2. Wood putty can change color to show when it cures, but always anticipates sanding. It may go on purple, but dries white or yellow.  You can seal over it and paint over it after sanding.
  3. Bondo is very popular, but the DARK MAROON color requires some priming, painting or other hiding before it can be covered. In other words, the smeary Bondo absolutely requires painting because of the extreme contrast with white cardboard, wood or other surface.  It looks ghastly before painting.
  4. Perfect Plastic Putty comes from England and is slightly more expensive than Tamila. However it cleans up with water. Tamila Model crack filler is volatile and dries harder and more firm.  BOTH will cure on your finger tips and Tamila is harder to scrub off.  My experience with PPP is that it cleans up easier and does an admirable job filling the slot that Tamila does.

Now, you may not want to order overseas for this PPP product, but you can find it on eBay, amazon or other internet service and you may have to wait for it to arrive. However, it will be worth it.


I normally don't make an endorsement of a product, but my latest experience has been the best.  And I wanted to share it with you.

This has been the Thrifty Rocketeer, reminding you to cap your crack filler so that it doesn't dry out between applications!


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