Ultracote Spray Paint

Has anybody used this paint that is supposed to match Ultracote? Not so much worried about the matching qualities, but wondering how it sprays and dries. It is fuel-proof to 15% nitro, so the can says.

Might be an alternative to Rustoleum???

Thanks

Yes, I have used it quite a bit along with Rustoleum.
IMO, Lusterkote is more difficult to use in that it is somewhat harder to get a good gloss. It must go on very wet to gloss which makes runs more likely. Proceedure is same as Rustoleum which is warm can, shake a lot, shake some more,several light coats 15 minutes or so apart followed by final, full cover coat.
Minwax clear gloss polyurethane over Lusterkote improves the shine and seems to cause no problems.
Rustoleum will go over Lusterkote. Lusterkote cracks and curdles when applied over Rustoleum.
Lusterkote is twice the price of Rustoleum but dries faster and a bigger color choice.
Actually, in the final analysis, you can use Krylon, independent brand (Ace, etc.)enamel in whatever color you choose so long as you go with a final gloss spray of Minwax polyurethane to fuel proof.
I have not tried Minwax polyurethane over duplicolor auto lacquer (lots of colors, widely available,fast drying, cheap, very NON fuelproof) but expect it would be OK.

Jim he is talking about Ultracote not Lusterkote.

In a hobby shop recently picked up a can and read the label . There was something in the instructions that made me decide to pass and stay with Rust-oleum but can't remember specifically what it was.

>There was something in the instructions that made me
>decide to pass and stay with Rust-oleum but can't remember
>specifically what it was.

Was it it the part that said "Step 1: Take out a small loan to purchase this over priced can of crap." ?

>Jim he is talking about Ultracote not Lusterkote.

Bob is right as usual. Too many brands these days-fools us older folks.
A match to ultracoat covering would be nice. In the meantime, Rustoleum cream is a perfect match for Ultracoat cream, Rustoleum bright red is a perfect match for Ultracoat true red.

Off the subject, but the big flaw I see with Ultracoat is that it does not stick to itself very well. If doing tips separate from wing panels as is frequently done with 50+ inch span airplanes to maximize roll utiilization, it is sometimes difficult to keep the tip/panel joint together when using maximum heat on the tip. The joint will start to pull apart before maximum shrinkage occurs. Redoing the tip and outer panel does not seem to improve things either. Monokote is more difficult to work with in some ways but does stick well to itself.

>I have not tried Minwax polyurethane over duplicolor auto
>lacquer (lots of colors, widely available,fast drying,
>cheap, very NON fuelproof) but expect it would be OK.

So far my favorite technique is Lusterkote clear over the Pactra RC car Lacquers and Duplicolors. The Pactra colors are all flat. Very easy to work with. There is no gloss to worry about and is pretty hard to make run. It dries almost instantly, kinda like primer, so you have to watchout for orange peeling. It wet sands okay though. There is lots of neat colors including candy apples, pearls, metallics, and neons. I have not experienced any compatibility problems with the Duplicolors flats. With the two lines there is a very large color selection. The Lusterkote clear works very well with the them.

I've not done a control liner yet but I attached a pic of a helicopter canopy I did last year. The yellow, silver, and candy apple red are Pactra and the graphite grey (import) is duplicolor all claer coated with Lusterkote.

So your saying that gloss spray Minwax polyurethane is fuel proof???

thanks

Yes, to at least 15%. I am talking about garden variety Minwax polyurethane clear, not the water based kind which I have head about on this board but never seen in a store. I understand the water based is not fuelproof.
The satin finish minwax is also fuelproof to at least 15% and makes a nice, no gloss finish on military scale models.

I never use any of the paint that is available at the hobby store for model airplanes. The stuff is just to darn expensive and colors are LIMITED. It smells up the entire house and gives me a buzz.

I have used auto car paints for years. I buy my paint at Auto Zone its about $4.00 for a 16 ounce spary can. Its 100% fuel proof and there are a 100 colors to pick from.

Paint technology has come a long way in the past 30 years. 2 of my friends told me about latex house paints. I had to experement with it myself to prove to myself it would really work. I have expermented with water base polyurethane from Home Depot and high gloss latex house paints. They are all 100% fuel proof and look just as good as Sig hobby paint and other brands of hobby paint.

For the past 2 years I use only latex house paints on all my airplanes. No bad smell and it cleanes up with water. There are an unlimited amount of HIGH GLOSS colors to pick from.

Try it you will love it.

