$17 paint Job Dupli-Color

[EddyR]

I read about the expense of painting a CL model and I wonder why people keep spending big bucks just to fly at the local field or contests with no BOM. Here is a good example how to do a nice paint job and spend a small amount. I built this Excalibur 4-5 years ago and used bad thinner in the Sig dope and the finish looked like the dried up mud puddle. The plane sat around for a year and I cut the flaps and stab off it and built new ones. Removed the old silkspan and sanded it just OK not great. I was worried about the old finish working back to the top as there was a lot of it left on the body and wing parts. A year ago I started to use Dupli-Color and it covers any dope and locks the old finish under it. On this rebuild I used nitrate clear on it with one cote of butyrate on top so I could use one thin coat of spray can D-C primer sealer, no sanding. I then used spray  of D-C Metal Specks Red. I waited one day and sprayed  on one heavy coat of there clear,available in quarts. I cost me $2 partial can of primer. $8 one can of color. $7 for one third can of clear. Total $17. The plane looks like a sheet of glass. Also D-c is very light paint and will not blush unless the humidity is very high. It dries hard and is fuel proof. My Tempest I built last year and painted with D-C has had raw fuel on it and I have had no problems with it. Not a fancy paint job but good enough for the profile event.
Ed

[Larry Fulwider]

Great! When do we launch it first time?
     You are giving me another excuse to delay setting up my compressor, I think. You haven't used the compressor / gun since you started using Dupli-Color, correct?

The Tempest came out great, and this looks just as good in the pics. Are you flying it this week? I can't wait to see it in real life.

(First time I knew that Cannondale also used Dupli-Color.)

Larry Fulwider


 

[john e. holliday]

How weight difference between the old paint job and the new one.  It looks great to me.  DOC Holliday

[Dennis Adamisin]

NICE job Ed.  That red looks like it will really pop in the sunshine!

[Crist Rigotti]

Nice job Ed!

[Robert McHam]

This really looks nice! This I am not surprised! I have used Duplicolor on plastic models with great success but never considered using it on a plane with an engine.

Handled with only a smidgen of care it will produce  quite a respectible look at a modest distance. I should try it myself!

Robert

[EddyR]

Larry I used the compressor to shoot the Dupli-Color clear over the red. You can use the color with out clear but you would need a better base to get the great shine. The Dupli-Color clear comes  in quart cans and it gives a great shine on anything you put it over. I tried a small spot on the bottom with Sig clear and there was no compatibility problems. The clear has a very strong smell that is different than dope. It takes 5-10 minutes to tack up and that lets it flow out and fill in in perfection. It never seem to run and there is almost no overspray problems. Also it is non shrink so you can spray it on fillets and they will not lift.This airframe was very rough and it looks smooth now. The weight is the same as a well done dope finish.
 I added the bike for Leo.
Ed

[Richard Grogan]

How long do you allow the paint to cure/ dry before exposing it to nitro? Also, one would think metal flaked paint would add extra weight v/s a non metallic finish.Is there any truth to this?

I like the way this worked out for you Larry. Definitely something to consider as an alternative finishing method.

[Serge_Krauss]

Ed-

Would you comment on flexibility and repairability of silkspan over open bays with this finish? No cracks with age? Thanks.

SK

[EddyR]

It acts like nitrate except it is fuelproof. It is Sig compatible. I have not uses any thinner in the quarts as it comes ready to spray. I have used Sig under it and on top with no problems. It is Lacquer paint. I waited two days to fly the plane after painting. Here is the Tempest that I built one year ago and it was the first plane I did in all Dupli-Color, color and clear and it is still like new. I would let the bass color sit at least a week before using tape on it. It does dry slower than Sig

[Tom Rounds]

Ed,
The plane looks great. Is this the stock Dick Mathas design? I notice that it has wing mounted gear. I built one of these years ago from a kit that came from some Hobby Shop in Texas and it had wing mounted gear. I just got the plans for the Excalibur and have some laser curt ribs to go with them but it has fuse. mounted gear.

Where to you purchase the paint that you used your plane?

Thanks,
Tom Rounds

[Eric Viglione]

Hey Ed, I think you found a winner! Lot's of cool car color choices too I bet. No more blistered fillets either, right? Yes! 

