Rustoleum finish?

I have a question. Someone told me all they do to finsh the wood and put graphics over monokote is spray it with rustoleum. he said he roughens up the monokote with a scotchbrite pad and sprays away. Does the wood grain get filled in on the bare wood? He also said that the nitro doesn't affect it either. I saw one of his planes and it was beautiful but I'm having a hard time believing it. Any input would be appreciated.

If you are talking about spraying it over bare wood, no it won't fill the grain and you will end up with a boat anchor if you try. It does work well over monokote and properly sealed and filled wood.

Allen Brickhaus has done some very nice Rustoleum finishes, and he frequently contributes here.

See Ya

When talking about the clear, make sure you use the Professional grade (silver can) and not the regular stuff in the white can. I used the clear from the white can, over Lustrekote, a year ago and found that it gets soft from exhaust and fuel residue. I've heard the colors are OK, it's just the clear that does this. I haven't dared to try the colors yet.

W.W.

> When talking about the clear, make sure you use the
>Professional grade (silver can) and not the regular stuff in
>the white can. I used the clear from the white can, over
>Lustrekote, a year ago and found that it gets soft from
>exhaust and fuel residue. I've heard the colors are OK, it's
>just the clear that does this. I haven't dared to try the
>colors yet.
>
>W.W.
>

The standard colors are fuelproof; I've heard the metallic, etc. are not--never tried 'em so I don't know. I prime bare wood with Kilz or automotive primer and sand most of it off. It fills the wood grain most satisfactorily. Two light coats of Rustoleum in color of choice, and it's as good as I ever did with dope.
--Ray

What procedure do you use to cover the silkspan over open areas such as rib bays? Do you use several coats of clear dope with sanding first to shrink it and seal it, and then use the Kilz and color?
Glen

>What procedure do you use to cover the silkspan over open
>areas such as rib bays? Do you use several coats of clear
>dope with sanding first to shrink it and seal it, and then
>use the Kilz and color?
>Glen

The last silkspan-covered wing I did was an experiment with thinned-out Elmer's instead of dope. It worked out OK, although I think I thinned the Elmer's a little too much; I'll have to try again. A couple of coats of the thin Elmer's, one light coat of Kilz, 2 light coats of Rustoleum. Looked good. The silkspan, though, came out a little bit brittle. It's on a combat wing (no gear), and anything more than a cotton-soft landing knocks holes in the underside. I'm hoping a thicker Elmer's will remedy that. Clear dope, certainly, works very well under the Kilz & color--but that's the point, I'm trying to avoid the fumes.
Oh, almost forgot, heat the Rustoleum can in hot water--it goes on thinner and smoother (is "evener" a word?).
--Ray

LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-04 AT 11:02 AM (CDT)
 
>The silkspan, though, came out a little bit brittle
I have noticed this myself. I normally use nitrate dope and silkspan to fill the wood surfaces, rustoleum auto primer, and rustoleum with $$kote on the wings and stab, etc. On my Hurricane, I wanted a nice scale camo finish so used Rustoleum light blue over silkspan lower wing panels and stab and fuse bottoms and Krylon olive and brown camo with a fuel proofing overspray of Minwax satin polyurethane over the Krylon on all top surfaces. Looks great but silkspan is very, very brittle now.
Let all Rustoleum dry a long time, 3 days to a week before putting anything over it.

McDude,

As a struggling newbie, I've had serious trouble coming up with a decent finish with reasonable effort, no professional painting equipment, no professional training, reasonable cost, available colors, under 40 lbs, etc. ad nauseum....

My current method of choice is to combine Monokote and Rustoleum. Here's what I did on my last project, a kit bashed profile BabyClown. I glued up and sanded out all the subassemblies; wing, fuselage, etc. I put on a couple coats of dope on the entire wing framework and sanded again. I covered the wing with transparent blue Monokote except the center section.

