bignasdy

Another visit to the local HS, and he had three cans of white lusterkote. What the heck happened to taking care of the builders? Use to be,( after dope anyway) you buy a can a perfect paint for a cowl and wheel paintts, and indeed, it was perfect. I dont like the new age, electric crap,and all that arf stuff. Us old dudes are history..LOL So where to get good spraycannedfuel proofpaint?
thanks
d

CHassan

My Feedback: (13)

LHS might not have them, but Tower Hobbies and other online retailers still have Lustrekote.

I sure miss my old LHS. Just a guys garage out in the middle of nowhere. It was tough to walk around and there wasn't much reason to "shop" with the piles and piles and racks and stacks of parts. However if you knew what you wanted, he could find it, or help you figure out a way to make what he did have work.
He had 100's of kits. You ask for a 2 3/4" white spinner he had 6 to pick from. Wanted a set of 2 1/2" wheels, again he had 6 types. You wanted a new set of wheel pants, he had 3 in all the popular sizes. You wanted a .40 motor? He had Webra, Worlds, Fox, Super Tiger, OS, Enya, and probably a few others I don't remember.

Now I have to order nearly everything.

Rudolph Hart

And nowadays most of us do it because it's CHEAPER and more convenient in many ways,that seems to be the main reason your lhs does'nt stock what it used to.They can't afford to anymore and i'm not crying poor for them,they gouged our wallets while they could for the most part and not a lot of back up because they new you had little choice back then.I wish for the old times too,sounds crazy

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

Paint matching your covering is a tough deal even in the old days. Lustercoat is still available form Tower in some colors as they discontinued some colors a few years back, however I have gotten into using color match latex paint. I go to Home Depot with a piece of covering, they mix me up some paint and for about $3.50 I am good to go. You do need to apply a good clear coat to fuel proof it after it has completly dried, but I have been surprized at just how good a match they come up with. Good Luck, Dave

bignasdy

we spent countless hours at the lhs .When i was a kid, I was in a club , I was 7, and they would send me out to the parking lot to fly cox planes so I didnt interupt the builders meetingsLOl I miss that place, and all the old dudes that were a part of it all. Im glad Im on the way out. Technology can  ...well you know
Lusterkote not my fav btw.
And  arfs are cool. I have a few. Same reason, time and money.
 I feel like, if they (LHS) are gonna stock covering, they should have the matching paint.
I got the 1/4 inch pinstripes I need  from orileys for 2.55 for a 40 foot roll. Half the price of the lhs I was at. Im thinkin about using duplicolor for the cowl and pants. Im refinishing an old GP cap 21 thats been sittin here for years
d 

blvdbuzzard

I gave up on getting any real FUEL PROOF paint. It may be resistant to 10% fuel of r while but they all seemed to get gummy or sticky after a while of higher nitro fuels. What I did was go to an automotive paint store. They would match, put in a spray can for $12.00. Perfect match and 2 part auto enamel. I could also have them make it in high gloss, gloss, matte or semi gloss, flat, or super flat. Yes it cost more then Luster coat. But it is a lot better paint too. I had 8 different colors on file so the next can I did not have to pay for the matching.

I also had them mix up a 2 part gloss clear. It was fuel proof and went over most paints.


Buzz.

Bozarth

My Feedback: (15)

Yep, all the old owners of those closed down hobby shops are sitting pretty now after making the big bucks...

Kurt

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Wow I would have to strongly dis-agree with this. I would ask if either of you have worked in a hobby shop? I did in my younger years. The largest profit margins for R/C related products is a mere 40%. That is for items like Dubro hardware and the like. Engines are around 30% as were kits. Radios were usually priced out at 25%. Byron kits got us a whopping 15%. By the time we payed Haz Mat shipping for fuel we saw maybe 10% but needed to sell fuel to sell airplanes. I have known several shop owners that have gone broke trying to survive. Very few were ever able to actually retire comfortably.

