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Building Tips and technical articles. => Paint and finishing => Topic started by: Howard Rush on April 04, 2022, 08:02:24 PM
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Since posting finish tips almost a decade ago (https://stunthanger.com/smf/paint-and-finishing/front-row-finish-tips-from-the-jive-combat-team/) , I have acquired more experience--most in the last week--which I shall share with you young stunters.
Tip 1. Do not use complicated paint masks. There are many reasons not to use complicated paint masks. For example, when one tries to catch the edge of a tiny piece of mask with a knife, one should ensure that it's actually a mask and not a part that's been painted.
Tip 2. When filling the crater left by digging in a painted part with a knife trying to lift a mask that wasn't there, do not use ten-year-old U-Pol filler. The catalyst will have gone bad.
Tip 3. If you use a complicated paint mask, be sure that the mask material is compatible enough with your paint to withstand multiple toots of paint without curling up. Otherwise you will need to apply new masks continually with each color or coat.
Tip 4. If you plan to use complicated paint masks, get your own vinyl cutter. If you do, don't believe the cutting software documentation that says it accepts file formats that your CAD program generates.
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I hate these kinds of lessons.
I've been some more rudimentary lessons recently but the principle is the same.
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Howard, you forgot, "hope this helps". ;D
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Howard, from the above, it sounds like you are having problems, no? LL~
No more than usual.
Tip 5. Heed the advice in Front Row Finishing Tips from the Jive Combat Team about using the hair dryer when removing masking tape.
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No more than usual.
Tip 5. Heed the advice in Front Row Finishing Tips from the Jive Combat Team about using the hair dryer when removing masking tape.
Seems like you are having a pretty rough few weeks here...
Brett
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Tip 6. If you plan to use complicated paint masks, get enough mask material for the job. 50 square feet may not be adequate.
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No more than usual.
Tip 5. Heed the advice in Front Row Finishing Tips from the Jive Combat Team about using the hair dryer when removing masking tape.
Howard,
Can you put up a photo of the entire model?
White and yellow work well together.
Charles
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Howard,
Can you put up a photo of the entire model?
White and yellow work well together.
Charles
I could, but it’s not finished yet. The part that’s almost white there is orange now. The yellow stripe will be yellow, green, and black. Well, that was the plan, but I forgot the hair dryer (for the third time this week) and pulled off the green stripe. Now I gotta mix up more green paint.
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I could, but it’s not finished yet. The part that’s almost white there is orange now. The yellow stripe will be yellow, green, and black. Well, that was the plan, but I forgot the hair dryer (for the third time this week) and pulled off the green stripe. Now I gotta mix up more green paint.
Sounds like an interesting color match.
Photos, while in progress, are interesting.
CB
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To each their own, but I've never felt the need for using any heat during unmasking, seems like just a large added risk to me. It shouldn't need to be a consideration under normal conditions and with proper prep. I know you're no rookie Howard, but I've found thinner percentages to be the main key in success, or not. Keep plugging away, you'll get there. y1
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Tip 7. Remove the clear plastic carrier strip from Finesse striping tape before painting. Paint won't stick to the carrier strip, even if you remember the hair dryer. It's polyethylene or something.
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Tip 8. If you acquire a scarce LED printer that's supposed to work well for making decals, check that you removed the tissue cover sheet on the decal paper before you print decals. Otherwise, you may embarrass yourself by whining to your airplane painting support group that your printer doesn't work.
Tip 9. If your scarce LED printer prints a red decal on transparent MacTac and it turns brown when you spray a clearcoat on it, check to see if there's a black copy of the decal on paper under the MacTac before you embarrass yourself by whining to your airplane painting support group that the printer's red toner reacts with the clearcoat.
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Tip 10. When you paint a white area on the side of your airplane upon which to put a decal, careful precision to match the decal is not enough. It must also be right side up.
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Tip 11. If you put the right-side-up decal on the upside down white space, it will look funny because the decal is translucent. Then you will need to do some fancy painting to fix it.
Tip 12. If you make ink lines with water-soluble ink, don't wash or wet sand the area until you' have tooted some clear on the ink lines.
