Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

Ok, I finally got my new cowling fitted, drilled, and trimmed. I sanded it all over with 320 paper and got all the shine out. I have Rustolium primer for general use. I tried it on a test piece and it seems to stick well and is flexible. After 3 hours of curing, it does not seem to be very tough (I can easily damage it with a screw driver). I hope after 24 hours, it is tougher. I plan on spraying LusterKote for my top cote. I don't need a concourse paint job, just a durable one.

Will I have success? Should I use a different primer? If so, why?

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

Be careful, have had lots of lustercoat peal off with the masking/trim tape with rustoleum primer!!!!
Have only had good luck with lustercoat primer with lustercoat.

ed

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

Good luck. Please don't use the Rustolium primer. Like Ed said, if
you have to use the LustreKote, then use their primer. Rustolium
is only used by painters that get paid by the hour while they sit
and wait for it to dry. The only top coat that will really stick to it is
their own color paints and two weeks later you can take your
fingernail and scrape off the color and primer. Believe me, I've
used all the types of paints as part of my job.
Oops, I missed your last why? The Rustolium primer is like an oil
base paint where the acrylic lacquers won't adhere to it as I said
their own colors will. As you mentioned last month that your not
after a contest winning finish, but I hate to see you head down a
road of grief. I recently traded for a couple of planes that the guy
loved Rustolium primer too. Now I'm trying to sand smooth the
runs and crackle finish. I sand a little -it balls up- cuss him a little-
sand and ball -- wet sand -- cuss him, da plane and him some more. After a week of getting it smooth, I'm ready for standard
AUTO SANDABLE PRIMER. (white or light gray)

Randy

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

The rustoleum primers work well with enamel based paints. If you try to spray lacquer over enamel(I don't care what brand you are using they won't be compatible) I have never had an issue with them drying, they dry very quickly and are very easy to apply. In my opinion, the rustoleum is far superior to the lustercoat or perfect paint. They have a high solids content and dispense well from the cans. Lustrekote is hit or miss sometime the cans work sometimes they don't.The key to a good finish is to prepare the surface properly. If you are painting fiberglass you must wash the surface with soap and water first to remove any release agent. Then wipe the surface down with MEK or acetone to remove any residual oils. If there are any imperfections or seams they need to be filled with a good quality body filler. Sand the surface smooth. At this point you need to apply a heavy coat of a sandable grey auto primer to fill all the pinholes. Start wet sanding 220-320 grit until everything is smooth. The surface will appear like a multi colored mess with body filler showing through in spots and primer in others. Wash the surface and let it dry. Spray on a couple of light coats of sandable white primer. Your surface should be nearly perfectly smooth. Mix up some spot putty and fill any small imperfections. Wet sand with 400 then 600 grit. Apply 2-3 coats of color and let dry. I then wet sand the color coat with 1200 or 1500 grit and then apply a clear coat. By the time you are done you should be able to see your reflection in the cowl. If you need to apply a multi color trim scheme let each color dry at least 24 hours before applying masking material to it. Great planes makes 1/4" and 1/8" tapes for painting that work very well and give you very crisp paint lines. If I was going to paint a large surface like a glass fuselage I would use automotive basecoat/clearcoat system and a spray gun.

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

I think I have already decided the Rustolium is cr@polium. It does not seem to be curing. It is soft and easily scratched. I think I used Plasticote on a car project once. That seemed to dry hard and scratch resistant in less than an hour. I guess I'm off to the LHS to get the LusterKote primer.

Giant Scale, I pooped out before I got to the end of your post. How would I ever use your process to actually paint a part. I guess I could check my reflection right next to the black ink marks I use to check C.G. Just poking fun ;) Really though, this airplane will probably get 10-15 flights per week. and will undoubtedly endure the rigors of my sloppy landings.

I just want a reasonable color match and the paint to STAY ON the cowling. Oh yea, unlike last time, masking tape should not pull the paint off. :rolleyes:

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

ilikeplanes,
I guess your mind is made up. I have not experienced the problems you have had with this paint. I have used this paint both indoors and inside my garage and the paint drys without any problem. I try to paint when the humidity is relatively low and the temps are in the 70-80 degree range. The methods I use to paint with are pretty standard and yield excellent results. Where are you located? Usually paints have longer drying times is cool or rainy climates, I have not tried to paint on rainy days. Rustoleum makes a brand called painters touch which lacks the rust inhibiting additive, these paints dry very quickly. Usually you can recoat in 20 minutes whereas the stops rust paints require a couple of hours. Well good luck with you painting.

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

I live in Portland OR. The temperature was 72F and humidity was 35%. I checked the weather report. With 16 hours of cure now, it is much tougher. I can still scratch it though. It leaves a small build-up under my fingernail.

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

I like the automotive primers because they dry quick and you can sand and get a cowling ready in short order. The Lustercoat primer is good, but it takes a day to dry, according to the can. I have not had any troubles with the Lustercoat coming off any cowlings and I have used all different primers. I have not used the Rustoleum, so I can not speak on that brand. Good Luck and I hope that Tammie's has the Primer you are going after. Dave

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

David, I live on the east side and don't usually shop at Tammies. I used to work there when I was in high school though ('85-'88).

I ended up putting on the LusterKote primer. I came to that decision based on an exhaustive search on RCU. It seemed that the majority of people said that the LusterKote would work. However, at $8 a can, and the 24 hour cure, it does not seem to be a good deal. I think I may try something else in the future.

Giant Scale, I don't know why, but I found more posts warning against using Rustolium than any other primer. Your advise seems unique. Just an observation.

Anyway, the project seems to be coming along nicely now. :)

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

ilikeplanes,
Are you using the rustoleum sandable auto primer or the red oxide primer. The red-oxide primer is for rusty metal(contains fish oil) and should not be used for painting fiberglass or ABS plastic. I checked the can of primer I have says you can wet sand in 20 minutes after it has been applied. I also checked to see if I could scrape the paint of my cowl and I couldn't scrape it off. I find it hard to believe that I am the only one using rustoleum products on my plane. I'd be willing to bet that Rustoleum sells more paint than Perfect Paint and Lustrekote combined. If Rustoleum was such bad paint why would so many stores sell it?

Painting a cowling, doing it right this time - I hope
 

It's like someone else said. It works great for lawn mowers and wicker chairs. I got the gray "home use" primer. The can said it was the same as the automotive except it was not as good at preventing rust. That may be my problem. BTW, I used the LusterKote primer under almost exact conditions as the Rustolium. I admit that the nozzle and delivery of this product is very poor. However, it is very tough. The LusterKote passes my simplistic and crude scratch test while the Rustolium still fails. That's all I know. ;)