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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Cody bishop on October 06, 2017, 02:22:53 PM
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How to paint a balsa fuse I have never had any luck
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I put a later of .5 oz fiberglass cloth on bare balsa with Poly Crylic then spray primer filler and sand and fill until I'm happy. With no cloth a couple coats of Poly Crylic then primer, fill and sand.
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Cody...
I absolutely suck at plastic shrink stuff on anything except wings... too many curves/corners...yadda yadda
So I almost always always Paint Profile fuselages
My best to date are well filled with Zink Sterate and dope, sanded smooth... major dings filled with Red body putty and sanded... then DP 540 primer sanded very hard...second coat of DC 540 with deeper areas Red body putty...now sanded with 220 and 400 then Rattle can Enamel
I prefer the better nozzle on the Krylon cans vs the crap nozzle on Rustoleum...
All Enamels are fuel prof after about 10 day cure
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In lieu of the zinc stearate Fred mentioned is baby powder mixed into a slurry. Polycrylic is not fuel proof, but fine for filling the grain before painting. You can mix the powder filler with dope too for a lighter application.
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Rusty and Fred
I have used the dope and powder method followed by primer and all the sanding and then used Rustoleum to paint for finished color. However on some occasions I have had the Rustoluem react to the dope and orange peel. Have yall ever had that problem?
Mike
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Rustoleum and dope do not play nice. You can put rustoleum over dope or dope over rustoleum and expect adhesion.
If you have dope, then rustoleum, and you add another layrer of dope you have a mess. Orange Peel, can't sand for weeks, sticky mess. this also means that if you use dope and rustoleum repairs will be more difficult.
I have had excellent success with Rustoleum Professional grey primer. Put on 3 coats primer, sand back to about 50% wood showing, a light coat of primer then Rustoleum non-metallic color. If you want a light finish you can only have one coat of Rustoleum color.
Phil
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Rustoleum and dope do not play nice. You can put rustoleum over dope or dope over rustoleum and expect adhesion.
If you have dope, then rustoleum, and you add another layrer of dope you have a mess. Orange Peel, can't sand for weeks, sticky mess. this also means that if you use dope and rustoleum repairs will be more difficult.
I have had excellent success with Rustoleum Professional grey primer. Put on 3 coats primer, sand back to about 50% wood showing, a light coat of primer then Rustoleum non-metallic color. If you want a light finish you can only have one coat of Rustoleum color.
Phil
Phil I am confused. Did you mean to say that you can not put Rustoleum over Dope? You said you CAN....
Thanks for clarifying..
Mike
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Good point, Mike. I threw that dope idea in without thinking hard enough, and I haven't done it with enamel, just Lacquer. The Polycrylic might be better for a base for that reason.
I use Lustrekote clear over enamel and if you don't dust it on lightly and dry 20 minutes between dustings, it will orange peel. And too much Lustrekote will spiderweb crackle over the years. But it's bulletproof to raw fuel. Always heat the Lustrekote very warm before spraying. And shake x 2... like 6 minutes. Those two things will eliminate spittle. It helps if your shop is 75-80 degrees too. It will blush in high humidity. I successfully de-blushed once with pure thinner.
I recommend clear L'kote on the fillets and forward of the LE for lifelong fuel protection, and optionally for looks, clear dope for the rest of the fuse and empennage. However with gloss enamel it's not really necessary. Wait until the Enamel gasses off for 10-15 days before spraying the clear. But I've done it sooner and the world didn't end.
For screw holes and other crevices(like control horn screws, engine screws, etc), I always use a brush or toothpick to soak them with Minwax Spar urethane. It's also bulletproof to all the fuel and solvents. And it dries overnight.
Rusty
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Phil I am confused. Did you mean to say that you can not put Rustoleum over Dope? You said you CAN....
Thanks for clarifying..
Mike
I said both. They will work in certain conditions, and then later not play nice because the conditions have changed.
You can expect good adhesion of rustoleum to dope, and dope to aged rustoleum (2 week cure time). However: with Rustoleum over dope, if a solvent is introduced that can soften the dope, then the Rustoleum will immediately fail.
Rustoleum is not a very good solvent barrier. Lighter, more volatile solvents like used in dope will go through rustoleum without damaging the coating directly. If you have rustoleum on a stable base like metal or wood you can wash with acetone with no ill effect. If you have rustoleum on dope the game is different as the acetone will soften the underlying dope causing immediate coating failure.
Phil