Ready to finish an .049 Baby Clown. Can I spray paint the silkspan covered wings with top-flite luster cote. Can't explain why I'm hesitant, but am afraid it might be "too heavy." There are a couple of coats of clear dope on wing already. Tired of brush hairs in paint. Please advise.

Peace

Hi,
I was very dissatisfied by the Top Flite LusterKote. I only used it once, but Ifound that it did not cover well, ran easily, and orange peeled easily. This was with the white and blue colors.
I ended up buying a hobby spray gun, and used latex paint from the hardware store. It was very easy to use, and clean up.
The only issues are that you have to let it dry for two weeks before flying. Also, fuel proofing is a little more complicated.
I ended up buying a rattle can of automotive clear coat from the local auto parts store, using a coat of that, and then using the LusterKote clear coat on top of that.
This worked very well, and I was able to use just about any color I wanted instead of being stuck with just the 6 or 8 colors that Top Flite offers.
You will probably hear about other methods, but this is what I have found that works for me. I found a great writeup on how to use latex paint for painting models.
I will try to find the link and post it.

Good luck with what ever method you use.

Here is a link to the writeup Imentioned before: http://vaillyaviation.com/Intro.html

The short answer is yes you can. But its probably not the best choice. The newer formulations of the lusterkote spray better but are not as fuel proof. I've been using the flat colors that the car guys use on their R/C car bodies. It dries fast, lays flat, is light weight, and is hard to run. And if it orange peels, you can sand it after its well dried. I then top with the lusterkote clear to fuel proof it. This is good up to about 15% raw nitro. More than that I use good ole dope. Sig sells spraycans of basic colors if you don't have a spray rig.

Mike

Buy better brushes. LK works but shoot it in several light coats!!! Can't stress it enough. You can also buy a cheap gun at Harbor Freight if you have a compressor and shoot it with colored dope too. If you have a gun you can paint your plane with latex then shoot a clear coat of Klass Kote. Due to the weight a few fine coats of LK should work for you.

Thank you all. Will be buying brushes. Any reccomendations for type to use with dope. Kids at hooby shop don't know and I can't remember. Don't want to be pickin' out hairs.

peace

I used silkspan on my 1/2a bombshell. I dyed the silkspan, covered in thinned clear, then painted the black with Sig dope. Thinned about 50/50. I used a cheappie detail sprayer I got at Harbor Freight for about $15 and borrowed my neighbor's compressor. I was very happy with the results.

Lustercoat too heavy! Do what the folks are saying in previous posts!

"Any reccomendations for type to use with dope."

Art supply store Camel's hair. But do NOT expect to be hair free, until you have used them for a while, and expect it to be expensive. The glueing is an imperfect thing. Once you get a good one, guard it with your life, and it WILL last for years.

Les