Preparation for painting monocote on a Warbird
 

I'll be picking up a nice Corsair, that is covered in monocote. Eventually I will strip it and glass it but for now I would like to paint it. What's a good prep for it and would latex paint adhere to the surface. I'm thinking a good cleaning with lacquer thinner then a thorough scuffing and cleaning again. Prime and paint. Any other suggestions??
Thanks,
Fred

One of my buddies sprayed paint adhesion on the monokote first. He painted a TF Giant FW190 and it looks really great!!

This one was painted with model masters FS Intermediate blue on the sides and std. painters touch white underneath. I lightly scuffed the "painted" areas on the monokote with a light scotchbrite pad and cleaned with alcohol. "No primer" You want to spray the paint on as light as possible. Just enough to cover the color well so it can expand and contract with the monokote.
If you put it on too thick, you'll end up with it cracking and peeling. Make sure the monokote is tight and adhered well. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2016421

I haven't tried it on Monokote, but Krylon Fusion sticks to other plastics very well.

Paint it first with a plastic primer and then with a top coat that is specified for use on plastic. These paints have a lot of additives in them that make it more flexible.

Scuff it up with red scotch bright until the shininess is gone. Wipe it down with alcohol, and don't put too much paint on it. Try to keep the paint as thin as possible.

Thanks for the tips. Do you think latex would work on this or will it peel off in one sheet?

Latex won't stick to plastic. But, if you use a good plastic primer the latex will stick to that. I recently painted a plastic "tupperware-like" bowl using Fusion as the primer coat and latex on top of that and it worked well.

+1
Primer is the secret for long lasting paint job on film covering, i use auto primer for plastic bumpers (transparent)

For paints I use good quality modelling acrylics such as Testors, Gunze Mr Hobby, Tamiya. They are made for plastic models and in general the warbird paints are spot on, no need to mix and match

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3798/...fe12baef_c.jpg

And this is what happens if you DONT use the correct primer

See the bottom part of the white "S" on the wing where the paint lifted with the mask revealing the black monokote:


https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3794/...7049cdbf_c.jpg