Color Dope HELP!!!!

[JamieHolford]

I have a friend who Im getting into Control Line and he wants Navy Blue and White as his colors for his Brodak Trainer. Can anyone provide me with a link to buy that has it available?

 Ive looked everywhere and its either they dont have the colors or none at all.


Any help much appriciated.

And I noticed the prices are REALLY up there these days. Heck I spent $4 on my bottle of Sig Black and now I see prices from $7 up to $15 for a 4oz bottle!

[Greg McCoy]

I just did my last quick build using Ace epoxy appliance aerosol, is comes in black, white, and maybe avocado. Just kidding on avocado.

Dope colors are the traditional colors for full sized aircraft. here is a list from Randolph, quarts are about $25.

http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_cat.php/subid=9568/index.html

The prices are causing innovation. There are others here that have had success with Rustoleum aerosol. Search this site for that.

[Michael Massey]

Try this website.  I have bought from them a lot.  They sell Randoph Dope which is where Brodak buys from.  Prices are right and service is great.  They have a color chart to see if they have what colors you would like.  Good luck,

Mike

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/

[Garf]

I have long ago gone to polyurethane and plastic film covering. Dope takes longer, is more expensive, and hard to come by.

[billbyles]

I have long ago gone to polyurethane and plastic film covering. Dope takes longer, is more expensive, and hard to come by.

"Dope takes longer,..."  Well, yeah, it's a craftsmanship thing; if you like finishing with dope then the extra time is no big deal.

"...is more expensive,..."  Back when I was doing a little R/C I used plastic film covering - I'm not sure that it is any less expensive.  Some advantages of film covering are that you can use it if you don't have a place to spray dope or don't have the equipment.

"...and hard to come by."  I don't find it hard to come by at all, there are several suppliers including Sig, Brodak, & Randolph dopes.  Over the long haul using Randolph dope is the least expensive and it is easily available from many full-scale aircraft parts & material suppliers including Aircraft Spruce & Specialty.  Additionally, Randolph has a huge array of colors and all of the thinners, retarders, & other dope products you would ever need.

[JamieHolford]

THank all of you for the help. He decided to go with the pitts red and isignia yellow. He said he jsut wants to get that plane in hte air

[billbyles]

THank all of you for the help. He decided to go with the pitts red and isignia yellow. He said he jsut wants to get that plane in hte air

OK, red & yellow...what kind of covering material and finishing process?

[JamieHolford]

Brodak color dope in 4oz bottles.


Id imaigne it would be....sand...coat...sand...coat...sand...coat..lite sand... FLY

[john e. holliday]

If you do all the filling and sanding before the color coats, you will not need to sand the color.  At least that is what I have tried to do on some of my models.

[Leester]

One thing with Randolph and Sig is they have Light Clear Dope ( low shrink) Butyrate. I wonder why Brodak doesn't  

[billbyles]

One thing with Randolph and Sig is they have Light Clear Dope ( low shrink) Butyrate. I wonder why Brodak doesn't  

I suspect that Brodak's (I haven't used it so can't say for sure) is already low-shrink or "lite".  If you are going to sell only one product then that would be the way to go.  However, I like to use the tautening type for the first three coats on silkspan or silk to get the covering taught, then change to the low-shrink dope for all subsequent coats including color & final topcoat clear.

[Hoss Cain]

Try this website.  I have bought from them a lot.  They sell Randoph Dope which is where Brodak buys from.  Prices are right and service is great.  They have a color chart to see if they have what colors you would like.  Good luck,

Mike

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/

SIG Dope is re bottled Randolph. Brodak is a special formulated dope that was worked out between Brodak and Randolph.
While fairly expensive, my 62+ years of doping models makes me believe that Brodak is the most superior dope I have ever used. I have used all the model suppliers dopes, Aero Gloss, Testors, and a couple others plus 1:1 scale suppliers Super Flite, Randolph and a couple others including some liberated from some USAF bases when I was pulling Alert at several bases in Spain and Morocco.

