Ok, so I've painted the new plane with krylon white, some blue duplicolor stripes, all going good, call in to get the clear polyurathane w/ hardner in a rattle can. Its a 2part, valve in bottom of can, works good, fuelproof, no longer available. Now what? Sure, automotive poly w/ hardner but I think my Sharpe75 gun may be a little overkill. Any ideas? With out breaking the bank on new guns. HELP. CLEARLESS IN LYNNWOOD thanks

Thanks Mark for the info, wonder if one of the tool trucks can get them. The Avenger looks awesome, hope to see it this year. As far as polys go, ditzler, martin senoir(ha ha)? Thanks again, jack

So, this may be asking for THE SECRET STUFF or, you know that holy grail thats been blended for years, but what about reducer, hardner, the full deal. got some, had to go out and look some dtr 600 and 602. Been awhile since I've painted anything. Thanks Mark

I cant recall the catalyst off the top of my head,, I just grab the can off the shelf and mix it.(just looked it up, its DCX 61) I seldom use any reducer in clear except for DT-895. The mix for this is 4-1-1, however, I spray with a Sata Minijet, and when I spray my clear, I typically mix an extra .5 parts of reducer in the clear, so my mix is 4-1-1.5. Alas, when mixed that way, it no longer meets the EPA standards for VOC ,, ( if you dont tell I wont ok?)
If you look at my thread on the Avenger, In the last pictures that is one coat sprayed at my mix, it has not been buffed .
The secret, is to watch the clear hitting the surface and to know just what to look for,, hard to describe actually. You dont want it to lay down immediatly when you spray, if you do, it has a tendancy to end up running, then you have to scrape it off the floor lol. If you pound it on to hard, it will also die back some and textures from underneath are more pronounced.
Of course to dry and it will look like a golf ball with all the orange peel, so how about a few practice passes on a can or something before you spray your pride and joy.
Hope that helps a bit....
Oh just happened to think, one of the real sticky points about painting a model, especially like the Avenger, there are lots of nooks and crannies, so one really needs to plan ahead before you start to spray to prevent dry edges when you come back to a spot you sprayed earlier,,

Mark, maybe you can help educate me and others on clear coats and painting in general.  I don't mean to hijack this thread, but its title suggests it is a good place to talk more about urethanes.

I have been spraying for decades with my original Binks siphon gun with a quart can, painting cars, motorcycles and models with lacquers, enamels and catalyzed enamels.   I'm a bit afraid of the catalyzed enamels and hesitate to use them.  Now that I'm back into models I find that the old K&B epoxies I used to use have been replaced by Klass Kote at $30+ per quart.  Nelson and Warbird are water based alternatives, also expensive.  As an old solvents guy I can't believe water based will adhere as well, but I have no facts to support my opinion.  I have never used them.

The idea of using readily available paint, either Krylon or other spray cans, or acrylic lacquer, followed by one standard clear coat is appealing.  The colors would be inexpensive (relatively) and the clear coat would be fuel proof.  The clear could cost whatever it costs because not that much is used and the single color (clear) is good for all models.  I am totally unfamiliar with polyurethanes.  Can they be applied over any base without lifting the base?  Are they always catalyzed; do they have to be applied with one of those top feed HVLP guns?  Will my 7cfm at 90 pounds compressor work?  How much clear does it take to do a standard stunter like a Nobler?  Have you ever heard of Fullerplast clear, and does it work?

At the end of the day is it better to just switch over completely and go to polyurethane paint?

Too many questions, I know, but there is so much to learn.  Thanks Jack for starting the thread and to all who respond.

Jim

Mark thank for all the inside info. that will help a bunch. At work today, one of our parts suppliers came in with a new flyer of tools and such. Looked for guns and low and behold they had finex guns on sale. They have an fx 2000 and an fx 3000. But those look more like big job guns. And yes, always use a mask when spraying. I was trying to think of the last time I did a complete on a car, it's been a looooooooong time. pearls and muranos were the trick stuff. again thanks Jack