Gary,
What is the brand name of the paint you get at Autozone??

LAST EDITED ON Jul-28-03 AT 06:59 PM (CDT)
 
>Paint technology has come a long way in the past 30 years.
>2 of my friends told me about latex house paints. I had to
>experement with it myself to prove to myself it would really
>work. I have expermented with water base polyurethane from
>Home Depot and high gloss latex house paints. They are all
>100% fuel proof and look just as good as Sig hobby paint and
>other brands of hobby paint.
>
>For the past 2 years I use only latex house paints on all my
>airplanes. No bad smell and it cleanes up with water.
>There are an unlimited amount of HIGH GLOSS colors to pick
>from.

Gary;

Three questions:

1. Brand of water based polyurethane paint that is fuel proof?
2. Brand of high gloss latex house paint from Home Depot that is fuel proof?
3. Your testing methodology - e.g. have you poured any 15 or 20% nitro fuel on a surface with one of these colorings and checked to see if the fuel breaks it down?

>>Paint technology has come a long way in the past 30 years.
>>2 of my friends told me about latex house paints. I had to
>>experement with it myself to prove to myself it would really
>>work. I have expermented with water base polyurethane from
>>Home Depot and high gloss latex house paints. They are all
>>100% fuel proof and look just as good as Sig hobby paint and
>>other brands of hobby paint.
>>
>>For the past 2 years I use only latex house paints on all my
>>airplanes. No bad smell and it cleanes up with water.
>>There are an unlimited amount of HIGH GLOSS colors to pick
>>from.
>
>Gary;
>
>Three questions:
>
>1. Brand of water based polyurethane paint that is fuel
>proof?
>2. Brand of high gloss latex house paint from Home Depot
>that is fuel proof?
>3. Your testing methodology - e.g. have you poured any 15
>or 20% nitro fuel on a surface with one of these colorings
>and checked to see if the fuel breaks it down?
>
>Bob Kruger
I have tried most of the water based urethanes and none of them are fuel proof, but do make a good substrate prep.
Roy Vallencourt was the first that I remember using Latex paint and even he recommended a clear coat. Keep in mind that he designs,builds, and sells plan for large scale GAS R/C models. He was using this method in the 80's. Believe me Latex paint is not fuel proof.On top of that if you don't top coat it it really gets dirty looking fairly fast.
Most of the spray can enamels that I've tried don't run but get soft and gummy when exposed to raw glow fuel
I've poured raw fuel on everything, so even though I'm not an expert these are my findings. Dennis

Dennis;

Concur with your conclusions. There may be some water based polyurethanes that use some type of cross linker that makes them fuel proof, but I have not found any that were available from the local Home Depot.

I have also found the car laquers not to be fuel proof, either. They can, however, be clear coated.

Rattle can Rustoleum seems to be the best spray can solution that I have seen. The water based clear makes a great base. Combined with silkspan, it makes flaps, elevators, etc. very stiff without hefty weight gain.

I thought Gary might be able to give specifics, but alas, I am disappointed once again...

Bob

>>>
>>>For the past 2 years I use only latex house paints on all my
>>>airplanes. No bad smell and it cleanes up with water.
>>>There are an unlimited amount of HIGH GLOSS colors to pick
>>>from.
>>
>>Gary;
>>
>>Three questions:
>>
>>1. Brand of water based polyurethane paint that is fuel
>>proof?
>>2. Brand of high gloss latex house paint from Home Depot
>>that is fuel proof?
>>3. Your testing methodology - e.g. have you poured any 15
>>or 20% nitro fuel on a surface with one of these colorings
>>and checked to see if the fuel breaks it down?
>>
>>Bob Kruger
> I have tried most of the water based urethanes and none of
>them are fuel proof, but do make a good substrate prep.
>Roy Vallencourt was the first that I remember using Latex
>paint and even he recommended a clear coat. Keep in mind
>that he designs,builds, and sells plan for large scale GAS
>R/C models. He was using this method in the 80's. Believe me
>Latex paint is not fuel proof.On top of that if you don't
>top coat it it really gets dirty looking fairly fast.
>Most of the spray can enamels that I've tried don't run but
>get soft and gummy when exposed to raw glow fuel
>I've poured raw fuel on everything, so even though I'm not
>an expert these are my findings. Dennis
>

So water based polyurethanes are a good base for Rustoleum spray paint?? I have always used dope, but I would like to try something else.

