: Any thoughts on whether I do a precoat before filling some minor cracks and
: spaces, or fill and then precoat?

I prefer to fill cracks with slivers of color-matched wood and then sand them down before applying a sealer coat of epoxy. The slivers of wood provide excellent color-matching as is simple to apply. I played with color-matching filler material on test wood, but found it harder to make a nearly invisible match. I've only built one strip boat, but think there's nothing as easy as wood to fill most gaps.

John
Dallas, Texas