Considering using Klass Kote 2-part epoxy on a new project. Polyspan and silkspan covering. Having never used it before, a few basic questions occur to me:

1. Is the Klass Kote  epoxy primer required under the color coat? Or can dope finish be used in the traditional way right up through the grey dope primer, thus using the epoxy only for the final finish coats?

2. How long is it necessary to wait before applying tape onto the white base coat for the trim colors? The Klass Kote web site says a stonger, "fused" bond occurs if the next coat is applied within 48 hours, but is that hard-set enough to avoid tape marks?

3. KK says HVLP guns can be used to good effect. Not knowing how viscous the KK is, will I need to start over calibrating the gun or will the settings I use for dope (thinned 4 to 1) get me pretty close to correct?

Thanks to anyone who has used this product.

I also used a lot of K&B Superpoxy. If Klasskote is anything like it, you will need some sort of blocking coat over the dope but under the color coats. The K&B was pretty transparent.

Considering using Klass Kote 2-part epoxy on a new project. Polyspan and silkspan covering. Having never used it before, a few basic questions occur to me:

1. Is the Klass Kote  epoxy primer required under the color coat? Or can dope finish be used in the traditional way right up through the grey dope primer, thus using the epoxy only for the final finish coats?

2. How long is it necessary to wait before applying tape onto the white base coat for the trim colors? The Klass Kote web site says a stonger, "fused" bond occurs if the next coat is applied within 48 hours, but is that hard-set enough to avoid tape marks?

3. KK says HVLP guns can be used to good effect. Not knowing how viscous the KK is, will I need to start over calibrating the gun or will the settings I use for dope (thinned 4 to 1) get me pretty close to correct?

Thanks to anyone who has used this product.

    Sorry Mike, I didn't see this until now.

    I have only a few examples of KlassKote but they have turned out pretty good. I used Superpoxy Primer over the clear dope.  After experiences of my own, and seeing other's problems, I would try to avoid any butyrate dope underneath the epoxy, so I would presume that gray dope is out. I would make up some gray or silver/white epoxy with white and black, or white and silver (so it actually blocks). I didn't use a blocking coat and at least Klasskote white covers better than K&B.

     I would expect that 24 hours is plenty to wait for masking as long as it's reasonably warm. It's not as fast to harden as K&B but overnight is enough to handle the airplane. I wouldn't be concerned about adhesion between the coats of epoxy. I would be very concerned about pulling it away from underlying butyrate, if you used that.

     The viscosity of the paint varies with the color. The Klasskote White, for example, comes out of the can somewhere between honey and cake icing. Adding the hardener thins it considerably, but with a regular gun, I ended up with about 1:1:.9 color:reducer:thinner, and that still orange-peeled a bit. Same with red, and it was much thinner. I wouldn't say I had a good answer on how to determine the thinner, but i do know that there is *no chance* that you could spray it on a stunt plane at a reasonable weight with the recommended levels of thinner (like 20%!). Maybe if you were painting a car and could really lay it on there, but no way when you are trying to dust it on.

  I was very satisfied with the results. I had one problem but that was due to excess use of Flex-All in the nitrate,  trying to reduce a starved horse problem on the fuselage.

    Brett

According to the KlassKote website (and my own experience) their material is completely interchangeable with HobbyPoxy and K&B Superkote (but NOT the later Ultrakote).  So far as I know Rustoleum is an enamel, so it polymerizes.  Thus, the solvents in other paints won't "bite".  In fact, I tried to paint some Rustoleum as a trim color a week after final color coat of Rustoleum, and it didn't stick - literally peeled right off with the mask!

When I was using HobbyPoxy, and K@B Superpoxy, I did not use primer as such, but instead used white with the flat hardener. It was much easier to sand as you did not need to break that galze on the shiney hardener. Made a nice undercoat for the rest of the finish.

   I don't think I understand - the K&B Superpoxy primer is dead flat, not shiny, and dead easy to sand - far easier than talc/dope, the old lacquer-based gray auto primer, just about anything. I still use the K&B primer because it's superior to just about anything else I have found. I sprayed 7 ounces (mass) on my last airplane, and sanded off about 5 and a half of it in two evenings - dead easy, although I am still vacuuming up the white dust 3 years later.

     Ultrapoxy primer was pretty good, too, but it *was* shiny because there was no special hardener. But it, too, was very easy to sand. My buddy Uncle Jimby prefers the Ultrapoxy but it's essentially unobtainable.

    I never used Hobbypoxy primer so I can't comment on that.

 Brett

Sorry Brett; I did not mean that the primer was glossy. I just skipped the primer and used the flat white as an undercoat which was wet sanded. Much easier to sand the flat white than glossy white. Our local hobby shop did not stock the primer so never tried it. One coat of the flat white wet sanded was generally good enough to do the final finish.

Sorry Brett; I did not mean that the primer was glossy. I just skipped the primer and used the flat white as an undercoat which was wet sanded. Much easier to sand the flat white than glossy white. Our local hobby shop did not stock the primer so never tried it. One coat of the flat white wet sanded was generally good enough to do the final finish.

 Oh, the primer was the best part! I would use the primer even if I was going to use dope later. I have enough primer to last me several lifetimes at my current rate of production, thinner is the limiting factor right now. I haven't been able to find the Devoe thinner yet, but i haven't tried very hard, either.

    Brett

I had a question in the KK forum, thanks Kim for sending me here. Has anyone had any experience with KK applied to open bays? I think it will be ok, underlayment all nitrate, KK primer, really thin on open structure, then KK colors. I've used HobbyPoxy on Racing and Carrier planes, up to 50% nitro and no problems (except if raw fuel(50%) gets on the paint and is allowed to stay there overnight, it discolors).
My main reason for the epoxy is I want an absolutely fuel proof finish.
Thanks,
dg