Couple-a weeks ago I got some good advice here on RCU about using Sig Koverall and nitrate dope to cover my 1/5-scale Sig Cub. It turned out great! Thanks to all who helped get me started, see pics below.

But now it's time to prime, and I have purchased and plan on using Nelson Hobby Specialties primer and color paint.

Except, the bottle of primer specifically says NOT to use it on open fabric areas. Now, I have gone over all open areas with 2 coats of nitrate dope... can I not then use the Nelson primer?

Anyone who has used Nelson Hobby Specialties (System 3) paint over fabric, did you use their primer on the open parts, or something else? Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

Dope Fiend,

Isn't Nelson paint water base?

Only reason I can see for NOT using it on "open" areas, is it's probably brittle?

If so, a good reason to not use it. Plenty of other stuff.

Use Dope! I believe it's offered in Cub Yellow.

Hey! I make Cub graphics and lettering!

CUB YELLOW??? No way, man! I am going against tradition and using a maroon over cream scheme. And good God have I had enough dope fumes for the year... [:'(]

Apply in a vented area.

I like your color choice. Pays to be different.

On a fabric covered airplane the only place I would use primer is where I wanted to simulate metal panels anyway. Just paint over everything else and you will still see the fabric weave. At least that's the look I go for.

Smithcreek, thanks for the reply. I will get some white to prime with, and go from there.

My 1/5th Cub was covered with Koverall, 2 coats of nitrate dope and painted with latex. Iagree with smithcreek about the limited use of primer only to simulate metal panels, etc.

Ok, I got the "straight dope" from John Desilets at Nelson Hobby, and he says I can simply scuff the nitrate-coated fabric and apply the paint directly, no primer necessary.

Nice looking planes you guys have, by the way! [8D]

Sure you can use it. It will look great until the first time you press on the fabric in the open areas. IE: the open bays between the ribs. Primers by nature have lots of solids and will "Eggshell" when you touch it. There are always naysayers that will disagree so the old saying "There's them that have and them that are gonna" applies here. You started correctly by using Nitrate dope. Now, switch to Butyrate. Paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, Paint and use the primer on only the solid surfaces. Life will be good, birds will sing and all will be well.

I've used Nelson's paint (not primer) over nitrate dope on open-bay wings with excellent results. Butyrate over nitrate is fine, and I've used that, too, but it's not the only good method. What you say about primer makes sense, but that isn't what the OP is now proposing to use.

TopGunn is correct. Nelson's is going to allow me to return the primer, and I am going to just use the paint with cross-linker. Actually got some small pieces done today, seems like it will work just fine. Regardless, thanks for the advice Chip.

No.-Apply in a very small closet with the heat turned up really high !!!! Hehehe. Just kidding of course!!!

Is Nelson's paint "water base?"

Charles

Yes

Paint - yes
Primer - no. the old web site said the primer is an epoxy product

I painted my Sig 1/5 Scale Cub with Nelson Hobby Paint directly over the SolarTex covering. No Nelson primer was used except on the landing gear and on the aluminum struts. Paint has held up great over the couple of years I have been flying it.

I found the Nelson paint a little difficult to use so I doubt I would choose that paint again. Like I said, it is holding up good, but it seems to resist everything including itself when painting. I had to mask everything, spray the color, then cut around the entire mask to prevent the paint from lifting as the mask was removed. Then I had to clear the entire plane to prevent each colored from lifting at the edges. My Cub is all Nelson paint with no stickers. I gave up on the paint and omitted the numbers from the sides of the plane.

Let me revise an earlier statement. The Cowl paint is not Nelson, it is AutoAir colors with PPG clear. I had the clear on hand and I hand mixed the AutoAir colored to get the correct blue for the cowl.

The 1/5th Sig Cub was one of my favorite builds, a great kit. And it flies excellent.

Here is my build thread and a link to some videos I made with my Cub:

http://www2.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38812

http://youtu.be/A0WJelqyLJA

http://youtu.be/CtypDZje05s

SunDevilPilot

One more video.... One of the best I have found of a Sig 1/5th Cub... On floats no less!

SunDevilPilot

http://youtu.be/bu5GgK7EbgU

Interesting statements, but I found none of these problems. On the model pictured below, I sprayed the red, and let it sit until the next weekend. At that time, the dark blue was applied. The masking was pulled, approximately 1/2 hour after the final coat. I am very pleased with the results.

The primer was used only over hard surfaces. The model is covered in Solartex. All open areas were left unprimed.

Really nice Spacewalker Tom!

I really wanted the Nelson paint to be good. There are so few choices for model paint now days. A fellow club member, who painted a Ryan with Nelson Hobby Paint, had similar results as I did. I followed the directions and was not that impressed.

I think I will try Warbird Colors in the near future. I have read several reviews of their paint and all seem to like it.

SunDevilPilot

For you guys that have sprayed Nelson paint, can you give me the numbers for:

How much did you reduce the paint? Did you use water and isopropyl alcohol, or just water?

What pressure were you running?


I just picked up a small gravity-fed spray gun at Lowe's, and my first attempt was not good. Thankfully I was able to wash it off! I got what I would describe as small "dots" or "fisheyes" on the surface. I am using a dessicant dryer in the air line, but maybe some oil from the new gun got in?

I mixed 1 oz of paint with 7 drops cross-linker, and reduced with 1/4 oz each of water and isopropyl. I understand each setup will be different, but it may help to hear how you got results. Thanks

FWIW, I use an HVLP system. The exact settings vary from color to color. Water-based paints (like Nelsons, and also latex, which I've used, too) seem to be picky about settings, so you have to experiment on some test panels until you get it right. Klass Kote epoxy doesn't seem to be nearly so sensitive about settings, but it does produce fumes which annoy my wife to no end. My recollection is that I thinned Nelsons (with distilled water) close to 50-50 and gave the gun a thorough cleaning between coats. It also went on pretty well with a foam brush, which was how I did the base coats. When spraying latex I've used automotive windshield washer fluid for thinner. It's even cheaper than distilled water. Might work with Nelson's, too, but I haven't tried yet.

My experience with Nelson's instructions (this was years ago and they may have changed) was that they had all the info you needed, but they weren't very clear. You had instructions, then additional instructions and then answers to questions. All together, kind of disorganized. I ended up going through them, underlining the key things, then pasting together a revised list of what to do. (Which unfortunately I don't have handy.) Once you get it figured out, it's great stuff.

Ha- at least you got instructions. All I got was the can of paint and the cross-linker. i had to email John Desilets to find out how much linker to use! [:@]

Well, he just bought the company recently so I suppose it'll take him a while to get organized. Instructions are pretty important. As I recall, the basics for spraying were recoat every 20 minutes or so and take masking tape off pretty quickly after use.

Nelson paint is http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/...opcoat-c29.htm that is custom colored and packaged in small bottles. You can get tech data and a paint application guide from the system three site.

The primer appears to be repackaged http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/...Primer-c19.htm
The site says it is water cleanup but I sure thought Jerry Nelson had written, on the old Nelson site, that solvents were required to clean the gun.

That's the info I was looking for- thanks!

I'm going to read as much as I can about spraying this week while I'm out on business, then practice when I get home.