I've been pouring over the archives and there's lots of back and forth. There's a krylon crowd, and crowd that hates krylon. Those people love rustoleum, then there's some people who hate rustoleum. Commonly, they all seem to hate Lustrekote. I've tried Rustoleum Expoxy Enamel (Appliance Epoxy), that's not fuelproof. So once and for all, which paints, EXCLUDING Lustrekote, are fuelproof?

Thanks!
Reid

I stopped using paints marketed to the hobby industry years ago because they are not fuel proof no matter what they say. I think it's because the "real" fuel proof paints are highly toxic and the hobby industry doesn't want to subject itself to lawsuits.

If you keep your nitro content down, then some of those paints will work. I tried Krylon once and raw fuel took it off like thinner.

The paints I recommend are 2-part epoxies or urethanes or simple dope. I haven't heard anything good about Lustercoat and won't even bother with it. Top Flight products tend to be mediocre at best and I don't see any reason why their paint would be any better.

I have heard good things about Rustoleum, but I've never used it.

Use any paint you want to and then spray it with an automotive two part clear and you will have a totally fuel proof paint job.. It is fuel, nitro, oil proof up to atleast 30%. It is the highest I have used. You can get a spray can filled at beter automotive paint stores. I am not talking Kragen, Pep Boys, Chief. I am talking like Tri City paint, Advanced Automotive coatings.


Dru.

The conclusion I came to, after exhaustive RCU research and my personal experience, is to use LustreKote. Am I crazy all you paint gurus grunt. Here's my reasons why:

*LustreKote is fuel proof and durable.
*It matches Monokote pretty well when used with white primer.
*I have zero faith in hardware store paint for longterm durability.
*Hardware store paint does not match Monokote in every color.
*I am far to cheap and lazy to spray automotive paints.
*Custom mixed automotive paint in rattle cans may be an option. I just haven't gotten up the energy to try it.


What I want for my sport planes is a basic paint job that matches pretty well and stands up to regular use and doesn't cost too much. I get that with LustreKote.

What you won't get with Lustrekote is a good looking paint job. In all likelihood you will get a mildly orange-peeled job. I tried every trick I knew to get it to lay-out smoothly. I could never get it to behave.

IMHO

Any enamel type paint will go on better if you warm the paint up a little before spraying. Take your rattle can and put it in a pan of warm water for a few minutes before spraying. That should minimize orange peel.

Also, spray light dusting coats. Orange peel is caused by paint that is too thick (not enough thinner) or from spraying thick coats.

I bought some LusterKote in a rattle can to paint the GP bench top caddy. ( is that what ist called?) and Im sure I wont buy the stuff again especially for a plane.......started out fine then on the second coat it started coing out in clumps....lots of clumps. Not sure if I got and old can or just a bad can but I was not impressed with the stuff to say the least.

Well, here are a couple:

Rustoleum - it must say Stpos Rust on the can. Rustoleum makes several types of paint but I think only this one is fuel proof.

Polyurethane - Red Devil and Krylon both make this (same paint, same company) - I've only seen this in regular cans - not spray cans. But, again, both companies make other paints that are not fuelproof.

I've used the above and they are very fuel proof but heavy.

RCPAUL

I have my auto paint store mix my paint and put it in a rattle can to match monokote. It is a perfect match every time, I don't have to do any weird dances to make it work, and it is fuel proof. I have used rustolium and not had a problem, but the colors are harder to match. The auto shop has never missed.

Ok, so that's 2 votes for Rustoleum. Now, I tried appliance epoxy and after being wrapped in a fuel soaked rag (5% nitro) the paint was bubbling. This was after a weeks drying time. So now, Painter's Choice rustoleum? Or the standard Rustoleum?

Thanks!
Reid

FlyBoy,

Tell me the process . . .meaning I just need to go to a high end Automotive paint store and ask them to match my monokote . . .then they can place it in the aerosol can? Is that a base coat, clear coat process? I love the sound of not having to get all of my paint gear out. What is the normal cost for this service? You have peaked my interest!