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A fancy paint job was the dream,
of a man from the Jive Combat Team.
He made so many mistakes,
it gave him the shakes.
Now he ponders a one-color scheme. HB~>
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A fancy paint job was the dream,
of a man from the Jive Combat Team.
He made so many mistakes,
it gave him the shakes.
Now he ponders a one-color scheme. HB~>
Excellent
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Tip 13. Be sure an ink line is where it is supposed to be before tooting clear on it. One may have to sand down to the bare wood to remove it.
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Well, if it is what I see Monday and Friday evenings, it looks pretty fine despite all the challenges lol.
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Tip 13. Be sure an ink line is where it is supposed to be before tooting clear on it. One may have to sand down to the bare wood to remove it.
Not sure what makes me more sad - the fact that this is from the Lone Jiver or that you are up to 13 tips and not ready to show the model. That means more tips are a possibility.
On the other hand, it has provided some chuckles.
Tom
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Tommy,
You may be getting sad, but I'm getting worn out hopping around and jumping listening to all this jive'n. If he don't get the paint on the dang plane pretty soon, I may wear out my dancin' shoes....
Phil was the only stunt man I ever saw that used a glass syringe for refueling. It worked better, and he was that careful. He left it behind at one contest and I knew it was his, so it was easy to send it back. He's missed. And he's probably still out there, jive'n....
Stay well, my friend
Dave
(The sports worst painter)
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Tip 14. If you shake a suction-feed airbrush to ensure paint homogeneity, hold it by the glass jar, rather than by the airbrush body, lest the jar fall on the floor and spill half the paint.
Tip 15. If homogeneity had not been attained when half the jar’s contents spilled on the floor, the remaining paint may not be the intended color. Spraying it on the airplane may necessitate some rework.
Tip 16. If you buy a new airbrush to dedicate to clear dope (or in this case DBC 500 basecoat clear), do not also use it for clear with sparkles in it. Residual sparkles will lodge in the airbrush and blow out one at a time on your decals and next to your ink lines.
Tip 17. Learn how to spray paint. If you don’t know what you’re doing, your harder-than-diamond Isocyanate Death Paint clearcoat will have ripples and orange peel, requiring lots of sanding with 2000 paper before buffing, particularly tedious over open bays.
Tip 18. When you buff, buff the side of the wing you sanded. However, a) buffing the unsanded side makes the ripples and orange peel easier to see when you do sand, and b) it doesn’t make much difference.
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How many more mistakes before you give up and trash the plane? LL~ LL~ LL~ LL~
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Tip 19. If the plastic pickup tube in your airbrush bottles dissolves in your paint, you can get polyurethane tubing which lasts longer (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LCGYZLB?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1). Get the clear tubing, not the colored tubing. For example, if you get orange tubing, dye will leach out of the tubing and turn your white or clear paint pink.
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Thanks Howard, your finishing laws have convinced me - MonoKote.
I am impressed that you have so few mistakes. I can get up to 18 and still be on the primer coat!
ken
FYI - mi response to the rule in reply #4 would be to make a similar mistake on the other side then paint shark's teeth on them.
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I am impressed that you have so few mistakes.
I don’t have time to document them all. I’m too busy fixing other mistakes.
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I would like to add a tip. When using multiple guns of color for touch ups be sure to grab the appropriate color. Dark Blue is very hard to cover with white.
Tom
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Howard, I just reread this entire thread. I am assuming these myriad of mistakes were made on your 19 point front row impact? I sure have a lot to learn. I only made about two mistakes on my Junar (which I was aware of) and had a last row finish. You make tons of mistakes and produced a work of beauty. Very impressive indeed.
The take away: I must learn to fix the mistakes.
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Tip 13. Be sure an ink line is where it is supposed to be before tooting clear on it. One may have to sand down to the bare wood to remove it.
Hi Howard:
I'm new to this thread, and from all I've read I'm also new to finishing; so much to learn... One question: Please enlighten us on how to "toot" clear; it's a term that is new to me. ???
By the way, your new ship is just beautiful! y1
Bob Hunt