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  #11  
Old 12-18-2008, 09:59 AM
luke strawwalker's Avatar
luke strawwalker luke strawwalker is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Solomoriah
I use Wal-Mart paint almost exclusively, and have good results; any weakness in my finishing work is my fault and not theirs.


Yep, second that Solo... Nothing wrong with the W/M cheapy paint... except it doesn't come in many colors...

I like their primer too... gray is a lighter primer, and I like the red for hi-dep stuff... couple good coats and a nice wet sanding and I can actually make the PRIMER shine!!!

The price is right too.. OL JR
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  #12  
Old 12-18-2008, 10:08 AM
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luke strawwalker luke strawwalker is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScaleNut
ok I have lurked quite a while now but I have to put a rant down on this one.


I have painted nearly all of my rockets with an airbrush and have none of the issues mentioned.

I can easily spray at the volume(and more) of a spraycan
no mess
watercleanup in a few minutes(just spray water thru)
no bad fumes
no issues with blushing, cold weather ,humidity,heat
can mix colors to an exact match( for scale models)
cheaper
no layering of paint dust on everything
I have to really go crazy to get a run in the finish
quality airbrush paint color is designed to be deep and brilliant under clearcoat
unlimited supply of colors
acrylics can handle just about any brand or type of clear, no compatabillity issues
acrylics can go over nearly any brand or type of paint ,no compatability issues

with Createx I have never had to mix one drop of thinner, not in 4 years of airbrushing , it sprays perfect strait from the bottle . no thinning

usually I plug right into the bottle the other end into the compressor and spray
I can mask and spray several colors in one session.

I use the color cup for small amounts , the bottle for large amounts and have sprayed 4" dia rockets (including extensive masking, decals and clearcoat) in one session

I can create finishes that one can only dream of with a spraycan

my rockets have won beauty and scale contests, and fly just as well as spraycan models

did it take some trail and error and practices ?-yes
was it worth the effort ?-absolutely !

I don't look down on people for using spraycans.
I take pride in my building, I give the same effort to my finishing.

all I can ask here is...don't knock it just because you can't or don't want to airbrush a rocket, it's not an instant gratification thing but It works and it does the job very well.
I have a garage full of rockets to prove it

I have read post after post on many forums over the years about problems with painting rockets.
I can say that for me airbrushing has eliminated 99% of them


That's good to know and this topic is worth a thread in itself...

I've only used rattle cans for painting rockets so far, but I bought a cheapy airbrush at TSC just to give it a try... I've got a full farm shop at my disposal with an industrial compressor and have sprayed several cars and TONS of farm equipment, including combines and cotton pickers the size of a small house. (Nothing like hanging one handed on the edge of the slanted roof of a cotton picker basket with a spray gun in the other hand crouched over painting the edge when an F-4 Phantom flies over just shy of supersonic at treetop level, but that's another story! ) I've been thinking about getting a touch-up gun for smaller jobs than breaking out the big spray gun, and for rocket stuff too, to cover ground faster than an airbrush...

Main thing that has kept on rattle cans so far is just the cleanup issues... seems like I spend as much time cleaning the gun after doing a paintjob on the farm as I did doing the paint job itself... goes with the territory I guess...

What kind of equipment are you using?? Inquiring minds want to know... OL JR
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  #13  
Old 12-18-2008, 10:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScaleNut
I agree with Micro, a touch up gun is a good step up, when you get to the 4"
dia range, you can really lay down some paint.

OK,something about basecoating/primer.

I don't use an airbrush to prime or basecoat an entire rocket.
this is where spraycans work great.

primer is too high in solids and size of pigment to be airbrush friendly
automotive primer is superior to any airbrush primer, you won't find much airbrush sandable primer ( I haven't seen any)
plus I'm not worried about the finish of primer because I am going to sand it .
canned primer is the choice for me

I always basecoat my rockets with a spray of (krylon) gloss white (or black)
it shows every imperfection if I want to go anal on the finish
it provides a smooth clean white(or) black canvas to paint and nothing brings out colors like a white basecoat.
also if you like to wetsand ...paint is the best surface. wetsanding primer is often a waste of time unless you are capable of spraying a perfect coat of paint from a can with zero flaws or blushing on top of it. plus primer is absorbent...it 's risky to get it wet over a paper substrate.. if it's a fibergalss tube .. no problem.

I let spraycans do the "grunt work"
than hook up the airbrush.


That's interesting... I've been using the Walmart house brand Colorplace 97 cent a can (mostly gray but red for hi-dep) primer and wet sanding it on regular paper tube and balsa finned rocket (papered fins and some just with Elmers wood filler) and haven't had ANY problems from water...

