Dai Phan

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Hi all,

I just finished putting together a dummy engine for my Funaero Albatross DIII. What type of coating would I need to apply on the barewood before I paint my engine to hide the wood imperfection? In the past, I brush on a few coats of thinned expoxy but that takes forever and the wood grain/holes still show. Thank you. Dai

the-plumber

Wood primer.

Campy

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I use a mix of clear dope and talcum powder to seal the wood. (corn starch or micro balloons also work well)

Your best bet to hide the wood grain and prevent the paint from cracking is to put some silkspan on the wood. The changes in humidity will not affect the paint with the silkspan underneath it.

Dai Phan

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Hello,

Could you please suggest a brand? Can I get this at hobby shop? Thanks Dai

Campy

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I do not know the brands of silkspan. It is available in 3 grades (thicknesess ). Any of the grades will work, however, I suggest the thin grade. One thing you may want to consider, depending on the size of the dummy engine, is using tea bags. Tea bags are made from silkspan (or something just like it )

Stew99

Trying to cover something like a dummy engine with silkspan and dope filler probably will be very tedious. Thinned epoxy mixed with microballoons would be my choice. I have also used a sandwich of balsa and thin styrene plastic sheet for non structural items. This gives a perfect surface for painting with very little additional finishing required but is probably not an option if you've already built it. I've found from experience that for intricate parts it is better to seal the grain before you assemble the item. After assembly it is difficult to get down into all the corners and recesses to get the grain sealed and smoothed out.

ballgunner

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Elmer's white glue and baby powder. May take a few coats. Be sure to sand after each coat. Mix the glue and powder to a fairly thick but paintable thickness.

kd7oir

Elmers wood filler thined with water. If you put it on and dip your finger in it you can get it to ply like playdough or clay around anything. sands easy and takes paint well.
Shawn

CafeenMan

Dai Phan - No matter what you have to sand the part to get rid of the wood grain. There isn't a product that will hide grain automatically unless you apply it 1/16" thick.

If you haven't glued the engine together yet, then any clear coating will work well for initial sealing. Use a sandable primer or sanding sealing after sanding the sealing coat. Sand the primer and then glue it together.

If you've already assembled the engine, then you'll have to get some very thin sticks and glue sandpaper to it to get between the fins and in all the nooks and crannies.

- Paul

BobH

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Dia, everyone is correct. The wood grain will tend to show unless you coat the wood with thin glass cloth and resin. There may be wood products that effectively do that for you but I don't know of any off hand. I would just keep on brushing either resin or dope/talc to try and cover the grain.