CafeenMan

I'm currently working as an airbrush artist for a company that makes vinyl graphics (what you would see on the side of cars and vans).

We have two dozen colors we regularly use - mostly metallics. We spray them through quart and pint guns and airbrushes.

We put an automotive 2-part clear urethane as a top coat over they vinyl ink.

I don't know how well they'll stick to the covering materials we use, but I suspect they will do fine with a compatible primer. They don't fall off the vinyl and we have a three year guarantee on our products, so it does hold up well.

Anyway, because I can spray anything I want for free and comparable paints cost upwards of $30/quart, it goes without saying that these will be the best bargain I can find if they work. I plan to try them out on my Smith Miniplane with the clear coat over it all. The Miniplane will be covered with white solartex. I'm hoping that the weave will ensure good adhesion.

If anyone has ever tried this, I'd like to know what your results were. If I don't hear any good reasons not to do it, I'll post what I find out after it's all done.

BTW - I put a graphic on my Raptor which gets completely covered in oil after a couple of flights. It's held up fine so far, so I don't think I have anything to worry about. The stuff is extremely flexible. The only problem I've found with it is that it stays soft, so it can't be sanded out. Any dust in the finish will have to remain.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

Only thing similar to what you are doing, is that I have numerous times now ink plotted onto various covering materials with Koh-i-noor. I use their mylar plotting inks in colors and black as they have some sort of etchant and really grab into the shiney stuff.

I load up my pens, and using an older design of plotter, then run the covering through and plot out the intricate designs or text. Initial fear was that the heat shrink process would pop it all loose, but has not so far. I generally lay out a whole sheet with the graphic design and text and do it all in one session. Then cut up the covering and apply.

Only thing have found is to degrease the surface, otherwise fisheyes will appear.

The clear coat is good idea, but I have yet to use such.




Wm.

susquach

My Feedback: (1)

Cafeen Man,

wow, an endless supply of free paint....that's right up there with having a Grandmother that owns a balsa plantation!
I'd try shooting polyurethane in a heartbeat. Just shoot a test swatch before hand. Ought to work like gangbusters.

Ddubya

CafeenMan

Well, I'm not going to inherit a balsa plantation, but I'm certainly not complaining.

The inks are not polyurethane. I'm not sure what they are actually. They are inks for vinyl, but I don't know what they are composed of. I don't even know what they use for thinner. It's all shrouded in a veil of secrecy.

But you're right about the test swatch. I plan to iron a piece of covering to a scrap of wood and see what happens. I airbrushed a little of the ink on my rotor blade tips to track them and it's held up fine so far without the clear over-coat.

What I didn't mention is that we also have several guns set up for "special effects." For example, we have guns to spray wisps, cob-webs and spatters in most of the colors we normally use.

Other than compatibility, I also have to be careful not to go overboard and try it all out on one airplane. I'm a good builder, but horrible at coming up with paint schemes. I could easily create a really colorful, yet hideously tacky art-plane.

CafeenMan

You just gave me an idea. We also have plotters that cut the vinyl to exact shape. I'll bet I could convince the powers that be to let my try feeding some monokote through it. I could have any shape I want ready to iron on without cutting up my drafting curves when I nick them with the X-Acto.