Mr. Surfacer vs. automotive primer

[Yevgeniy]

Hi all,

I read somewhere in this forum that Mr. Surfacer is actually an automotive primer diluted to some extent. Is it right?

I have got a bottle of automotive primer in aerosol and tried it on Konig superstructure deck which is supposed to be covered by linoleum but in has engrave lines to represent planking. These lines are to be sanded down or filled - I thought Mr. Surfacer (in my case automotive primer) would serve as a filler.

So far I made 1 layer. On the bottle they write that there shall be 2-3 layers which I will do later (5 minutes drying time between layers). And so far the result is not satisfactory to me - engraved lines are still visible.

Can automotive primer be a replacement to Mr. Surfacer? And can those engraved lines (very little depth) be properly filled with primer?

Yevgeniy

[DAVID BILEK]

Hi Jevgenij!

yesterday I heavily (I did not want, it was unhappy occassion) sprayed hangar deck in my Essex by Mr. Surfacer 1000 in spray can - just after spraying I did not see any engraving - all was hidden uder heavy layer of Surfacer, but after 10 minutes of drying, the engraving was perfectly visible again.

So I cannot recommend the Surfacer as "easy" filler in only one-two-three layers. You have to apply more layers to really "delete" planking. And wait longer time for drying of each layer - Surfacer is hard enough to be sanded after several hours, but if you fill deeper (0,5mm) gap, the drying process is slower and after one-two weeks you can see traces from the gap again! I have bad experience from my aircraft projects, where I am using Mr. Surfacer as filler for light gaps between fuselage/wings. It is OK after one day, but as long as Surafecer is drying, the gap is more and more visible.

Anyway, for the planking it is good solution!

Cheers

David
http://www.sweb.cz/davidbilek

[Yevgeniy]

David,

Thank you for feedback.

I have put 3,5 layers (first layer was not really good) of automotive primer from can (from what I read about Mr. Surfacer on MW I understand it is automotive primer diluted to various extents) waiting approx. 10 minutes before putting next layers (on the can they suggest 5 minutes waiting time).

The result is about 60-70% satisfactory - planking is still not 100% unvisible. So I will probably put more layers as you suggest. It is good that there is not other details on this deck except planking to be hidden so I am not afraid of 'too many' layers

Thanks again - your information gave me certain support.

Yevgeniy