ICING _ Finishing Putty I'm a bodywork newbie and was recommended finishing putty "Icing" , to finish off current challenge - fiberglass hood scoop. A few 80' scratches on previos work and tiny air bubble/pockets need addressing before more primer. Has fiberglass waterproof filler/ Rage / DP epoxy primer and bare steel. . 'Picked up a tube and would like to hear from confident Icing applier before squeezing tube ... The USC Data - PDF is basic filler info. Compatible with all fillers? / Thinner consistency than filler?, / Faster 3 min set?, / Why does tube and lit. say POURABLE/BRUSHABLE, but only gives spreader info? Thanks Powerband ///
my question to you is do you have a air file and the SKILL to operate it? maybee would be better finished off more with regular body filler could be a lot of work by hand
The "icing" would be polyester spot putty? If so I prefer epoxy sealer (primer) prior to applying the spot putty. If it is cake icing, I prefer buttercream. Just don't put it on a warm hood!
Do your self a favor and use Feather Fill , A Polyester primer. Fill no more then 80 grit, and you will be fine. This will seal lose fibers, so they will not show up later. When you have three, different materials as you do. fiberglass / gel coat / bondo. It will only be in time it will read through the surface. Nock it down to 150 or 100 grit then apply your k 200 sealer primer surfacer. Remember a hood get's all the sun's heat, and can't wait to shrink. http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=70 Feather Fill® A two-part, polyester primer surfacer with high-build capability that can be used on bare steel, treated aluminum, fiberglass and wood surfaces for filling scratches and minor surface imperfections without shrinking. MEKP activator included.
I think I'd get a little closer to finish than 80 grit. Yes you can pour it / brush it or put it on with your finger like for radii in the corners. Can mix the same way you mix regular body putty, heavy / lite , the cure depends on the amount of hardner again like regular filler. Pin holes I wait until after primer then use a straight razor blade w/real firm pressure to fill them in, you can fill the pin hole and not have much other sanding around it. I like your hood looks good.
Get some 2k primer and lay 2 or 3 heavy coats block sand and 1more primer coat sand and spot glaze with a lacquer spot putty go paint top coat .
I thought Icing would have been a great tool to use when I did my work. It didnt work well for me. I ended up with 2k Primer over my work, came out great.
Icing isn't for everybody as the responses here suggest. For me it is simple economics. Filler like Rage or similar stuff is about $30+- a gallon. 2K/K36 and other heavy-fill primers by the time you get the catalyst and reducer, you are @ $200 per sprayable gallon! Icing as a final-fill application is for sand scratches (like an errent 36 grit scratch or two that would take your fill down too far to sand out) pinholes, minor imperfections that MIGHT come back through 2K. It's just cheap insurance to use icing if you have a slightly questionable area. Icing does not have the density of Rage! If you need more regular filler for a low spot, icing won't do the job! Icing sands about twice as fast as Rage, maybe faster, again is doesn't have the density either before or after catalyzing. It is for imperfections that MIGHT come through your hi-build (expensive) primer. Every product has it's indended use. If you stick with what is it good for, Icing is the best at what it does. Dan Stevens dba, Steelsmith
yeah, trying to putty that hood could be a nightmare even for the most talented bodyman. feather fill will work, but i personally would use a 2 part high build primer, 3 coats and put it out in the hot sun for a day. let it shrink and expand and whatever else it wants to do. block sand it and reprime, sand, seal and paint. you can use the putty between primer coats to fill in any pinholes if needed. p.s. you should always try to "bake" any fiberglass panels BEFORE you perform your bodywork.
Steve you are correct! Ive bought marhide for lesser important surface's. works great Marhide is 50$ a gallon with catalist 75$ any good thiner will work. PPG has their "shop line" products, they are half the price of there preimium line Im thinking doing once is very important
Icing is a pretty decent finishing putty, if you mix it correctly pinholes aren't too shabby. In collision repair at work I always get my mud with 40 then 80, for icing or a different finishing putty 80, and make sure to get all of the 80 scratches out with 150 before laying down primer. All of those ringed mud spots on your hood I would make sure to get a nice coat of the icing over, they could lift back through primer.
Thanks for all responses, The hood is finished to 180 grit with Rage, with some errant 80'scratchs on finished work. I was thinking about the ringed mud spots, from multiple mud layers and different textures of the fbgls/steel and filler as the reason to "skim" with something consistent - and easy to sand before DP50 . I've got some K36 to go over epoxy primer. "Been setting it out in the sun to see what happens - so far so good, scoop is bonded to hood with SEM fbgls to steel epoxy. Powerband
Looking at where it is now I'd go with a coat of DP (so everything is on the "same page") then 3 of Feather Fil & start blocking.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! Sorry I used Icing TWICE as a skim coat. The first time I used it, it never hardened and I had to scrape it off, gouging what was underneath. Well, being a genius, I figured I didn't put enough hardener in it so I did it a second time (after I had reworked the damage). Second time was the same. ACK! How horrible. Scraped it again. cleaned it and reworked everything. Tossed the rest of the tube in the trash!
I would bet the hardener you had was bad. That is the cause of about 98% of any polyester filler hardening isses.
Be real carefull with that shit...it is made to fill tiny pinholes and small sand scratches and thats all. If you try to build up any thickness whatsoever it won't be pleasant... Also, I wouldn't use it over a large area for the same reason. A few coats of highbuild primer will make you much happier... Good luck, -Abone.
I used whatever body filler was around, usually Rage, and added to it about 50% fiberglass resin-(A or B). Catalyze as with normal filler. This made a super thin, smooth filler that I used to force into pinholes in filler or fiberglass. Work fast cuz it will kick off quickly once it starts to set. Block it with 80G and prime. Used this system for 25+ years without ever having a comeback. A paint job is only as good as what's under it, and it's good that you're taking the time to do this part right! And here's another tip-USE A GUIDE COAT-on everything you sand. If you're not proficient at your plastic work yet, use a flat black, or buzz can primer guide coat on eveything you sand, and you will never have "errant 36 grit scrathes" show up in your primer. At the primer stage, all work should be in the same grit, and I primed over 80G with everything from lacquer primer to the finest/latest 2K polyester/epoxy whatever primers. Finer than this, and fiberglass, metal and filler tend to get "polished"-primer needs tooth to stick properly. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Eric
Ive used it for the first time myself and I use laqer based materials because of costs ,I used icing and its ok ....I went back to my old ways using nitrostan ,,,I noticed miniature air bubbles and I spread thin ,I personally would not use heavy primer to fill sand scratches .I also know that the new epoxies are better ,But price is my only factor .... My advise is ,Stick to what you know......Also Half time is excellent also.................
I second the useage of primer... Throw a few coats on it and block it down and you'll be much happier. General rule of thumb (for me anyway) is that when using a 1 inch wide spreader, if you have to make more than one swipe to cover what youre trying to fill, its too much.
BEWARE OF K-36. When you high build K-36 it shrinks ALOT. I have been doing Custom Bodywork for 33 years. I use U-Pol Reface (like Featherfill but BETTER) and U-Pol 2525 High Build Primer. I swear by these products. Check to see if your local supplier has U-Pol products. If not, check the internet, I believe that you can mail order U-Pol products. They are the best I've ever used. Just my 2 Cent
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