I masked off specific the areas around the wing and stab cutouts and then primed the raw balsa and plywood fuselage with Rustoleum Auto Primer (gray). You can spray and and sand until the wood grain is filled. You can sand this really thin, but respray anywhere you go thru. The finish sanded fuse has a hard, shiny gray look to it. Go until it is perfect or you run out of patience. I stripped off the masking and glued in the wing and stab. I masked off the Monokote and added EpoxoLite (sp?) fillets and sanded to blend with the edge of the Monokote. I masked my paint scheme out onto the wing root, overlapping the Monokote everywhere so the topcoat seals the entire seam. On all my attempts with Monokoted wings I have kept the mask line on top of the planking. My reasoning was that it will see less flexing and hopefully less chance of the paint popping off. On planes with solid wings that wouldn't be a problem. I used white vinyl electrician's tape and it seems to work pretty good. Not too sticky; able to stretch to match a curved pattern, etc. Sometimes I cut the tape down the middle making it skinnier and easier to do sharper curves. I have a roll of 3M detail masking tape (green) from a car paint shop. Even forgetting that the vinyl tape is waaaaay cheaper, it seems to work better for me. Once I have it masked, I used a small piece of Scotchbrite to scuff up the Monokote everywhere, right up to the masking tape. Clean everything thoroughly using isopropyl and let it dry.

I think heating the Rustoleum in a pan of hot water helps it go on better and maybe a little thinner (lighter?) Everyone said this was the hot ticket when using LusterKote. I agree except I would take the can of LusterKote off the paint shelf and carefully place it in the trash right before driving to Home Depot and buying some Rustoleum. (If you want to know why I wouldn't use LusterKote again, take a look at my SuperClown.) If you decide to warm up the can, don't blow it up. If a little is good, shouldn't more be better? Now it comes down to skill (technique) and willpower. If you are lame, like me, you will find some way to overlap once too many times near a corner and get a run. (Actually, the BabyClown might be the first sprayjob of mine without a run!) Willpower is the only thing that keeps it from getting too heavy. I've tried misting it on, and then going for one wet coat. Pick a strategy: I'm still trying to succeed with skill and willpower for now. The modified BabyClown with Medallion engine, 1-1/4 oz. metal tank, aluminum landing gear, and MonoKote came out at 7 oz. It's not a pig, and the Rustoleum was only one source of weight growth.

I peel off the masking before the paint gets too hard. This is easy with Rustoleum because it takes a long time to get hard--many days unless you put it in the sun. This seems to kick off the curing. Mebbe the UV? It does make it go from a rubbery feel to hard. I figured this out on my second attempt. Also on my first attempt, I didn't even try the primer. I thought that filling the wood grain was a lost cause. It isn't real smooth, but it isn't bad looking in white.

I've tried to listen to all the advice here to minimize my finishing grief. Everyone seems to have a list of do's and don'ts, but be real careful of advice.... I tried one type of Rustoleum clear and had to completely strip that plane and paint it over. I haven't tried the metallics but the rumor is DON'T. I have used white and blue and I've bought red for one current project. I KNOW the white and the blue are more fuelproof than the dopes I've tried. None will probably compare with epoxies favorably in any way except availability, cost, and ease of application. And that may be why I haven't tried epoxies yet. Mebbe next plane....

I'd post a picture (or two) of my BabyClown except I can't figure out how to compress the photos my buddy took with his 5 Megapixel camera. By the way, the Baby is a blast to fly as long as you have it right side up when the tank goes dry.... so now I'm learning how to patch/refurbish a Rustoleum paint job.

The best of luck to you, Mr. Lance! If you find any newbie finishing secrets, I really could use 'em!

Any bare wood..especially the fuse on a profile, should be covered with silkspan and dope. It helps to fill the grain but most important, it adds alot of stiffness to the usually flexible fuse.

After two to three coats of dope, sand it and use rustoleum if you want to. Or continue with dope.

For a beginner profile, Minwax Polycryllic and silkspan will work well and is also a good base for Rustoleum if you wish.

FWIW

"Minwax Polycryllic and silkspan will work well and is also a good base for Rustoleum if you wish."

I agree. Minwax Poly over silkspan makes a very durable base. The Zilch X was the first plane I tried this on and it's holding up ver well with a two light coats of Rustoleum over the base. I always heat the Rustoleum can before spraying so the paint is thinner.

It's amazing what works for some people and doesn't seem to work for others. I tried to join the Minwax PC revolution---and was unable to keep anything straight, especially when using it to lay down silkspan over balsa. Can you say warped beyond redemption? Yeah, I read all about it first. Mebbe I need to watch someone do it in order to get the hang of it. I wonder if professional body shop painters pretty much stick to one finishing system as they perfect their technique...?

It will do that since it is water based.

If you were going to use it for a profile fuse, you need to pre-finish it before assembly so you can weight it down flat while it dries.

Same for flaps, ele, etc.

Thats why I recommended silkspan and dope first--no warp problems beyond the normal.