Thinner for good old K&B Superpoxy.

[Ted Fancher]

I'm in the middle of trying to get an "older" ship back in the air which was painted with K&B Superpoxy in about 1984 or so.  I've got a lot of still usable colors and catalyst but no thinner.  I've tested Klasscoat reducer and OSH and Randolph dope/lacquer/epoxy thinners with no luck at all.  Has anyone found a currently available substitute that will thin Superpoxy to spraying consistency?

Thanks.

Ted Fancher

[Brett Buck]

I'm in the middle of trying to get an "older" ship back in the air which was painted with K&B Superpoxy in about 1984 or so.  I've got a lot of still usable colors and catalyst but no thinner.  I've tested Klasscoat reducer and OSH and Randolph dope/lacquer/epoxy thinners with no luck at all.  Has anyone found a currently available substitute that will thin Superpoxy to spraying consistency?

   I have a very small supply of original thinner, and the supposedly-works-with-K&B Klasskote "high grade" thinner. And possibly, this month's OSH lacquer thinner, some batches of which work and some batches of which do not work with K&B. We can try them - I haven't actually attempted to use the supposedly compatible KlassKote "high-grade" thinner so it will be an interesting experiment.

    Brett

[Randy Cuberly]

I'm in the middle of trying to get an "older" ship back in the air which was painted with K&B Superpoxy in about 1984 or so.  I've got a lot of still usable colors and catalyst but no thinner.  I've tested Klasscoat reducer and OSH and Randolph dope/lacquer/epoxy thinners with no luck at all.  Has anyone found a currently available substitute that will thin Superpoxy to spraying consistency?

Thanks.

Ted Fancher

Hi Ted,
It's been a while since I used this stuff because I ran out of K&B Superpoxy quite a while ago but when last I did use it I used Epoxy thinner from Benjamin Moore called CoroTech Epoxy thinner and it worked well.  It's still available but whether it's still the same stuff or not I can't say (EPA has changed a lot of good products as you know).
It's available from the company in the shortcut below.  You might call them and ask about it.  It is probably available at a Marine or automotive supply place.  That's where I used to buy it!

They advertise it for epoxy topcoats!  It's listed as Epoxy Thinner V704.

http://www.corotechcoatings.com/product-detail/corotech/epoxy-thinner

[Balsa Butcher]

Hi Ted: I have some of the original stuff in my paint locker, about 3/4 of a quart which ought to get you through this project. You are welcome to it. If interested send me a PM. Maybe you could pick it up at the Goyet contest in Woodland Aug 20 and 21.
PS: Don't tell anybody where you got it.  
Pete C.

[david beazley]

I think I have better than a half gallon of K&B thinner you could have. Getting it to you would be the issue.

[Mark Scarborough]

Bryan Batch of B and B hobbies in SPokane has a shelf full of K and B  paint I believe,, he will ship ( what can be shipped anyway) he is a good guy, been doing this since he was a wee toddler and the hobby shop has been there for 50 years. its an old school hobby shop...

[bill bischoff]

I have had good results with the KlassKote #550 thinner that they recommend for Superpoxy. I can tell it works better for K&B than the standard #500 thinner.

[frank williams]

I too have used the KlassKote #550 thinner with K&B Superpoxy successfully.  I never had any luck with the HomeDepot thinners.

[Ted Fancher]

I too have used the KlassKote #550 thinner with K&B Superpoxy successfully.  I never had any luck with the HomeDepot thinners.

Hi guys,

thanx for the helpful responses.  Been out of touch for a couple days and just got back to the "hangar".  For the current project I'll probably just take Balsa Butcher up on the partial can as getting my hands on it will be easy at the Goyet meet.  I will keep track of the other sources (the well aged original stuff from Spokane sounds like a winner in that regard), I'll google him and give him a call.  The airplane is my old Citation V that won the 1986 Nats on which the finish has held up more or less OK but I had to do some fuse mods to get a decent sized pipe on the .46VF as well as repairing some hangar rash enough to make it presentable enough for public exposure!  I've been matching/patching with some Brodak dope on areas that were marred down to the balsa but it doesn't hang on to the old epoxy particularly well.

Thanks again for the help and suggestions.

Ted