I sand with at least two progressively finer grades, and then a real fine paper if needed to get any scratches or other detectable imperfections out before I prime... I tack the rocket off with a cloth and then run a clean fingertip over every square inch feeling for imperfections, and I also will hold it up to a light and observe the reflected 'glint' for imperfections... I don't go super anal before priming, but the smoother you get it before priming the easier it is to prime. I usually put two or three coats of rattlecan primer on, let it dry overnight, then do a nice wetsanding on it with 800 or 1000 paper. If I had some scratches or something that I decided to fill with primer and put a heavy primer coat on, sometimes I'll dry sand the primer first with 600 paper to get most of it off... and reprime any spots that need attention if need be, and then wet sand it all out. What I do is, I keep a bowl of water handy and an old towel that I rest the rocket on, and wash/rub my paper in the water to release the paint dust, and then usually slap my paper gently against the bowl side to get most of the water off before returning to the rocket. If the paper is too dry it won't sand well, but I don't want water running everywhere either... usually if I need a bit of water I just dip a finger in and drip it on the area I'm sanding... I wash the paper about every minute or so... watch as you sand-- the water on the surface starts turning into a thin watery 'mud' as you sand and liberate more primer, and when that 'mud' starts to thicken up, it's time to wash the paper and wipe the sanding mud off the tube (usually keep a paper towel handy for that)

Using this method has worked well for me and if you really work at it for a couple hours you can actually make the primer shine just like a color layer... what I like about it is, if you put the color layer on light and even in a couple coats or so, it will lay down beautifully and you don't even have to color sand... it will shine like a new dime all on it's own...

Good luck! OL JR
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  #14  
Old 12-18-2008, 01:44 PM
scigs30 scigs30 is offline
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Styme, I am glad you posted your technique of painting rockets with an airbrush and acrylics. I exclusively use an airbrush when painting scale plastic models and balsa flying models. The airbrush gives a real nice paint job for these projects that I know I can not achieve with spray paint. Using an airbrush does take time, patience and practice. Don't think you can go out and buy a kit with immediate results. I use spray cans on rockets since I am not going for the same looks as a plastic job. I like the convenience and ease of using spray cans. I only use Lacquer based paints since they dry fast and produce a nice smooth finish. Unfortunately Krylon has stopped making lacquer based spray paint. Car paints are lacquer based but they are pricey. I have never had any luck with Enamel spray paints so if this was my only option. I would start using acrylics with my air gun. If you want a paint thats not as harmful as lacquers, then definitely go with acrylics. The main point here, there are many options to painting.
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  #15  
Old 12-18-2008, 07:25 PM
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yeah...I agree that airbrushing isn't necessary to build beautifull looking rockets.
I've seen what can be done with cans at every launch I go to.
when it all boils down for me,It's about flying rockets and having a good time.

I also feel that sanding primer coats can yield great results .
my only comment is to use caution on paper based rockets , it's not hard to sand into cardboard and create a bugger or two. buggers can be a pain because if you just try to paint over it ,, it will show like a sore thumb, just use caution(or alot of primer).

Airbrushing can be a great alternative to the norm , and I see more and more of it at launches. I wouldn't say that airbrushing is superior to any other means. just that you can do more with it than cans and it's not hard once you understand the basics.

I enjoy the heck out of the painting part now, It's like the final touch to a new rocket for me
all the filling and sanding is done .I used to dread painting rockets and would usually have 5-6 bare or primed rockets setting around .. now I look forward to it.
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  #16  
Old 12-18-2008, 08:12 PM
scigs30 scigs30 is offline
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Here is another little trick with painting with an airbrush and acrylics. If you are painting a rocket that requires a lot of fine masking, go ahead and paint the lighter base coat with the Lacquer spray paint. After that dries, one day. Go ahead and mask the rocket. Now use the airbrush and spray the darker color with acrylic paint to color the rest of the rocket. This will produce a crispier line and you can control the paint. Now for the best part.....If you have a little slop over or oops with the acrylic paint. You can simply wipe it away with a cotton swab and mineral spirits, walaa nice crisp line without messing up the light color of laquer. I used this technique a lot on my plastic models.
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  #17  
Old 12-20-2008, 04:44 PM
RodWhip RodWhip is offline
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Who knows what a really good gloss (or dull) clearcoat works well over Createx?

I tried Createx gloss clearcoat through my airbrush and it worked okay but it wasn't smooth at all.

Does Future work well in an airbrush? It seems almost too thick.
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  #18  
Old 12-20-2008, 05:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
Here is another little trick with painting with an airbrush and acrylics. If you are painting a rocket that requires a lot of fine masking, go ahead and paint the lighter base coat with the Lacquer spray paint. After that dries, one day. Go ahead and mask the rocket. Now use the airbrush and spray the darker color with acrylic paint to color the rest of the rocket. This will produce a crispier line and you can control the paint. Now for the best part.....If you have a little slop over or oops with the acrylic paint. You can simply wipe it away with a cotton swab and mineral spirits, walaa nice crisp line without messing up the light color of laquer. I used this technique a lot on my plastic models.


Lacquer on plastic???
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  #19  
Old 12-21-2008, 10:56 PM
scigs30 scigs30 is offline
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I like using Acrylics on my plastic models. The only thing I noticed is that Acrylics don't come out as smooth as enamels or Lacquers. What I normally do is wet sand the acrylics when dried and top coat.
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  #20  
Old 12-23-2008, 05:37 PM
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jtaylor jtaylor is offline
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What is the difference between acrylic, enamel and lacquer?
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