red_guy

hi guys,

i'm making (at leat trying) my first spad. it's the spadet lc-40. since i have only white coroplast and no simple means of decorating it i was thinking to paint the wing with acrylic paint (available in spray cans at the local shop)

will that finish last and most important will acrylic paint work well with coroplast??????????


thanx

Woodsy

To paint coro you need to give it a good wipe down (or 2 ) with solvent, even better if you have the patience is a good light sand all over followed by a wipe down, ive used normal spray enamel, auto paint and verathane (water based spray can) all work well but make sure you let them dry, or you can just cut some stickers from sign vynal.

3d-aholic

My Feedback: (7)

What kind? Actually, I have been unable to find a lot of information on painting on spadtothebone..I'm sure I've just missed it. Haven't thought that far ahead yet either.

Crash Master

I paint all of my SPAD's and have been since I started building them. As Woodsy suggests, a good wipe down with acetone will help the paint adhere to the plastic. If you're going to sand, be sure to use a fine grit paper cause it will scratch the plastic and you don't want to gouge it.

For paint, I use Rustolem or Painters Choice (made by Rustolem) - which ever is cheaper at the time. Both of these work very well and hold up extremely well to at least 10% glow fuel. My SPA3D is completely painted and I am not real good at cleaning it up after flying all day. Basically, it will sit for a few days - maybe even a week - before I clean it up, if I clean it up at all. There has been no problem with the paint under these conditions.

I have also experimented with using an interior/exterior laytex paint so that I can paint indoors during the winter months. Having used this laytex thru a sprayer and then dry it with my heat gun, I then poured straight 10% glow fuel on it and let it set for several days to see what would happen. I have heard all kind of horror stories about laytex on the moneykote type of coverings and found that laytex turns to crap once exposed to glow fuel. However, my experiement resulted in have no adverse effect from glow fuel being directly applied to that painted surface. I have a couple of SPAD's that I am finishing up and I think one of them is going to get sprayed with laytex just to see how well it does hold up over a period of time.

For quick and easy results, my money is on Rustolem or Painter's Choice. I haven't tried anything else, but maybe you'll get other results from those who have tried the even cheaper stuff.

Hope this helps,

RysiuM

My Feedback: (1)

[/quote]
I have been unable to find a lot of information on painting on spadtothebone.
[/quote]

I used spray paint from Wall Mart. This is the cheapest they have: 98 cents per can. They have about 10 different basic colors of that. I didn't try more expensive paints while these cheap work fine. However WallMart have paints (on the same shelf) for over $2 a can with nicer colors (including fluorescent ones). I may give them a try some day.

See the post for paint detail:
[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_827337/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#827345]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_827337/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#827345[/link]

RysiuM

Tattoo

This is because there isn't any! Of the hundreds of Spad's built by the originators, only one used any paint at all, and that was a camo job on a Spitfire. All the planes on the Spad Originals have no paint on them. The very first time we stepped into a sign supply shop, we learned about vinyl sign lettering material. You may recognize it as hobby shop sticky back trim material. Same stuff, only the hobby shops inflate the prices insanely. Very often, a sign shop will give you scraps. That's what all our Spads have been decorated with since day one.

Deadeye

I don't like paint on coro. It comes off. I've tried many types of paint including Rustoleaum, and they just won't stand up to the flex and glow fuel. You will end up with paint flecking off eventually. I ruined my first Cor-Star by painting it (and added a pound of weight). It still flys great, only it looks like hell.

avngr1

Has anyone tried spray appliance epoxy from the home depot? The instructions on my flight box suggest this, I have spilled a bunch of 15% on it and its held up well.

Crash Master

I have thought about trying the epoxy paints, but decided against it because I think that if any paints were going to add lots of weight, this epoxy would be it. Plus, because it is epoxy paint, it seems to me that it would not handle the flexing of the SPAD surfaces.

As for Rustoleum and/or Painter's Choice flaking off, I have not experienced that except on the hinge line of the control surfaces. I have not had any flaking or gooing or any other problems associated with using paints. It is suggested that when painting with Rustolem/Painter's Choice you stay with the primary type of colors as they are pretty much fuel-proof up to about 10% nitro. The flakes, metalics and fluorescents do not stand up to glow fuel.

Just mho,

hillbilly

Has anyone tried the new krylon for plastics advertised on TV?

rlt55

http://www.krylon.com/product/op_consumer_product.asp

Krylon introduces new products for 2003! Krylon Fusion, Whisper Whites and Satins are just the beginning. Fusion is the first paint to bond to plastics with no sanding or priming. Now you can paint plastic without the fuss. Whisper Whites is the first whites palette in the industry, specially formulated with optical brighteners. Try our assortment of 12 clean, fresh colors. Satin Touch colors have a designer satin finish and are available in popular trend colors.

Used this stuff on my 30" SPA3D and my old plastic mailbox. It works fine and last a long time

Deadeye

That's odd, I tried a can of the red fusion on a scrap coro piece, and let it dry for 6 days. Tried wiping it with Iso alcohol, and it wiped right off. Then tried golw fuel with the same result.

I'll stick to colored coro and vinyl graphics.

3d-aholic

My Feedback: (7)

Interesting....folks all over the map on this subject...
[]

Some saying paint works, some saying it doesn't. With plastic, I'm sure surface prep is more important anything else....paint does not like to stick to anything shiny and micro-level smoothness.

conradj87

My Feedback: (1)

Just a thought... I bought a traxxas rustler for fun 2 years back, bought some lexan paint, and its stayed on for those 2 years. I've gotten the body stuck under tires of cars, flipped it, and my little brother sat on it, i ran it into the back of his legs. The body has some creases, cracks, and skid marks, but the paint is still there, just as it was when i first painted it. Im sure this is alot more flexing than coro would ever do, but im not sure how it holds up to fuel. Tower hobbies sells some stuff you could put onto it, like clearcote, that is said to hold up to it.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHZ44&P=7
i have never painted/owned a spad before, this is just an idea.

Deadeye

I have a whole box of Parma lexan paint. I forgot all about that stuff. I'll give it a try tonight on some scrap coro and post my results. You are right, that stuff stuck to lexan like nobody's business. Only, I think it was chemically bonded to the lexan. Only one way to find out!

RysiuM

My Feedback: (1)

Everybody has all kind of ideas. Some of them work and then the guy says: It's working, stays on coro, last forever ...
Some don't work, and than guy is disappointed, and gives up. If you want to paint the coro, just listen, and follow the advices that work. Simple as that.
I'm not saying, that my paint is "THE BEST IN THE WORLD". It's just working: easy to spray, stays where was put, and darn cheap.
See the link for painted COROSTANG flying.
[link=http://masm.inc.home.comcast.net/corombatp51.wmv]http://masm.inc.home.comcast.net/corombatp51.wmv[/link]

The best part is the cleaning. I wipe out the fuel and oil (I'm using smoke on my corostang) with paper towel just like car window. I'm not afraid of paint pealing or monocote squishing That's the whole fun with SPADs. Painted look like balsa brother, flies even better, gets off all kind of "hard landings" untouched, and cleaning is as easy as wiping off the bug of the windshield.

RysiuM

conradj87

My Feedback: (1)

Your probably right. I got some silver paint on the windshield, tried taking it off, but ended up scratching the lexan.

Kripto

Maybe I did something right or just lucky. I Built a new coro edge 540 and just wiped it down with paint thinner from walmart. I painted the whole thing with Krylon Fusion yellow and green. I was busy and dident get the gear installed for about 2 weeks and dident fly for another week. That is a long time to wait for paint to dry but after 20+ flights it still looks as good as the day I painted it!!!

Ed