I've got a question and any info would be appreciated. I'm about at the end of building a top flite p-40 covered in silkspan/dope. I was wondering what kind of over the counter paint can be bought that would be fuel proof....instead of having to order a bunch of lusterkote. I'm doing the paint by can method olive drab with dove gray for the belly. Thanks in advance for any info that you might be able to give.

autozone truck paint is dont know if you can find any any olive drab though

The Rustoleum flats I have used have been fuel proof. Again, I don't know what all colors are available. I believe there are many more than you typically see at Home Depot. You may have to special order.

thanks for the replys...I probably should have mentioned that I'm running glow fuel in a Satio 100

I used Latex paint with a fuel proof Automotive clear with matting agent added to tone down the gloss. If interested I can give full details.

Ed S

Hey Ed, always interested in someone else's techniques. If you don't mind sharing the details, that would be great. Is that a Skybolt on the left side of the picture? Just curious.

I may question your choice of paint but not your choice of aircraft. Just teasing you. Nice plane.

Bill

Yes it is a Skybolt.

The full paint procedure.

The P40 airframe is glassed with 3/4 oz cloth and epoxy resin.

To fill the weave I use "Drywall Compound". I get a blob on my fingers dip it into water and firmly rub it into the weave. See Skybolt picture for the same procedure. When it is dry I dry sand it smooth with about a 220 grit. It sands very easily. This is a great method for filling pinholes in glass fuselages.

It was then primed with a white two part epoxy automotive primer. I flew the airplane in just primer. I wanted to make sure it was balanced correctly and everything worked. Who knows I might have saved myself the rest of the paint job. Note! BALANCE THE AIRPLANE WITH THE RETRACTS up, not down as the instructions say.

I sprayed the light brown with a High volume low pressure spray gun. The dark brown with an airbrush as I wanted a fuzzy edge on the camouflage edges. I used latex paint from Home Depot. The latex had an additive called "Floetrol". This product causes the latex to level off as it cures. The proportions were 10 parts paint, 2 parts floetrol, 3 parts ordinary tapwater. The roundels were all painted. Tedious but there it is. The white lettering was hand cut from Ultracote and ironed on. The black lettering was computer cut. I was getting impatient.

The panel lines were done using a "Pentel" collet pencil, .5mm "H" grade lead. With pencils no ink blobs. Make a mistake rub it out and start over.

Latex paint is not glow fuel proof, so it needs a fuel proof top coat. I already had some clear gloss so I added a "Matting" agent to it. The matting agent was of the same manufacturer as the gloss, PPG. Different amounts of matting agent will give different degrees of flatness.

To some degree I am still learning to use latex. I have an old wing that is used for tryouts. I always spray parts of this wing to verify the paint before going at the big bit.

The advantages of latex are, it is inexpensive, available in numerous colors, cleans up with just water. The disadvantages are, it is not glow fuel proof, the smallest quantity available is 1 qt. Despite the teasing from Bill, I will definitely be using it more often. The Cosmic Wind was my first latex attempt. This has a gloss clearcoat. Bill, you can tease this one as well.

Try it, you will like it.

Good Luck.

Ed S

I've got some questions about airplane paints that are glow fuel proof. Is polyurethane floor finish good for glow fuel proofing engine compartments, etc? What brands of automotive clear coat are glow fuel proof? Are they compatible with latex? (I've read that latex paints are not fuel proof and should be top coated with clear coat). Are Krylon spray paints fuel proof? Any others besides Rustoleum? One part epoxy? I have a .40 size Piper Cub covered with SuperFabric that I would like to spray paint from canned paint. Thanks for the input.

Latex is not fuel proof and must be clear coated. The nice thing about latex paint is the paint matching systems they use to make your paint the color and shade that you might need to match an existing color. I can take a color swatch down to my local Home Depot and they make me a color match that has yet to miss. I even got some white mixed up to paint a cowl that I needed to color match my covering. With a million different shades of white available, the match was perfect. You need to let the Latex dry for about 2 weeks and then clear coat it. I am sold on latex paint completly. You can do a search in the RCU forums about rattle can paints and find out if they are fuel proof, some are and some are not. Good Luck, Dave

I also use the latex method but make sure it's exterior paint. For my gassers I clear with Krylon spray and, for nitro I use Minwax Polycrylic which is also water based.

Here's a good article on latex painting.
http://www.houstonhobbies.com/tips/p...ying-latex.pdf

For information only. Before I used latex I did some extensive testing on latex paint and water based polyurethanes. In all of my tests, glow fuel attacked water based products. That is why I use a two part automotive clearcoat over latex.

Ed S

Ed,
Have you tested the Minwax Polycrylic? I have no problems with 15% nitro.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I tested water based "Flecto varathane" and ordinary "Minwax polyurethane". Maybe I missed Polycrylic specifically. I will get some and try it.

Ed S