If you want a dope finish, you will not go wrong with Brodak (No, I have no stock in the company ) Don't forget the Retarder. Acetone and/or lacquer Thinner serve well for clean-up and sometimes as thinner. I don't take chances with final colors as I know not about those mixes, just experiences I did not like.

BTW, dope thinner does soften cyanoacrylate glue joints. Use care.

[George]

Hoss, You forgot to mention Rejuvinator...which has lots of plasticiser in it. 

George

[Hoss Cain]

Hoss, You forgot to mention Rejuvinator...which has lots of plasticiser in it. 

George

You know, George, I have never used rejuvinator. I always thought that was for refinishing old paint jobs. I never had many OLD paint jobs, and I did not think it would serve any purposes my age needed. 
Be happy to hear any points.

[George]

Hoss,

I have mixed it with dope for final coats to hopefully prevent the dope from later becoming brittle.

I have applied it to older finishes where I saw the finish starting to crack.

I have used it to repair silkspan on a new finish where I was over zealous with sandpaper over ribs.   

All of this, of course, could have been done by other methods.

George

[billbyles]

SIG Dope is re bottled Randolph. Brodak is a special formulated dope that was worked out between Brodak and Randolph.
While fairly expensive, my 62+ years of doping models makes me believe that Brodak is the most superior dope I have ever used. I have used all the model suppliers dopes, Aero Gloss, Testors, and a couple others plus 1:1 scale suppliers Super Flite, Randolph and a couple others including some liberated from some USAF bases when I was pulling Alert at several bases in Spain and Morocco.

If you want a dope finish, you will not go wrong with Brodak (No, I have no stock in the company ) Don't forget the Retarder. Acetone and/or lacquer Thinner serve well for clean-up and sometimes as thinner. I don't take chances with final colors as I know not about those mixes, just experiences I did not like.

BTW, dope thinner does soften cyanoacrylate glue joints. Use care.

"SIG Dope is re bottled Randolph."

Not exactly...they have quite a different smell and have different drying characteristics.  Sig is also more fuel-resistant than is Randolph.  On my models I use Randolph colors with Sig topcoat clear due to the superior fuel-resistance of Sig.  Brodak is quite a bit less fuel-resistant than either Sig or Randolph.

" BTW, dope thinner does soften cyanoacrylate glue joints." 

Well, you would have to flood coat the CA joint with dope to get it significantly weakened or parted.  If you are putting the dope on that heavily then you are over-doing it.

[Balsa Butcher]

Thank you for putting the record straight Bill. My experience has been the same as yours. In addition I have found that Sig Clear is more resistant to blushing than Brodak in high humidity conditions. 

[Hoss Cain]

"SIG Dope is re bottled Randolph."

Not exactly...they have quite a different smell and have different drying characteristics.  Sig is also more fuel-resistant than is Randolph.  On my models I use Randolph colors with Sig topcoat clear due to the superior fuel-resistance of Sig.  Brodak is quite a bit less fuel-resistant than either Sig or Randolph.

" BTW, dope thinner does soften cyanoacrylate glue joints." 

Well, you would have to flood coat the CA joint with dope to get it significantly weakened or parted.  If you are putting the dope on that heavily then you are over-doing it.

Whatever floats your cork, you are free to do.  Please don't bill for your advice as I am not buying. A number of years ago, I owned a Hobby Shop and knew the owners of Sig very well. I stocked all kinds of dope including 1:1 scale. At that time the Sigafooses (SP?) did not keep any secrets about their re bottling dope. Adding some smell stuff was not a problem.

When Hobby Poxy and K&B Super Poxy was available I forgot the dope finishes, but alas the legislators only listened to the "hippies" and the good things went away. Now I am back. I just don't build many airplanes anymore.

So you paint with whatever and I will do the same. I find Brodak Dope to be excellent and I keep a significant stock but I have others. As far as blushing, I live in super humid country, SE Texas. Retarder is required.
In addition, my dope methods would make you super-painters cringe. However I don't go for beauty treatments, just effective. When I glue some fingers together, I reach for some thinner or acetone and relieve the sticky.
I do a lot of things wrong, and my wife confirms that. Yet I'm still on top side of the grass and in good health.

Again thanks for the lecture.