I have a detail / touch up gun and a large compressor . . .I have sprayed K&B and Perfect paint with it before . . .ok results but I had to work at it.

The concept of a high quality fast drying base coat followed by a clear coat gets my motor running, but the costs have always frightened me away. I have seen radio souhts ppg products but it is still a deal where you need to know the temp you will be spraying in, and the then you have to purchase quite a bit of other stuff.

Tell em a little bit more about your process, and product that you use (ppg etc)

phughes - What problems did you have spraying? Spraying should be the easy part. That takes all of a couple minutes. It's the prep that takes all the time.

Well,

I guess it more or less confidence . . .or the lack of it. I am always unsure if I have the consistency correct (to thin vs to thick) never really sure about the pressure etc. I would love a product that was ready to spray (I think I have the right technique, holding the gun parallel to the work, start spraying prior to getting to the piece in your hand motion and not stopping until you are past the piece being painted etc), and dried quickly. I never had problems sprying dope, or laquer . . .but I would like to try the base coat clear coat products . . .I just do not want to spend the big bucks to "experiment and mess something up." I know that is not a good answer but it is the truth. I have been building since I was ten, thus for the past 22 years my building had progressed to what I would call excellent, and I love covering as I feel that I achieve excellent results . . .my problem is with painting . . .my last project I used percest paint and got a "good to ok" finish, but I see so many people have just wonderful finishes and they tell em it is "base coat clear coat." I am lucky to have a great automotive finisher (neighbor owns the repair shop) and he told me that he would clear nay thig I would like cleared as the parts I have are always small in comparison to what he is painting , and he probably throughs more product away than he would use on a 1/3 scale cowl, and wheel pants.

With all of that said what is it like to work with automotive paints? do they require reducing, or thinning? What pressure should I use? Do they cure, or dry fast? Is it pretty easy to spray the base coat? I guess I am just not confident with the spray equipment. Or what I need to go to the automotive paint shop and ask for?

Sorry about the spelling . . .that was supposed to be "perfect paint" I think it was an enamel.

OK, there's more to spraying than I can type here. But confidence is easy to take care of.

Get some cheap paint and whatever you need to thin it with. Get something non porous and start spraying.

Here's the basics of what you need to know:

1) It doesn't matter what PSI your compressor is at. What matters is that YOU like how the gun is spraying. I've sprayed from 15 to 60 PSI depending on what I was doing and how the paint was going on. There are no rules here.

2) Thin the paint so that YOU like how it sprays. I've used up to 75% thinner. Normally I use 30 - 50% but just try the paint on something and adjust it until you like how it sprays. In other words, after you have mixed your paint do not thin all of it because you might want to add some in to thicken it if you think you've thinned it too much. Hope that makes sense.

3) Use a real degreaser before you paint. Don't use dishwashing soap. It contains chemicals that may cause fisheyes in your paint.

4) Practice, practice, practice.

Don't let all that PSI/thinner ratio stuff scare you. It's all what you like and NEVER EVER start painting your model until you like how the gun is spraying.

PS. I've used Perfect paints. They peeled off the primer. Hours and hours of wet sanding and polishing down the tubes.

Thanks for the info . . .I guess you are right . . .I need to practice! Do you use automove finishes? Base coat clear coat? I was told the base coat dries quickly, and is less tempermental . . is that true?

Honestly, the last paint I used was K & B SuperPoxy. It's gone now, so my next step will be either to use automotive paints all the way or some other type of paint with an automotive clear coat over it.

For example, I have a BalsaCraft Focke Wulf 190 kit (fully sheeted) that I will cover with tissue and dope. Color coats will be Tamiya acrylics which are not durable and probably not fuel proof. I'll have to find a good flat clear when the time comes. I don't know if they automotive industry makes a flat clear, but if not then I'll contact Nelson Specialties to see what they have.

