Fokker_in_the_clouds

my first time using colored dope........


I am wanting to paint my lil .049 SKyray FOkker red and I am having some difficulties.

ABout how many coats do yall think is needed til the color comes out right.... I jsut started one side of the wing and its coming out a light purplish pinkish color....... Am I doin it right? Its in a lil bottle and I have a bottle of SIG thinner for dope and such..... SHould I have invested in monokote and such?

Any help be greatly appreciated... I have a pic of it jsut not uploaded yet.



Jamie

Jim Thomerson

What brand of dope, Sig? Sounds like the bottle may not have been well mixed. Red, in my experience, is a difficult color to get looking good brushed on. If I do red trim with either Sig or Aerogloss Stearman Red (haven't used Fokker Red), I figure on brushing on at least five thinned coats (unthinned if Aerogloss). For large areas, I spray, usually with an undercoat of white, orange, or yellow.

Phlip

Yup, red is the worst for getting good coverage. I recommend a grey undercoat, unless you want some white on the final finish, then I'd use white as the undercoat. It'll be tough to brush out evenly, because not matter how long you let dope dry, subsequent coats dissolve the coats underneath. So light spray coats look the best.

Brushing can be done decently, though. Here's what I recommend:

Sand the balsa thoroughly with a sanding block and progress to the finest grit you got ... hopefully 300 or so. Hopefully you can sand off most of the red you've already put on.

Brush on a coat of grey, do the whole plane (right over the red you've already done).

Sand again. Sand off most of the grey, so the color is only left in the low spots and in the grain of the wood. Always use a sanding block!

Brush on another coat of grey. Hopefully this coat will look even and pretty smooth when dry. Don't try to fill up all the grain in the wood ... it would take lots of dope and make the plane heavy. But you may want to sand again and paint grey again ... that would be three coats of grey, but most sanded off between coats.

When the grey is pretty smooth and even, brush on a nice thick coat of red. Use a wide brush, full of paint, and just lay it down. Try to avoid going back and brushing it out too much. Keep the brush wet with paint. That should minimize the bleed through of the grey and give a nice even color. Oh yeah, and as Jim said, make sure you mix the colors thoroughly. Red really separates out.

Good luck,

Phil

Fokker_in_the_clouds

well seems like i went overboard and started the fuse and elevator as well....


I figure it doesnt have to come out bloodish dark red. as long as it doesnt come out the pinkish it was...


I will have to get atleast another bottle to get the plane disireable. Live and learn and thas what Im doing.....

I think I will invest in the monokote later on....


Thanks for the advice and directiosn guys!!!!!



Jamie

ghost123uk

Dust is my enemy [>:]

After doing the sanding bit as mentioned above the dust hangs in the air and settles on the paint I am applying, leaving myriads of lil specks.

Even if I go into another room to apply the paint, I still get specks !!

And I have tried different brushes and paints, Japlac seemingly less prone to specks of dust spoiling the finish, but it still gets them.

Any clever ideas folks ?

Phlip

Are you sure it's dust and not bubbling of the underlying finish? Usually I wait a while between sanding and painting, and the dust clears by the time I'm ready to paint. Normal house dust falling into the paint is no big deal, if you don't panic about it. The paint "skins over" so fast that the dust doesn't really stick ... it can be rubbed off later on when the paint is really dry. It you think you're leaving too much dust on the surface after sanding, get a "Tack Rag" to wipe the surface clean before painting.

Phil