thompsondockside.com

Rookie question...on a lapstrake hull, what is used to cover the screw heads? Putty of some sort?

From the factory, others can comment on what was used specifically, but it was some sort of putty that I found very easy to pop out. For those that I have refilled, I've used Smiths "fill it" with excellent results.

Thanks Peter...I'm using the Fill It for repair of nicks and gouges. Wasn't sure if screw head covering was a good application of the Fill It. Not to permanent for accessing screws sometime in the future?

Most likely white lead from the factory back in the day.

I use Smith's Fill-It now.

Andreas

I've not tred to remove smiths (other tan fairing). I suspect you can get it back out - it will be more difficult than the old white lead I am sure. But even for a temporary fix I would use the most robust filler available and Fill-It is ideal.

And just what is white lead? Seriously? Is it really lead? How did they make it white? Gaa....there's soooo much to learn!

Thanks, John

Red lead and white lead were both used as primers back in the day due to their superior anticorosive properties. Red lead pigment was mixed into a base product and yes it did contain high concentrates of lead. White was the same thing just a different color. The real deal was outlawed sometime back in the 70's I believe. You can still by a product called Red lead primer, but it ain't what it used to be.
Filler on Thompson screw holes may have been white lead primer that was thickened to a more paste like consistency.
When I was much younger I painted the lower 1/3 of my 1947 Chevrolet with the real deal Red lead the I found two cans of in my grandfathers garage. Right over bare metal and never did get around to color coating the car. It never did rust and is probably the only part of that car left today
Karl.