Compare this to clothing and grocery stores that have upwards of 200% markups. It's a shame that people would cast such a stone at shop owners. For the most part it takes two things to want to run an R/C hobby shop. A love for the sport and a love to see people succeed in the sport. I am dissapointed to see people feel this way about the retail shops.

combatpigg

My Feedback: (3)

Every single LHS owner I've ever known made a very good living off of his community....except for just one old guy who ran his store just well enough to pay for his hobby and to keep himself busy during his retirement.

Bozarth

My Feedback: (15)

Speedracer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - you obviously didn't see my tongue in cheek. I'm on your side.

Kurt

Rudolph Hart

Hi d,good luck with the cap mate,hope she flies good

Rudolph Hart

Hi speedy and kurt a quick and polite reply.Most bricks and morter businesses have been slow to change bad service habits here in aus,because they have never had to.

CHassan

My Feedback: (13)

I don't think any of the hobby shops I've been to in the past couple years are hurting. I doubt they make any less than I do and I live comfortably.

Of course "comfortably" is a relative term.

rye

My Feedback: (10)

hi
if i go to homedepot what kind of paint should i get ? i seen a spray thing they have that has a airasel can on it and a sprayer on it ,i think ill try it, thanks rye

bignasdy

Im goin with the home depot polyurethane over krylon LOL If it dont work,I'll just do it over.

jester_s1

There are many, many threads here from guys who have tested the spray can polyurethane and other hardware store paints. I haven't seen one yet that said any of the rattle can poly was fuel proof.

Bozarth

My Feedback: (15)

Agreed. A few years back I found a clearcoat at Homedepot that held up to 15% on a cowl. "Diamond" something or other, but it took several failed attempts with other brands.

Kurt

TomCrump

I sprayed Minwax Polyurethane over Solartex, on a glow powered model. The model has flown for two seasons, with no degradation to the finish.

This is the polyurethane, not the waterborne polycrylic.

This paint was from a quart can, however, not a spray bomb.

bignasdy

I remember fuel proofing an engine comartment with brush on polyurethane years ago. If I remember correctly, it didnt last over the long haul/Im gonna try it anyway.
d

Sport_Pilot

Go to the auto store and buy a can of Plastikote spray paint, not the enamal, make sure the back says acrylic lacquer. Lusterkote is acrylic lacquer and this will work just as well, but may not match your Monokote.

jester_s1

Why do you want to try something again that you've already seen won't work? I don't get it. I've seen numerous threads over the years where guy puts hours and hours into building a model right and spends a lot of money on it just to cheap out at the end and put the wrong paint on. It doesn't make sense.

bignasdy

....becauseI justrememberedthat.
Im an old dude...k?
Just wanted some info on what "everyone" is using now since I been out about 5 years, and my LHS was dumber than me Ha ha ha
I...just pulled the old cap21 out the closet, type of thing. It had the right paint on it for ...oh...lets see....23 years. I cleaned her up, installedan engine I had in the drawer, which required cutting thecowl, and building to thecowl in a couple spots. It originaly had an os SF46 in it, and I installed an AX. The mufflers are different obviously, and the remote needle sux balls......I wanted a tight fit.
Nothin worse than a gaping hole around the engine,or muffler. Just needs some paint
Sport Pilot...I use duplicolor with no problems at all, but I havent found bright yellow here locally...just yet. Thought I'd try the krylon I have,and some sort of clear, but they are saying that ultrakote clear will mess it up , and polyurethane wont work...I'll get it worked out. If I wasnt such a broke dik at the moment, I wouldnt be exploring. I woulda ordered the paint and been done.$$
I definatly agree with yer point Jester
its all good.

bignasdy

heres the ole bird

bignasdy

I ended upusing topflight paint

raptureboy

The problem with the paints today is that they don't contain all the chemicals that made them fuel proof. Low VOCrequirements by the EPA have put an end to that. Even regular polyurethane is not fuel proof and will disolve under high nitro and methenol fuel exposure. Klass coat is about the only 2 part finish along with the auto finishes that works. All my planes are gas now so it's not a problem and the best part no slime to clean off Oh, and all those rich retired hobby shop owners are driving Mercedes's and living in mansions. Righttttttt.