Gonna fly it in profile at Huntersville?
EricV

[James C. Johnson]

I have some experience with this paint too... if you get any regular gas on it... bye bye finish.. wax it good and that will help protect it.. wipe any fuel off right away.. get back to us at the end of the Flying season on your paint job.. I don't want to be a cynic but "you pays for what you gets..."

You can only thin this stuff with acetone.. it sprays nice dries fast. is a "soft" paint and takes a while to cure to a reasonable hardness.. and it buffs out nicely..  adhesion is not the best to a metal surface. next paint job I am going to use Kerkers. I have always wondered what Sig or Brodak would do on a motorcycle.. emailed Windy with this question he must of thought I was crazy because he never emailed me back.

Here is my Duplicolor project.. frame was painted with Industrial Rustoleum (gas doesn't hurt it a bit) 

   

   

   

   

   

[John Miller]

I've used Dupli-Color and found it to be very friendly. I used clear Butyrate as a top coat. I'll have to try their clear coat.

I have experienced no problems to date with reactions to fuel, or oil residue, even running a Fox .35 with 26% oils spraying all over the plane.

[EddyR]

Tom I have built both versions of the Excalibur. The one with the gear on the body has a thinner wing but mine flew very well with a ST/46 on it.
 I get the Dupli-Color at automotive stores. The large spray cans are $6.oo   The metal flake cans are $8.00. They have quarts in color and clear.
  It takes about two months to get as hard as dope does in one month. There are some finishes that people are using that are raw fuel proof but get soft when the burnt exhaust sits on them. Duppi-Color will not soften with old fuel and oil on it. I have been using the color for 6 years but just started using the clear last year. I have used it to paint bicycles frames and it gets as hard as a rock in about two weeks. It doesn't bind well to some primers but it does bind well to dope. IT IS NOT THE PERFECT FINISH BUT IT IS LESS EXPENSIVE THAN MANY OTHER METHODS. THIS THREAD WAS ABOUT A LESS EXPENSIVE METHOD NOT ABOUT HOW TO FINISH A FRONT ROW NATS PLANE.
  Eric I am not going to enter profile as I haven't mounted the motor yet and I will be out of the area Friday so I would have no time to test fly it.
  James the Tempest has many flights on it and it doesn't show any problems with the paint. Also it does not fade. I think thinning it would lead to problems if acetone was used. I noticed it said to thin it with Acetone. I found that acetone dries to fast for our use and defeats the slow drying that makes it flow so well. Your bike looks great.
Ed

[Matt Colan]

Looks good Ed!!!  Also I might add that Dupli-Color sells paint to match car colors back to 1984 I think.  I'm thinking of trying duplicolor on some plane in the future, but not my Oriental Plus.

[Bill Little]

I have been using Duplicolor for close to 10 years now (maybe more??)  Be careful as there are at least four different *lines* of Duplicolor paint.  Three are lacquers; one is a *synthetic* lacquer, one is Acrylic Lacquer, and one is just *Lacquer*.  The Quart cans are *Paint Shop* and it is the *synthetic*.  The big cans of the Truck, Van and SUV line (along with the same paint in the small 6 oz. cans) is Acrylic Lacquer, and the all (mostly) blue cans are *Lacquer*.  I have mixed and matched all of these on the same plane along with Sig nitrate under them and Sig Supercoat and Sig Lite Coat over them.  Weight wise, it is basically just like dope, except it is better covering than most dopes in the lighter colors.

A lot of guys will remember years ago when automotive lacquers were used to paint the top line stunt ships, and that is all the Duplicolor Paints are; automotive lacquers which have been continuously developed to be more and more VOC compliant.  AFAIK, the Duplicolor Paint Shop is legal everywhere (except maybe California!), and comes prethinned for about $20 a quart.  The can says thin with acetone (as was mentioned) but it thins perfectly with Dupont 3608S.  Aaron's Satana is all Duplicolor colors with an auto urethane clear coat.  A side benefit is that the Paint Shop clears come in *clear*, metallic clear, and flip flop clear!  With no *local* supply of airplane dope, I have turned to alternative paints and these have worked just like dope, just easier.  My Tomahawk was painted using Duplicolor Metallic Gold base and their Metal Cast *Candy* Red over it.  Metal Cast is a line that is really acrylic lacquer candy apple colors that can be sprayed over any color you want to use as a base to simulate anodized aluminum.

The one *line* to stay away from is the Acrylic Enamel Duplicolor.  I *believe* it comes in a mostly all black can.  heavy and not real fuel proof in my one time use of fit.

Mongo