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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: John Rist on May 20, 2011, 09:42:54 AM

Title: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: John Rist on May 20, 2011, 09:42:54 AM
I am painting my La-5 with latex.  It will be electric powered so I am not worried about fuel prufing.  I am also not worried about a little extra weight.  So far it will be lighter than the other scale lead sleds I am flying.  LL~ Just bought a 7.5 ounce sample jar of white latex from Home Depot.  Also bought some Floetrol additive.  Elsewhere it is recommend that I use windshield washer fluid to thin the latex.  Any suggestions as to how much Floetrol to use and how much to thinner to add.  And what is the advantage of using windshield washer fluid as a thinner?  Right now I am covering all of the wood with polyspan and silkspan.  The base coat is Brodak dope.  I will apply the latex with a Harber Freight detail spray gun.  Attaches is a photo of the aircraft I am trying to duplicate.

Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: Posthole_digger on May 22, 2011, 10:49:42 AM
Go to this site and down the left side for painting with latex.

http://www.vaillyaviation.com/Intro.html

Paul
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: John Rist on May 22, 2011, 01:51:45 PM
Go to this site and down the left side for painting with latex.

http://www.vaillyaviation.com/Intro.html

Paul

Wow Paul!  Thanks.  All the information I needed and more. The impressive part is the number and size of aircraft Roy Vaillancourt has flown. All good info.

 #^   #^   #^     H^^   H^^   :!
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: dennis lipsett on May 22, 2011, 08:14:13 PM
Without looking at the site I believe that Roy was the first to use Latex paint on models in the 80's. I saw some of his first models painted with the produce.
The beauty of Latex is you can have any color made to order just by bringing in a sample of the color you want. i think that it can be fuelproofed with some clear applications.
Dennis
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: Michael Boucher on June 03, 2011, 08:24:43 PM
What have folks used to fuelproof the paint with? Thanks  :-\
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: bob branch on June 04, 2011, 05:46:12 PM
John

A word of caution with the latex. I did a strega with latex. As you know color range is incredible. Anyway, do not try to wetsand it even when it is well dried. It will disolve. In fact the sanding is what led me to give up on it. It gums up paper instantly and is very difficult (in my hands) to deal with. I fuel proofed with lustercoate clear. It was ok but I did not care for the entire system. I can see if you are working towards a mat finish like the scale guys like a lot. But for a stunt type finish I did not pursue it. If you can figure out a way to sand it please post.

bob branch
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: Michael Boucher on June 04, 2011, 10:38:48 PM
Hi Bob, Would the lustercoat yellow the finish?  Thanks, Mike
Title: Re: Floetrol - Latex Paint
Post by: bob branch on June 05, 2011, 06:02:41 AM
Mike

I do not think it will yellow. But I could not get a good shine from it either. Check with some of the RC guys. My guess is if you can find an older pattern flier they will know about it more. I laid two coats of it on and I think it would make a better result with like 3 or 4. I did not do a real wet coat cause the plane was already heavy (it was an arc) and it was not meant as a concours plane. I really felt the finish was an experiment and by the time I got to the lustercoat I had found the sanding problem. btw, I did use floetrol. Used it per the directions on the bottle. Can't remember them now. Also it was my first attempt at using a gravity feed gun. That was another thing that did not work well in my hands. Obviously mileage differs on that one.

good luck,
bob