RC car paints for airplanes.

I was wondering why we don't use the water base paints that are used on gas RC cars and trucks.

They are acrylic and water based and come in many colors, and are said to be fuel proof. They stick to Lexan so they should stick to anything.

Does anyone know about these paints for our use?

>I was wondering why we don't use the water base paints that
>are used on gas RC cars and trucks.
>
>They are acrylic and water based and come in many colors,
>and are said to be fuel proof. They stick to Lexan so they
>should stick to anything.
>
>Does anyone know about these paints for our use?
>
>
>Dave

Hasn't anyone tried this?

I looks like there is a lacquer based paint and an water based acrylic. They come in many colors, cover well and come in small sizes like we would use. I may work well over plastic film.

Danny Dirt was car racer, I would expect and opinion from him.

Any car racers out there?

I have experemented with several paints. I have tried Acrylic Laquar Car Paint in a spary can from Auto Zone. Car paint needs to cure for at least a week before you get fuel on it. Car paint comes in a large variety of colors and holds up very well to fuel. Just put some fuel on the hood of your car and see for yourself. I have tried latex house paint with a coat of water base polyurethane to give it a gloss finish it works good too but starts to get a little soft after 3 or 4 years of exposure to fuel. If you tend to crash alot then you won't need to worry about the getting soft problem. lol. I have tried 2 part epoxy paint it works good too. Oil base enamel works good to but its a little slow to dry but once it gets dry it holds up to fuel very well. You can add speedy dry or Japan Dry to the enamel paint it will be dry in 2 hours. My favorite is Polyester Resin mix in some oil base enamel paint to get the color you like then add the hardner. It dries hard as nails in about 1 hours. It has a high gloss finish and fuel does absolutely nothing to it. Its all much cheaper than a tiny can of Hobby paint. You can put the Polyester Resin paint on with a brush and in about 60 seconds the brush marks go away on their own and when it dries it looks like you sprayed the paint on. The polyester resin is too thick to soak up into the wood so there are no wood grain showing through the paint and 1 coat of paint is all that is needed for a good finish.

> (snip) You can put the Polyester Resin paint
>on with a brush and in about 60 seconds the brush marks go
>away on their own and when it dries it looks like you
>sprayed the paint on. The polyester resin is too thick to
>soak up into the wood so there are no wood grain showing
>through the paint and 1 coat of paint is all that is needed
>for a good finish.
>
>Gary Weaver [email protected]

How's the weight? That would be my concern.

I will look at the polyester resin + paint. It might be a solution to the lack of hobbypoxy paint anymore.

I have also used hardware store spray paint to good results, but want to use my airbrush, not a big spray can.

I was really looking at the stuff used on lexan car bodies for RC gas cars.

like this stuff
http://www.parmapse.com/faskolor.asp

or this

http://www.testors.com/brand_category.asp?brandNbr=5

there is a lacquer and an acrylic water based.

both claim to be fuel proof and come in many colors. Clean up easily come in small containers and aren't super toxic.

I just wondered if anyone has tried this stuff.

Danny Dirt was car racer, I would expect and opinion from him.

Any car racers out there?

Dave

When the family and I were racing, we just used normal (at the time) automotive lacquer shot through a touch-up gun. There are cautions to doing this, but no one wants to hear about them.

While I am aware of the wild and varied colors of paints specifically marketed today for RC cars, I have always assumed they were too expensive to use on an airplane. And if one really wants to get away from dope, Randy and Godzilla have had terrific input on their use of current automotive paints.

In short, I don't have anything to say on the subject, even if I just did so.

>like this stuff
>http://www.parmapse.com/faskolor.asp

I dunno.. All those "speed" names.. Maybe it'll make your stunt plane fly faster?

THIS should be of some use:

http://www.parmapse.com/rcitem.asp?n=08061

I would guess if you painted an entire airplane with Polyester Resin compaired to some other paint it would be heaver unless you thinned it with acetone. I don't like to paint so I take the easy way out 1 coat and its finished. I have never painted an entire airplane I usually paint only the fuselage and cover the wings with monocoat. You can add acetone to make the Polyester Resin thinner and then spray it on. I sprayed the inside of my truck bed with Polyester resin and red enamel paint it was dry and hard in 15 minutes. I have not done any really scientific type measurements mixing the resin with hardner and timing it to see how long it takes to get hard with a given amount of hardner. It would be a good plan to do some accurate mixing measurements and times so you can make it get hard in the time length you want. Be careful if you get too much hardner it will get hard in 5 minutes especially in hot weather.

