All Day Dan

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I have received a lot of helpful information from this forum about spraying latex paint but I am missing one piece of information. Devilbiss has many different size tips for their guns ranging from 1mm to something around 2.2mm. I know spraying latex paints, like any other, is dependent on the thinning process as well as the air pressure and tip size. In general, what is a good tip size to start with for latex paints?

Campy

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FWIW - I thin my latex to SLIGHTLY thicker than water (almost milk consistancy ) and use a standard tip (the one that comes already in the gun ) at 25 - 30 psi. My experience has been that under 25 psi I don't get the coverage I want and over 30 psi the paint starts to "dimple". I also add 1 1/2 caps of Flotrol per quart of UNTHINNED latex.

Hope this helps.

All Day Dan

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Good information Campy. Does the latex loose its luster when you thin it and spray it? I use high gloss BM outdoor paints and the last time I did something like what you are doing, the finish came out flat. I am trying to avoid that and not have to high gloss clear top coat it. Dan.

Campy

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I don't know about losing the gloss. I use flat latex. Since I fly glow powered planes, I clear coat it for what ever degree of shine I need.

If you are flying a gasser you don't need to clear coat to fuel proof it. If you are flying glow you definitely need to clear coat the paint.

The other thing you need to be aware of is:

Flat latex takes AN AVERAGE of 7 - 10 days to cure (depending on weather conditions ). With the same weather conditions, semi-gloss and gloss latex take AN AVERAGE of 14 - 21 days to cure.

FWIW - Nelson's paints are a latex type paint and if you add the crosslinker the paint is fuel proof. It is not cheap, but it is good though and the color match is as good or better than Lustercrap and Ultracote paints.

yakman

I thin with a 40 alcohol/60 water mix and spray through a 1.3mm tip. 30-45psi.

I recently bought 8x 1L of mistinted paints for $20 . I will never need to buy paint for a warbird again.

All Day Dan

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Thanks Campy. My planes are gas powered. If the lustre is effected, I will have to topcoat it but I am sure I could find something in the paint store. Dan.

All Day Dan

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Got it Yakman. 1.3mm was going to be my first choice. I may have to increase it from there since I want to thin the paint as little as possible to retain the gloss.