jhcorsair

JHCORSAIR <<< he's the guy building the Top Flight Spitfire.

Ok guys, I'm seriously considering painting my Spitfire instead of covering it and I'm all ears on the pros and con's. I've recently used my first epoxy paint (Klasskote) on the wheel wells and I like the results.

A few questions .........

What's the best spray equipment to use?

What's the best way to prep the surface (filler, undercoat)?

tstotts

The equipment you use really depends on the project. Fortunately I have a large compressor so adjusting it down to spray requirements I get good steady air. You want to have a good water trap. For a full wing or body my favorite gun is a automotive top loading touch up gun I got from harbor freight. cant remember the price but around 30$. I use an airbrush for detail work. I use automotive acrylics for paint and love the results.

tstotts

Trying to remember but for warbirds I saw a post on here of a site that offers authenic colors for warbirds and from comments I saw posted they were pretty pleased with the paint and drying time was a lot shorter than normal acrylics. I should say curing time. When I painted with acrylics I gave it 90 days for curing time although I know a lot of the guys settle for 30 days. If you fly with nitro before you get a good cure you will find the paint not to be fuel proof.

bigtim

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www.warbirdcolors.com they have authentic colors for painting warbirds.
as for equipment I also use a large compressor a RIGID from Home depot,I also use it for work as well nail guns,as well as a cup gun sprayer.
I also have a rather high end airbrush from Binks,I just use a quick connect on the airbrush hose to connect it up it gives 50' of range so I can take it anywhere in my shop.
the warbird colors paint works great as well as being a water clean up product it comes with a catalist that makes it fuel proof to 15% nitro.
for me I am pretty much over epoxy/toxic materials I have worked with it for years and I prefer to limit my exposure to it,I have been using water based products with great success.
water based poly for glassing,and now warbird colors for paint,if your painting then .56oz glass gives you a light base for painting as well as a little extra strength.
here's my TF Spitfire glassed with WB poly,all logos,roundels,lettering, and camo painted by me,the roundals were done with stencils from www.getstencils.com

tstotts

Nice job on the warbird Tim. I am definately with you on the epoxy products. Been using them on the job for to many years but on my personal projects I can choose what I like. I haven't tried the warbird colors and not being a warbird enthusiast I havn't really checked it out. Maybe they have some colors I could try on some of my sport flyers. Thanks for the url on the stencils. going to check that out.

bigtim

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the nice thing about warbird colors is they also have a clear coat so you can fuel proof your paint, I know some people use the BEAHR paint from home depot for there colors the latex is gas resistant but you need to proof for glow fuel or it tears the WB paint up
Gary Sibert is the stencil guy super nice dude,I am on my second set of stencils from him,for the spit,and now for my TF P-47 he will reproduce most art you can come up with thats paintable.
WWII planes are my main interest but building is a passion.

tstotts

good to hear about the stencil guy. I like to do my own art work so will give him a try on the stencil making. Thanks.

jhcorsair

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments. I'm getting close to finishing the fuse on the Spitfire and then it's on to finish sanding and glassing everything. I wish I could post some pics but I don't have a digital camera [:@]. I'm leaning towards an HVLP paint system and Klasskote paint. Does anyone have any suggestions for an affordable HVLP system?

Redwulf__34

Hey Bigtim,
I'm getting ready to paint my first with Warbird Colors. I'm having a long waite with temperture here. My shop is not heated. If it doesnt warm up soon I'm gonna get some heat somehow.

My question is how long between coates did you waite? I've got a 4 color scheme. I'll spray the white areas first. I've got a gray primer so I expect that I can cover in 3 coates (??). But how long between coates? Im sure temps will vary. Can you give me an idea on how to tell when it's ready for the next coate?

Sean

bigtim

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hey redwulf
this is what I did after much fiddling with this paint,and what I found worked best for me.
I have been using my airbrush to spray my www.warbirdcolors.com paint, it has larger needles so I can shoot large volumes of paint that most won't, thinning about 30% with water has turned out to be a good ratio for my gear that I use.
so I have a old hair dryer one of my wifes cast offs that works well,I first lay down a light coat, lightly blowing the coat dry,too close with the dryer, or too heavy of a coat, and the paint will skin over and cause checking, so hold the dryer about 3ft away and wave back and forth rapidly,so it drys even and not to fast,after a couple of min.you will see the paint begin to dry at the edges the wet and dry areas will be obvious as soon as the coat is dry spray another light coat and repeat under normal circumstances a section/wing side can be done in a 1/2 hour 3-5 coats for the last coat I would spray a little heavy give it a light blow and leave it so it would set for a bit.then you can flip the wing or fuse and shoot the other side
if your space is really cold then a space heater wouldn't be a bad idea but the hair dryer works great once you get the hang of it.

before I started using the dryer I was having dripping problems, spraying the paint it would run and drip with even the thinnest coats, the warm air sets the paint in position and evaporates the water quickly so far its been working great with this method.

I have even taped over sections of white and shot black invasion stripes doing the job in about 4 hours,one thing I would recomend doing is back sealing any tape lines so the tape doesn't leak I use the clear coat to do this spraying the edges to seal them then shoot the color coats it makes a clean line and requires little touch up it takes some practice but once you get it dialed in you will be surprised how well it comes out practice with the product makes the difference,I screwed up a few times before I started having the results I wanted,and I have been working in const.and house painting for over 20 yrs.

some of my results from my Top Flight P-47 and the stencils I used from www.getstencils.com

Redwulf__34

I will probably give it a try Bigtim. I noticed a couple things on your pics. Any reason you didn't paint your white first? I think it would take a lot more and be harder to get it to cover? I was always taught start with the lighter colors first.

I see you used stencils? I'm wondering if I can buy the stencil material some place and make my own? It sure looks easier than masking etc. I watched the heat in my garage over the weekend and it held 60 degrees pretty easily without heat. I'm hopeful with a heater in there I can open a window and keep things around 60. What kind of temps are you painting in?

Sean

bigtim

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the way gary from www.getstencils.com has it set up you do the background first his stencil line up method is pretty fool proof,US insinia blue doesn't cover that well,really all the primary colors ,blue,yellow,and red take alot of coats to get them to be opaque having to cover the white would have been a nightmare,the white covers in 3-4 coatings easy.
really the amount I paid for the stencil work was well worth the time I would have spent trying to cut them out and I would have never been able to do it as well as the ones I purchased,and I had my boys initials done for the large lettering on the fuse side in the font the came in,as well as the numbering for the tail that I didn't show.
the invasion stripes were done with a white background and the black was done over that.
as for temps I live right on the coast temps in my shop are around 50-60o there doesn't seem to be a problem when I use the dryer,just remember the paint isn't cured fully so a light touch is what I would recomend for at least a day, or you might find your fingerprints in the surface.

fockewulf37

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I don't know if anyone is interested but i made a Video on how I paint with latex paints. Its about 2.5 hours long. I shoot all my planes with latex..Here are my last 2:

Ty



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