I would STRONGLY suggest trying this (polyester as a finish coat) on a SAMPLE or test piece first!! I have had BAAAADDDD problems when applying polyesters over ANY epoxy. I ran a test just last month with some Fillet material which was a polyester base over some motor mounts which were epoxied in and the fillet material remained gummy at all places it was in contact with the epoxy.
Best run a trial sample .

The other day while at Home Depot, I noticed the Rustoleum "Textured" and "Hammered" versions of their spray enamels. I bought a can of the "hammered" and sprayed in a piece of balsa. Looks good but have not tested it for "fuel proofness" yet. I read in the can that there is no need for priming because these paints cover all imperfections. Any opinions?

>The other day while at Home Depot, I noticed the Rustoleum
>"Textured" and "Hammered" versions of their spray enamels. I
>bought a can of the "hammered" and sprayed in a piece of
>balsa. Looks good but have not tested it for "fuel
>proofness" yet. I read in the can that there is no need for
>priming because these paints cover all imperfections. Any
>opinions?

The Hammered finish is fuel proof at least up to 10%. I waited five weeks for it to cure, not that I was in a testing mode but that's how long before the plane had a engine attached and flew the thing. But......beware of added weight, the paint is heavy. As to the priming effect, yes it primes too. But.....don't expect for it to cover up balsa wood grain, it won't totally, unless of course you put about 4 to 6 coats and then you have the problem of weight gain. As for the textured stuff, I have Not used it for planes because of weight gain. But...if you want to use it maybe two thins coats and then a couple coats of polyurethane -solvent based-NOT water based as a top coat,
then you can still have that textured surface effect.

I have not used the R/C car paints on a plane yet but they are my prefered paint to use on my helicopters. I think I've posted this information before but will do so again.

I've been using the Pactra Lacquer paint for the base colors then using Lusterkote clear. Before I go into the reason why, I will say that I have not used the water based versions but a friend has. He used the Parma paints. I don't don't recall what clear coat he used but it wasn't very shiny so he might not have used one at all. I do know that they sell a fuel proofer to use when using on a nitro powered car????

The reason I like the Pactra R/C Car lacquer;
1) They are flat. They spray like primer only thinner. The coverage/opacity is very good. They don't run if you get a little too much on so unlike glossy paints you don't have to be too careful about how it goes on. Basically you get the color on, sand it smooth, mask and spray the next color leaving you free of gloss woes until you clear coat it.
2) Also, like primer it dries fast. You can start wet sanding almost immediately. However, like primer, if you manage to get it on too thick, it'll orange peel. Also the top layer will dry leaving the bottom layers tacky. When I've messed up, I've had to sand a little, let dry, sand some more, let dry, sand..... until I got the smoothness I wanted. So, like all paints, thin coats work best. Just don't expect to apply a tack coat, then then a color coat. The tack coat will be dry before you get around to the color coat. Just go for the color coat and let it dry.
3) They are compatible with the auto store "Dupli-color" touch-up paints for an even wider selection of colors. I use the Dupli-color "Import" graphite grey for canopy window areas but I've also used the reds and some metallic blues. Just use the colors that require a clear coat.
4) The paint is at least partially fuel proof. I use it on my gas off road R/C truck with 20% nitro and it hasn't come off. As I spray it on the inside of the polycarbonite R/C car body I don't use a clear coat. However, unlike a plane, both my R/C truck and my helicopter have mufflers that direct the exaust away from the vehicle so there is not alot of residue after a run like the side of a plane. Nor is there alot of raw fuel spillage, on the bodies, like can occur on a plane.

I've attached some pics of a couple of fiberglass helicopter canopies I've done and my R/C truck body using the Pactra paint. The heli bodies have Lusterkote gloss clear.

Personally, I think the water based stuff will work much the same way as it has been formulated to have very similar properties to the lacquer. From what I understand, once it dries its pretty tough stuff that sticks very well.