jimr

I am in the midst of contructing a Northstar. When finished I want to cover it and then have flames airbrushed on it. What paints can be run through an airbrush and are fuel proof? I know nothing about airbrushing except that I have a friend that will brush it for me if I find the proper paint to go it his airbrush.
Thanks
Jim

Phlip

Solid colors of Rustoleum in spraycans are fuel-proof. You can spray the cans through a plastic drinking straw into the airbrush bottles and it's ready to go, no thinning needed. You may want to let it warm up a little ... that stuff comes out COLD! Of course, you can spray the model right from the spray can, but if you want to mix colors, do shading, blending, or any of that cool airbrush type stuff, this is the way to go. I used this technique on my RV-4 over white Ultracote, and the results are great. And after two full flying seasons, it still looks great.

redfox435cat

On all my Top FLite kits I've built it mentions using TOp flite Lusterkote in the way mentioned above. I've been doing this way ever since and it works great. The colors match monokote pretty darn close

iaclmac

I have used exclusively SIG dopes. Never a problem. I find thinning them 50-50 or there abouts works best. I use a single action Pasche brush with a #5 tip. I don't have a lot of pics. What few current ones I gave are listed below. All are done with sig dope

Phlip

iaclmac, nice looking work. What is the base for the paint on your planes? Silk and dope?

I've used the single action Paasche H model with dope as well, but it takes some playing with the position of the cone to get a good paint flow. I'd like to try an automotive touch-up gun, at least for the larger areas, but I've not purchased one yet.

Phil

iaclmac

Thanks for the kind words Phil. On the 2 planes in the pics above ... the wings are covered with Super Coverite and simply painted with SIG dopes. The fuse is balsa 1/4"x1/8" planking and tails are balsa sheets. I usually seal the balsa by rubbing CA all over it with a q-tip. Then I sand and follow it up with Nitrate dope mixed with baby powder. This usually fills in most all the grain. Then I top coat with the colors of my choice in SIG dopes. A good rubbing with automotive buffing compound 1200 grit or finer usually gives a great gloss. The cowl below is an example of the process. It was made of basswood ... the rocker blisters are 1/4"sq balsa and the rounded front is 1/2" balsa ... all finished as I just described

ON another note, I am just starting to experiment with Latex finishes. I am also going to do a test using milk paint. Nothing to report yet. At least nothing I want to take a picture of.

Phlip

!!!!

That sounds expensive, never mind heavy! But it looks great.

Phil

iaclmac

The weight of the finish might be a little heavy ... you could be right. Nowadays planes weigh so much more with the bigger airframes and engines. However in the days when I flew controlline stunt, a typical 550sqin area plane with an OS 35 or 40 would weigh about 40oz. I know seems light. But then I wasn't hauling aroudn all that radio gear. Still thanks for the kind words. The old dope methods seem to be a dying art form. Guess i am showing my age. Maybe even my stubborness.

BWooster

iaclmac,

I am going back to doped finishes too. Just like the old control-line days!

On this one I did two coats nitrate, silkspan, two coats nitrate, then talcum filler with butyrate, sanded, then a grey primer, then colour and clear (3 coats). (All Sig) It took less than two weeks, and I think it looks way better than plastic. Look at the wing tips: you'll never get such a smooth seamless finish with monokote.

One thing I found is that different colours use different amounts of retarder, depending on the pigment. But with a proper prime coat (mine was bit patchy), you actually use very little colour. I think it's cheaper than monokote.

Next time i'm going to use a proper silver primer, and I'm going to prime and sand a couple more times. Also, now that I'm getting the hang of using retarder, the colours should be a little better.

This is a hobby, and its fun to try something different.