Painting MonoKote

[Bill Richards]

Can MonoKote be painted with dope, and is there any prep needed to be done to the MonoKote. I am painting the fuse and monokoting the wing and tail feathers.   

[dennis lipsett]

In my opinion dope is not a viable product to use over Monokote or any plastic film. Even with primer adhesion is always a problem. Better to use Rustoleum ,perfect paint if you can still find it or the spray paint from tower. These have at least a history of staying on and not cracking,
dennis

[Brett Buck]

Can MonoKote be painted with dope, and is there any prep needed to be done to the MonoKote. I am painting the fuse and monokoting the wing and tail feathers.   

   Dope won't work well at all. I had some luck back in the day with Chevron over Monokote, but the adhesion was marginal. I did a lot of airplanes with Monokote wing/tail and Chevron on the fuselage, and it was OK. I think Chevron is long gone, however.

   Allen Brickhaus is the expert on the use of Monokote and Rustoleum.  I would search the archives for anything he might have said on the topic, or ask him, because he is a great guy and will help.

    Brett

[Paul Taylor]

Use scratch pad, or steel wool and scuff the monokote then paint with spray paint. Rustoleum

[Dennis Adamisin]

Scuffing should help a lot

Has anyone tried the acryllic RC Car body paint that they use on lexan bodies?

[Brett Buck]

Scuffing should help a lot

Has anyone tried the acryllic RC Car body paint that they use on lexan bodies?

  No, but I would expect that to work a lot better, although I have had nothing but problems trying to use acrylic paint on anything.
 I am not sure it's fuelproof (and please let's leave the electric taunting out of it, I got my quota of that on Friday...)

   Brett

[James Mills]

   Dope won't work well at all. I had some luck back in the day with Chevron over Monokote, but the adhesion was marginal. I did a lot of airplanes with Monokote wing/tail and Chevron on the fuselage, and it was OK. I think Chevron is long gone, however.

   Allen Brickhaus is the expert on the use of Monokote and Rustoleum.  I would search the archives for anything he might have said on the topic, or ask him, because he is a great guy and will help.

    Brett

See if you can get a copy of Allen's Olympus article, I think he covered his technique thoroughly.

James

[Mike Keville]

Krylon "Fusion" (a spray-can paint made for plastics) worked well for me.  Gloss White was applied to transparent blue MonoKote, seen here on this S.D. Zilch.  As recommended in posts above, first scuff the areas to be painted, using either a Scotch-Brite pad or a light touch with 400-grit wet-or-dry paper used dry.  Also, as recommended by others above, I believe Allen Brickhaus is a leading authority on MonoKote/Rustoleum finishes.

[Jim Kraft]

Years ago Monokote had a covering they called preprimed Monokote. I had a friend that used it on his R/C biplane, and painted it with Aerogloss, and  it was beautiful. He had no adhesion problems, and it looked great.

[john e. holliday]

I have found that any plastic covering can be painted with dope as long as you don't paint over the open areas.  I scuff the area on which I am going to paint and just paint.   So far it has adhered to the solid areas.

[Dennis Adamisin]

  No, but I would expect that to work a lot better, although I have had nothing but problems trying to use acrylic paint on anything.
 I am not sure it's fuelproof (and please let's leave the electric taunting out of it, I got my quota of that on Friday...)

   Brett

I was thinking in terms of painting some trim then clearcoating.  I was also expecting the car paint would be fairly tough because it has to endure fuel too.



Me?  Taunt about electrics???  nawwwww

[Randy Cuberly]

I've tried several different paints over Monokote over the years and the one that stands out best above all the rest is Top Flite Lustrekote.  It is available in a very broad range of colors both gloss and matte.  It dries very hard and is the most fuel proof stuff I've ever used.  It's at least as good in that department as any of the automotive clear coats.
As with all things it's not perfect (no pun intended), because the spray cans that it comes in can be very problematic, especially in cool weather.  The cans need to be shaken until you think your arms will fall of then shaken some more.  If not very well shaken (and I mean this) the spray nozzle will spatter paint in blobs in all directions.
All things considered, if one doesn't get lazy and really shakes the cans for about 5 or six minutes in temperatures of 72 degrees or higher, this paint will produce excellent results on monokote or Ultra cote.  I do wipe the surface to be sprayed with Isopropal Alcohol and buff it lightly with scotch brite, after masking, then wipe with alcohol again just before spraying.  I've done this dozens of times with different colors and never had any cracking or peeling of the paint.
As a great bonus the colors will match Monokote perfectly.

PS: Trying to use dope of any brand is a big mistake...don't ask how I know.    


Randy Cuberly

[Allen Brickhaus]

   Dope won't work well at all. I had some luck back in the day with Chevron over Monokote, but the adhesion was marginal. I did a lot of airplanes with Monokote wing/tail and Chevron on the fuselage, and it was OK. I think Chevron is long gone, however.

   Allen Brickhaus is the expert on the use of Monokote and Rustoleum.  I would search the archives for anything he might have said on the topic, or ask him, because he is a great guy and will help.

    Brett

Check out the May issue of Flying Models for my finishing method.  If you cannot find one, call 973-383-3355 for a copy purchased from Flying Models. Maureen can help you at FM.

Allen

[Bill Richards]

Thanks to everybody for your help, I knew that I would find quite a variety of good suggestions and I was right, now it is back to work. 

[Jerry Leuty]

Monocoat can be painted with rattle can Rust-O-lem. I have painted several planes with the stuff. Some are several years old. Now I do not let fuel stay on the painted surface. I wash the plane when I am finished flying for the day. I use 29% castor with 5 or 10% nitro. The secret is to let the surface cure for several days after painting. Perhaps a week before going to test fly the new ship. I have several great kits that are coming up to be built in the near future. They will have Poly-span and Brodak dope and color. I want them to come out a little nicer. Rattle can is great paint. It comes out the nozzle in abundance. It is best to do the painting outside in the sun and holding the can 12+ inches away from the surface. Also painting 3 or so light coats of paint. Get too close and you get runs. Ask me how I know. I have just finished my second Rayette. I used white Monocoat on the wing. I painted red and blue stripes on the wing surfrace. We all want to WOW the other pilots in the pits at a contest. But when our gorgeous beauty goes in because of being blown out of the top of an overhead 8 and they crash into busted balsa. Then all that time invested in a great finish is as gone as my rattle can paint.
Jerry

[Mike Griffin]

Good point Jerry.

Mike