So the last update saw me getting a tad confused over the excellent advice being offered here. So I decided to step away from the tools for a few days and look at the options available. So using car filler, you have two components, the filler itself and a chemical hardener. You need to mix these together, typically about 5% hardener. It seems that a common problem is to overdo the hardener, which result in the generation of gas which leaves behind small pinholes in the filler. Essentially the problem that I had. Common practice, once the main filler is applied, is to use another finer putty called glaze putty over the top, which will fill in the imperfections and leave a smooth surface once sanded.
@screenman advised me to go with Dolphin Glaze, which looks to fit the bill perfectly, sadly the stuff is not available in Germany. Frustratingly I was actually in Britain two weeks ago and could have easily picked some up had I known about it then. Oh well.
More research showed that the common practice in Germany is to use a fine filler, not as good as a glaze, but still more than effective for what i needed. So I picked some up and got back to my favourite pastime of filling and sanding! Once I felt it was finished, I shot some more primer over it, only to hit my next problem, when I ran out just before I'd finished. There was no black primer left anywhere and with only a tiny area left to fill it was a little annoying, so I purchased some grey primer and decided to go over everything again.
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The end result was really pleasing and I decided was more than good enough. I'd spent enough time sanding and filling, this really doesn't need to be 100%.
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So with an early finish to work on Tuesday and glorious weather, I decided it was high time to treat it to a top coat. So I popped the frame into my work stand which has a 360° swivelling head, which allowed me to swing the frame around as I sprayed it.
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I was using paint from
spray.bike which is a heavily pigmented paint that is dead simple to apply and get a really good result from. Close up, the the heavy pigment does produce a slight orange peel effect, but I can live with that. It also goes on matt, so will need several coats of lacquer to create a gloss finish, which will be a challenge to get a good result with. However, overall I'm really pleased with how it's looking.
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So hopefully I can get a few coats of lacquer on whilst the weather is still warm and dry. Close to the finish now.