fstevenj

Alright I am clueless. I am trying to paint a cowl with lustercote and I cannot get the spray can to do what I want. I either put too much paint on and it runs or I put too little on it and it is not smooth or glassy. What am I doing wrong?? What can I now do about a rough finish? How do you spray with a can? I am spraying in my basement and it is about 66 degrees. I am haning the cowl. Please help, I don't want my model to look like crap just because of the cowl. Thanks.

d_bodary

My Feedback: (85)

set the spray can in hot tap water. DO NOT heat water on the stove. Just hot tap water to heat the can and that will heat the paint in the can. The paint will atomize much much better. Easy as pie.

Depending on how bad the paint job is now use wet sandpaper somewhere from 220 to 600 grit to smooth it out. I usually use a white sandable primer before i paint. Use hot tap water on the can of primer also wet sand the primer with 600 grit. any bare spots reprime and resand with 600 until you are happy with the primer coat. A good rule of thumb is. If your not happy with the primer coat your sure not going to be happy with the color coat.
Dennis

gsmith6879

My Feedback: (37)

I agree with this comment and don't try to get to much paint on the part. Just spray enough to cover. It will look a little rough but will flow out after you stop spraying if you have the paint warm enough.

Walt Thyng

My Feedback: (9)

Lustercote works best with several very light coats and a final wet coat. Better to have the can too far awazy than too close and keep it moving. Also start and end your spray passes off the piece your are painting.
Walt

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

The 1st problem is that you are using Lustercrap. That is (In My Opinion ) the WORST paint out there. The colors RARELY match the covering, the paint "spits" and tends to fisheye if the surface is not "operating room sterile" clean.

If you want the cowl to look good do the following:

Take a sample of the color you want to the paint/hardware store and have a quart of LATEX paint mixed to match (about $8 - $10 ).

Spray the Latex on the cowl. Latex paints are very easy to spray. Light colors WILL require several coats to cover.

Let dry 7 - 10 days.

Clear coat with Ultracote clear, Krylon ACRYLIC clear or Dupli-Color ACRYLIC clear.

rcuman

I use Model Master paints. A little on the expensive side yes, but it paints great. When I usually paint with a can I start off about 6in away from the object. Before I even depress the button I am moving the can of paint so that it will not throw a bunch of paint in one area. This is good to keep the paint from running. After you let that dry spray on another coat the same way to fill in the rest of the paint. On this plane I used a detail sprayer for the camo and a can spray for the base color.

Larry D.

My Feedback: (2)

Campy

Is the Krylon Acrylic fuel proof ?

khodges

My Feedback: (1)

I'm not Campy, but NO, it isn't. If allowed to cure a couple of weeks, it will resist fuel for a while, but eventually soften and peel. I like Krylon a lot, goes on smooth, dries fast, and it is pretty much bulletproof with gasoline.

Campy must have had some bad LustreKote. I have also had some problems when I first tried it with spitting, and yeah, it doesn't match MonoCrap like it should, but I don't like MonoKote at all (or any other plastic skin) I've had very good service from every plane I've painted it with. Glow fuel doesn't bother it at all, and I use the clear to topcoat about everything I build. You have to test for compatibility with enamels like Rustoleum or Krylon, but it works very well with latex as a clearcoat and fuelproofer.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

In the tests I have run, the Krylon ACRYLIC Gloss and Satin are fuel proof. On test panels painted with Krylon paints I clear coated 1/2 the panel with gloss and the other half with satin clear. I let them dry overnight, then poured some 10% nitro fuel on the panel and let it sit on the panel for about 8 hours. Cleaned it off with Windex and paper towels and no underlying paint came off. The surface also showed no deteriation when viewed from various angles under a strong light.

Make sure the can is labled ACRYLIC. Krylon has (or had ) both an acrylic and non-acrylic clear.

mamethot

I'm using Krylon to paint my model and I have some problems. I just realized a couple of thing.

First, surface preparation is of utmost importance. The Krylon was applied over white Ultracote. I used 000 steel whool to roughen the surface a bit,however the paint does not seem to stick all that much. It peels with the masking tape.

