swify

I am putting the finishing touches on a Great Planes extra 300 kit. I tried painting the cowl with top flight paint so as to match the monocote covering. First of all this paint is pretty thin, runs like crazy if you put on too thick of a coat and seems to creep under masking tape way too easy.
My question is; what is the best way to continue the striping lines on the fuselage to the cowl so they match up halfways decent? I masked off the cowl and painting it with striping lines continued from the fuselage, but it was very difficult to keep the linesthe same width and on the same plane.

GarySS

My Feedback: (13)

It is tough to do with that dang Lustercote which doesn't really match the monokote colors anyway. But for best results use 3M automotive paint tape to mask off the area to paint and learn to peel off the tape at the right point to avoid rips or pulls in the paint, say about 45 minutes after painting. The Lustercote must be well warmed which is easy to do in this hot summer and put on in several thin coats or you will get the runs.
Good luck!

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Last time I used Lusterkote I found the spray tip was awful, it would splatter and spit, I changed it to a tip from some cheap $2 can of auto zone sandable primer and it sprayed a lot smoother and more controllable.

swify

OK, as far as continuing fuselage striping onto the cowl with the paint. Is eyeballingit to mask the striping about my only option? Found it real hard to do and the stripeonthefuselage to the stripe Ipainted inon the cowl didn't match up too well.

DGrant

My Feedback: (4)

On my Extra, there's 2 base colors on the fuse(red/white).... which I matched on the cowling using LustreKote paint.... for the other few stripes, (silver/black)..I simply used TrimKote stick on, cut to width.... for a short run it works very well.. its still stuck over 10yrs now... and it matches the striping(silver/black cut Monokote) on the fuse exactly.

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

I have found that the green tape called Frog Tape is great for stripes. You still need to apply your paint in thin coats and let them dry for a bit in between coats. I have really gotten into using latex paints for color matching. Home Depot sells sample cans for about 4 bucks and then you can adjust how shiny it is by selecting the proper clear coat. Good Luck, Dave

SeamusG

Mount the cowl and tape the stripes by eyeballing it.

DavidA - "select the proper clear coat"? Can you give a bit more info? Automotive clear coat? Rustoleum clear coat?

I tried to paint my GP Extra 300S cowl with Dupli-color. The top was black to match the covering. The side and bottom is chrome, again to match the covering. When I used the chrome, a black undercoat is the best option. So, the cowl was painted entirely in black. Cowl mounted. Tape lines to match the fuse covering. Remove cowl. Fill black field with tape. Shoot the chrome. Then - ARRRGGGGGGG - i shot clear over both the black and chrome. Clear turned the chrome into an ugly brushed aluminum shade of silver. Nowhere does Dupli-color caution NOT to use clear over their chrome. Grrrrrrr ....