after applying 2 coats elmers wood filler to my hornet fins I wanted to just seal them off with Zissner wax free 100% shellac seal coat. I airbrushed cut with denatured alcohol and obtained a gorgeous finish. Well, its been 24 hours since the application, which was kept in our cool dry home and later moved into the Sun this AM. It feels smooth but not like a slippery clear coat I'm used to. Did I over apply this stuff or am I screwed and wait several weeks for drying? I should have just put on a third very thinned coat of the elmers and primed but NOOOOO, I needed to have my airbrush fix, which I love to do. Take care, Jeff

P.S I'm a total beginner when it comes to wood working but quite skilled in plastic model building-can you tell?????

I am not familiar with the properties of shellac.

It may be that you need to compound or wet sand it. But again, I'm not used to the stuff.

Are you planning on painting it? Or just leaving it "au natural?"

Hi and thanks for the reply:
Yes, going to paint over them and I've got some really great fine rubbing compound too. I'm just going to have to wait a few well, what evers and check it. I know it sounds kinda simple but its really my first rocket in over twenty years. Take care, Jeff

Shellac is a PINTA ! There are so many other finishes out there that work better. My suggestion is to sand down smooth (wetsand, if you like) and prime with Duplicolor auto primer and sand some more. Then, I think, you'll have something better with which to work. We've all been there at some point! Learning is FUN!
Good luck and let us know how she turns out!
Allen

Thanks Allen:
Screw it-I just tossed them re cut from stock balsa wood sheets and started over! Just by handling them I left a thumbprint which is a red flag to me. I just did not realize how weird shellac is. I learned a lot from this episode and will press on hoping that one day-one day soon I too can finish a kit! Take care, Jeff

I'm not familiar with this particular product - Zinsser wax free 100% shellac seal coat - but I use Zinsser's white pigmented shellac primer on just about every rocket I build, and am very satisfied. I suspect there's something different about the seal coat product. But I swear by their white primer



Doug

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Hi Doug:
Is this a product that you brush on bare balsa wood for filling-enough to fill the grain that is? I just past some of it at Home Depot and could go back for some.....

Hi, Jeff,

Yes, it's brush on. It's alcohol based, so it dries fast, but pick up some ethanol for clean-up. The Zinsser is about 10$/quart, but equal to many, many $4 cans of spray primer. It's also available in a spray can, but I don't like it - it comes out way too fast.

When brushing it on, because it dries fast, you will get brush strokes if you don't keep your brush wet.

I like to put it down as the first layer over the balsa and paper after the glues (& glass, if applicable). I then put the FnF (filler) over the Zinsser for fillets and for filling the grain and spirals. In fact, I've gotten to where I just about don't even bother with the grain and spirals. With a couple coats of rattle can primer over the Zinsser, most of that stuff is filled.

There is no sure fire one-coat grain filler. It comes down to how picky you are. I find that nearly four fill/sand passes are needed to completely fill balsa no matter what I use. Sometimes I use Zinsser, then thinned FnF, then rattle can primer, then touch up with more FnF followed by more rattle can; sometimes it's two coats of Zinsser, then two coats of rattle can; sometimes it's something else Sometimes, I just put one coat of primer down, then paint. I can make it look like molded plastic when I'm in the mood, but, as they say, there comes a time to shoot the engineers and start production, or, in our case, fly that mutha

I did have one lady ask me at a launch years ago if my rocket was made of plastic I explained that it was balsa and paper. She got quite wide eyed after that




Doug

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YORF member #11

Whoa, Doug. FANTASTIC job!!! You're right, it does look molded and made of plastic.

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All of the Zinsser products that I have used are the perfect consistency for airbrush application.

Joe