Second, the importance of using a good quality masking tape. (See the attached pic) I used 3M blue tape, the one for the house painters. The paint simply penetrates under the tape, almost as if it's not glued.

And third, I may have been a bit too generous with the paint. How many coats do you use? Do you sand between each? There seems to be quite a ridge at the white/red/blue separation.

One of you would be kind enough to explain his techniques?

What do you do for surface prep?

What do you use for masking?

Should I sand the ridges?

Should I apply a clear?

Thanking you in advance,

mamethot

Anyone?

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

mamethot,

The first mistake is painting on heatshrink plastic coverings such as Monokote and Ultracote. The paint will look good for a while but will not last all that long before problems appear. Think about what will happen to the paint when the plastic covering wrinkles and you need to iron out the wrinkles. For what you have shown in the picture you attached, ironed on strips of red and blue Ultracote would have been a far better choice

THE masking tape to use is 3M Fine Line masking tape. I get mine from auto paint stores.

A trick to minimize the impact of paint flowing under the edge of the tape (not necessary with the 3M Fineline) is to spray a coat of clear before spraying the color. That way, if it bleeds under the tape a little bit, it won't be a big deal. The subsequent color coats will then not have anywhere to bleed to.

mamethot

Steve,

You're right in saying the stripes would have made a better job. Thanks for the tips, it's much appreciated.

Marc

glowplug50

Steve, I am interested in painting with Krylon. Its going on Super Coverite and some fiberglass parts.
Do you use a base coat, primer of some kind or just start with the color? I am going to use a bright yellow. Any comments or advice will be appreciated. Thanks

Ed Smith

It is important to pull the masking tape off before the paint dries.

Ed S

The Ghost

Glowplug,

Use a white primer and you will get a brighter finish with the lighter coloured paints.

Cheers

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Campy , when you get latex mixed at the store do you tell them its for an airbrush ??? or do you add the thinner /paint spray additive at home ????

Gringo Flyer

My Feedback: (18)

You do this at home. For different sprayers, paints, temps, colors, etc etc the mix for each spraying application will change. I am learning to paint right now and finding that there is a lot of technique to getting the mix just right.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

You add the thinner at home.

Although some people say to use windshield washer fluid to thin the paint, I use regular tap water. I have found that the windshield washer fluid tends to tint light colors.

You will need to experiment some to find the right dilution for your airbrush/spray gun. I have found that a consistency of milk is a good starting point for the dilution. I have also had my best results using 25 - 30 psi. Under 25 I don't get the coverage and over 30 psi the paint starts to "dimple".

If you are new to spray painting, I suggest getting a piece of glass (or an old mirror or window ) and set it vertically. Practice spraying on this until you can spray without it running. When you do paint, if you mess up (or decide you don't like it ) latex can USUALLY be removed with a WET cloth UP TO 6 hours after applying it. Personally, I would not suggest removing the paint much over 4 hours (the paint will dry to the touch [LIGHT handling] in about 20 minutes).

For masking tape I use the 3M BLUE masking tape. What you want is the 2 DOT ADHESIVE rating. This tape has a paper appearance, says "60 Day Safe Release" and if you look at the side of the wrapper you will see and adhesive index. The 2 dot holds reasonably well, BUT WILL NOT LIFT FRESH UNDERLYING PAINT.

Hope this helps.

LDM

My Feedback: (15)

Thanks , I am old dog at detail with a can or brush , but have been sitting on a nice paasche Airbrush set #542434 for over 3 years , have a great compressr ect , so I think I am tired of hand making the smug panled lines ect , I am going to give this a shot , I have used a heavy duty gun on home applications but this will be all new

frequent flyer

My Feedback: (6)

I painting a model plane with white Formula U spray cans that I had sitting around for every. Now I when to finish up the red trim lines and could not find anybody that sells it? What Happened to it? I know it was poor paint and didn't cover very well but have they quit making it? I believe it was a polyurethane paint. What can I use instead if they quit making it for the trim color?