Do and experement and prove it for yourself. Every one owns a car that is painted with acrylic car paint. Pour some fuel on your car paint. Do it in a place where it won't be noticed like on the inside of the door jams or under the hood. You will see that the fuel will not affect the car paint.

Do another experement and prove it for yourself don't take my word for it. Buy a spary can of ACRYLIC car paint. Paint a piece of balsa wood. Let it dry and let it cure for about a week. Pour some fuel on it and see what happens.

Acrylic paint has a cure time of about a week or so. Did you ever have a wreck in your car and have it repaired at an auto body repair shop. Did you notice they tell you not to WAX your car for at least 2 weeks. That is to give your new paint job time to cure.

If you paint a airplane with ACRYLIC car paint and let it dry for about a week it will not be affected by fuel.

I always put a water base clear coat polyurethane on all my latex house paint. The clear coat may be more fuel proof that the house paint I am not sure. The clear coat always makes the latex house paint shine like a mirror.

Anyway.....don't take my word for it do some experements and see for yourself. I have used only a few brands of paint and maybe every brand of paint is not the same. I buy Porter Brand paint in quart cans, blue, red, yellow, black, white, green, orange, gray. I paint the fuselage, fin, elevator, stabilizer to match the monocoat on the wings. I can mix a little white paint into the blue to get a lighter shade of blue to make it match perfect to the monocoat color.
There are different qualities of paint. You can get the ultra low cost cheap brand, medium quality brand, high quality brand, and extra high quality brand. I have tried the medium and high quality an don't see any difference after the clear coat is put on.

One more thing you might want to know.

One time I painted an airplane with OIL BASE clear polyurethane. I used NO COLOR paint at all just the clear oil base polyurethane. The airplane looked real sharp and the silk span on the wings looked transparent. The first time I flew the airplane the polyurethane turned into a sticky mess sorta like soft bubble gum. NO NOT USE OIL BASE POLYURETHANE.

I solved the problem with a can of carburator cleaner from Auto Zone. I sprayed the airplane with carburator cleaner and the oil base polyurethane came right off.

I sprayed the carburator cleaner on another airplane that had been painted with SIG super coat hot fuel paint. The carburator cleaner took the sig paint right off too.

>One more thing you might want to know.
>
>One time I painted an airplane with OIL BASE clear
>polyurethane. I used NO COLOR paint at all just the clear
>oil base polyurethane. The airplane looked real sharp and
>the silk span on the wings looked transparent. The first
>time I flew the airplane the polyurethane turned into a
>sticky mess sorta like soft bubble gum. NO NOT USE OIL BASE
>POLYURETHANE.
>
>Gary Weaver

BULL PUCKY......

I've used Oil based Polyurethanes for years for fuel proofing. I know for a fact that its good to 60% nitro. The problem for using them for clear coating is that they always turn yellowish.

The one time I tried to use water based polyurethane I used it as a clear coating because the can promised a crystal clear, non-yellowing, finish. What a disaster that was. Even Windex gummed it up not to mention the fuel residue.

LAST EDITED ON Jul-29-03 AT 09:16 PM (CDT)
 
>Do and experement and prove it for yourself. Every one owns
>a car that is painted with acrylic car paint. Pour some
>fuel on your car paint. Do it in a place where it won't be

I have experimented, Gary. The point is that these off the shelf polyurethanes are, for the most part, not fuel proof. You made an assertion that some are. For you to say so you must know from experience - as I would hope that you would not make an assertion like you did without experience. So, rather than going through a lengthy experimentation process, please let us know which off the shelf enamels and urethanes are completely fuel proof. I, for one, would like to try them and see how they work out.

BTW - the paints on a car are different from the off the shelf water based stuff you buy from Home Depot or Ace Hardware. With auto paints , after the prep and primer is layed down, a polyester color coat is applied. This coat, by itself, is incredibly fragile. The protection comes from the two part catalyzed clear coat that is applied over it. This is where the protection and the fuel proofing comes from. Notice that none of the paints that we buy from Home Depot have a two part system. Without a two part system, urethane and enamels tend to stay soft and never fully cure. In that state, they are vulnerable to fuel - some more than others. It takes a catalyst or cross linker to make them fuel proof.

So, it seems that you have experimented and come up with a single element water based urethane and latex that is fuel proof. In the spirit of this board and the control line community, please share this with us.

Bob

PS - Added later. Porter brand paints - urethanes or latex enamels? Clear coats (which ones). Can you provide specifics? I checked the local HD tonight - did not find Porter Brand.