badger5964

My Feedback: (6)

I have been painting and painting aerogloss dope on Sig Koverall. Two coats of clear then stearman red. The red is the base coat. To get even coverage I bet I have applied 10 coats of this stuff with a brush. The finish was still smooth. Then on the next coat disaster! Cracks and peeling the whole thing is ruined.

Ten coats seems excessive to get even coverage. This is my first dope job. Is this what I can expect or have I done something wrong?

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

I see several problems.

1. You have WAY to much paint on the plane. This is what caused the cracking/peeling, not to mention excessive weight.

2. You are brushing the paint on. This makes for heavy coats of paint (and added weight ).

3. I have a feeling you did not fill the weave on the koverall. Koverall USUALLY requires 2 (sometimes 3 ) coats of a clear dope/talcum powder (or micro - balloons ) mix to seal the weave. This you would apply with a brush. When it has dried, wet sand LIGHTLY with 400 grit paper to remove any excess filler and brush marks. Be careful not to sand through on high spots (ribs, etc. )

Once the weave is sealed, one THIN coat of silver or white SPRAYED, then your color. You should NORMALLY be able to get your colored coverage in two coats SPRAYED. For most colors, especially light colors, I suggest using silver or white instead of the clear. The lighter colors will cover better and provide a "more true" color.

By spraying the paint, you will get better, more even coverage without adding excessive weight or having excessive paint build up.

You may also want to consider using a latex paint (allow 7 - 10 days to fully cure ) followed by 2 coats of a waterbase polyurethane for fuel proofing. The latex/poly combo, does not provide as high a shine as dope, but is a lot lighter and just as durable, perhaps more so since latex is a "rubber" and the fabric is going to flex/move.

Hope this answers your questions.

badger5964

My Feedback: (6)

Yes I agree way too much paint. Two coats of color is what you expect? After two coats the finish looks like it was applied with water colors, hence all the coats. I think I'll try the Sig Dope or method you suggest.

I did sand between coats with 400 grit.

The aerogloss red seems to lack pigment and had difficult time making a even coat. It always looked to need one more coat. Tried an badger airbrush early in process but this was taking a long time and coverage was minimal and waste was tremendous. Just purchased an HVLP gun to try, maybe that will even things out as you suggest.

I want the fabric texture. Is it necessary to use the talc to fill the weave for paint adhesion?

CafeenMan

I don't like using talc on covering over open framework and I don't like using primer either. I can't say I know this for a fact, but it seems to me that talc will result in a poorer bond and more likely to come loose.

After the covering is on, I brush the first coat or two of clear and then spray all subsequent coats. I sand a lot to keep the finish thin, light and more flexible.

GrnBrt

My Feedback: (5)

One other thing that most people forget about paint is the flash time. All paint will flash off the solvents in them even 10 years down the road. If you put a lot of coats on before they are real dry the solvents in the first coats have a hard time falshing off and if you seal with a clear coat then you really have a problem. I use to do custom full size cars on the side and saw many home paint shops that were cracking and spider weaving because the person doing the painting didn't give the coats of paint the needed time to flash off. Painting an airplane isn't much different. an award winning U/C builder and flier would paint his planes and then put them in a sterile room for 6 months before any clear coat, excessive??? Yup but damn what beautiful work he would produce, wish I could remember his name.

Ed_Moorman

My Feedback: (1)

Many, many years ago when I painted with dope a lot, we used to add a plasticizer to the dope to keep it from cracking. I think the stuff was oil of wintergreen. We used a couple of drops in each bottle of dope. Try the Brodak site that has all the control line stuff. They may have items for dope.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

You don't need to use talc to fill the weave. Many people want the real high shine/glass type finish. That type of finish does require complete filling of the weave so you have a perfectly smooth surface. I would seriously consider at least one coat of filler to partially seal the weave. If the weave is not at least partially sealed you will be using a lot of paint since the it will look like there is no/minimal paint on the covering.

Since you want the fabric texture, have you considered using SolarTex ? It comes plain and prepainted and has a nice fabric appearance. I don't know if they have a Stearman red, but they may have something close in color, that if needed, could be easily painted over to get the Stearman Red color. SolarTex DOES NOT require balsarite or stix-it to adhere to the airframe/overlaps as Koverall or Coverite does.

SolarTex is very easy to work with (low temp ) and goes around wing tips and compound curves like a dream. It shrinks up nicely and rarely needs reshrinking later on. The pre painted is fuel proof. The SolarTex would be a lot lighter than a convential dope/fabric finish. The only thing I would suggest doing is applying a coat of waterbase polyurethane after everything is done to seal out dirt from the weave. SolarTex can be scrubbed with a brush to get the dirt out of the weave, however, I have not been able to get the level of clean I want doing this. (Before you ask, yes, I am a big fan of this product ).

badger5964

My Feedback: (6)

THanks for all your inputs. I'll try again with your tips etc.

kdheath

Aerogloss has been through some formula changes. I have heard others mention problems with cracking and so on. You did have a lot of paint on the thing, though.

Another approach to Koverall is to start with two coats of nitrate. It bonds to fabric some better than butyrate. Then spray on clear and lightly sand between every other coat until you get a surface that you like. Then spray on a light coat of grey dope as a base color. White will also work. Wet sand, touch up thin spots, and apply your color. It's a good idea to back mask your colors rather than laying the colors on top of one another. Then if you want it shiny, shoot on some clear, wet sand and buff.

Forget Aerogloss and Sig dope. Brodak is the class of the act. It's made by Randolph to Brodak specs for models. It has high solids, dries fast and clean, buffs beautifully, and stays flexible. I'm an idiot and I can get a nice finish with Brodak. The last Koverall I painted with Brodak got clear, one coat of Polar grey, and one coat of red. I quit there, but five coats of clear and some elbow grease and it woiuld be outtasight. <www.brodak.com>

BTW, red and yellow are two colors that do not cover for squat and require a base coat.

john comp

I have a old P6E that I restored, i'm painting over the original dope on balsa finish, I'm using old aerogloss White and it's cracking.
I also used balsa covered putty to fill in dents etc. and i'm getting cracks over that. I have brushed on the white dope
I included some photos to see.
I may get Brodak white dope but still arnt sure what to do.

jaka

Hi!
The best way to "Painting" a plane is using 2-part automotive acrylic paints. The only "problem" with those is that you have to spray it on and that they are expensive.