For me it's a case by case thing. For a "show" finish I would use automotive paints from the start.

I don't know if this will be helpful to you. It's basically about the tools which you already have, but there may be a pointer or two in here that you can use. This page is not about how to paint though.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/tools_painting.htm

I have used Rustoleum paint from a rattle can and have sprayed it from a spray gun,both were fuel proof.I use 25% and 35% nitro in rc boats and never have had pait lift or bubble off.You must let the paint dry,sometimes it takes 2 or 3 days to vapor off.I have painted plywood,put the plywood in a jar of 35% nitro fuel for 3 days,and not had the paint lift.I have used Red Devil Polyurethane
paint ,only for stripes and graphics,and have not had the paint lift,BUT,I have cleaned the boats after every run with Windex.I have painted 1 plane,a Bipe with Rustoleum paint and it has not lifted or peeled in 2 years,BUT I clean the plane after every flight.

For what its worth,Butchman

The clear I get put into cans, can be made flat with an aditive to make it a military flat finish.

I have also done the color matching of monacote. I just took a scrap of the colors I needed to the paint store and they matched it and put it in a can. Some of the colors need a clear to get the bright shinny gloss to it, others do not need to be clear coated. Ask them and they will tell you if the paint needs to be clear coated.

Dru.

P.S. THe cans that I get run about $12.00 each and last no more then 4 days before they get hard in the can.

Dru.

I have read some good things about plasti-kote laquer out of the can around here. Tried it and it seems to work quite well. I have yet to fuel test it though. It should be OK with mild fuels.

No orange peel or overspray whatsever. It's sold off the rack at Pep boys, Carquest, and Advance auto. They also sell good primers in good colors.

One thing that may help you apply the paint is the little spray handles that clip onto a spray can so it's easier to hold/use:
.

I've seen them in auto parts places as well as the paint section of Wall-mart. They are very convenient and reusable and cost about $3.

I have a couple of scale gliders that I coated in plasti-kote enamel - didn't need to worry about fuel and want the toughness of enamel. Bright white, but could not avoid overspray problems on either plane. Seems that a wet-sand with 1500 paper will take care of that. I'm leaving them out in the sun when I can to help get the paint hardened up.

Thanks for the info about the air guns ! I will get some practice in soon . . .to be honest (and I am imbaresed buy this, but I never thought of using foam poster mount board to practice tecnique . . .simple, and easy to use!

The paint shop that mixes mine is the same one that mixes for most of the auto places in town. they have a service where you take something in and they match it. If you want a base coat clear coat, tell them to suggest a clear for the clear coat. I just use the paint. I take them a sample of the monokote on a piece of balsa so it has the right density. He mixes up the required amount of paint, puts it in a rattle can and I go paint the plane.

The colors have always matched perfectly, and I have yet to have one bubble or come off. Ask him which primer to use. He just gave me one off the shelf. He will know more about it than I do.

I think I pay about $12 for a rattle can of paint that matches perfectly. The last 2 planes I painted on were the best I have ever done. I have never liked painting because I am not good at it, but the last two were on fiberglass and were almost flawless.

Painter's Choice hasn't even "dried" in days on epoxy resin/glass floats. Got some good advice on these here fiorums I must say.

"Painter's Touch" on the other hand, works well on balsa sheeted foam floats. Go figure.

It is a rust-oleum product. I am talking about the water based stuff in the pint and quart cans that you brush on.

I think there is a version of it in a spray can that is solvent based. I could see that not "sticking" to epoxy resin floats.

No idea what "Painter's choice" is.

OK OK so it's Painter's Touch. I thought I picked up PC. Anyway, it's the solvent based spray paint. I guess I have lived on another planet all my life. I thought the spray would be the same formula as the other.

I wish I would have read solvent vs water based before using/purchasing.

You can tell I'm having a good week!

Just acting goofy, as usual.

Have a better weekend!