stunthanger.com
Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Dan Bregar on February 10, 2013, 03:59:34 PM
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Anyone using acrylic paint on a stunter these days. Since electric stunters don't need to be fuel proof, I'm wondering if there might be an "alternative" paint we could use in place of good old DOPE. Hopefully giving as light or lighter finish and perhaps a little less labor intensive. Anyone ? :P
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When I worked at an Ace Hardware, 2005-2011, I mixed a lot of Benjamin Moore house paint (acrylic latex) for a couple of Giant Scale RC guys here in Tucson. One was gas-powered; the other was Electric. They thinned it (water), sprayed it...said it covered very well and added little weight.
At something like $35-a-gallon it was certainly less expensive than dope, and was available in any color or hue desired. It could also be mixed in Gloss, Semi-Gloss or Matte.
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Since electric stunters don't need to be fuel proof
When I was at the NW Regionals last year, one of my fling buddies came back to his chair next to mine with a furtive air and confided that while he was fueling up his plane the tube popped off of his tank and he sprayed fuel all over the electric plane next to his. He finally got up his courage to go tell the owner what he'd done. He didn't sport any bruises that day, so I assumed that everything worked out.
So -- electric stunters do need to be fuel proof, at least if you're going to compete with them.
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There's also the issue of durability. Our planes do have to withstand rubs and riding in a rack and such. The finish needs to be durable.
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You have to be quite specific about what kind of acrylic you're talking about. I've used acrylic lacquer automotive paint a number of times and had no problems with it. It's not completely fuel proof, but good enough to resist stunt fuel. Being an automotive product it is pretty hardy and polishes well. Of course that depends on what brand you choose and what you thin it with amongst other things. And where you are.... I understand acrylic lacquer is very hard to come by most places these days, impossible others.
Acrylic enamel is another animal again and waterbased acrylics, another galaxy.
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I am not a CLPA flier and do not look for front row finishes, so for me those cheap dollar store acrylics used by people for crafting, work well. The trick is to fuel proof with polyurethane clear, that you can get at almost any hardware store in rattle cans.. You can thin the paint down with water, spray it then clean your equipment with water and soap. And it doesn't stink. Just my two cents. H^^