rattle can Rustoleum

Well, so far this stuff has given generally pleasing results. I sprayed a model with a white base coat this AM and will let it sit and cure a few days before I mask and paint the rest. I probably wouldn't use it too heavily on a stunter, but on a simple all wood profile such as this one (old Guillows Trainer II) it seems to work ok. Worst problem other than the weight is the very slow dry time, that and the fact gnats seem to be attracted to it. I have learned to have a pair of tweezers handy to pluck them out if any come in for a landing on the surface.

J

Jake,

The best way to further improve Rustoleum is to heat the can so the paint will spray thinner.....lighter. It works great! You can heat the can by using warm to hot water.

John,

I used heat on the White 'stoleum I used on my 1/2A speed plane. It still goes on pretty thick. I think it is the temptation to get a wet, glossy coat down. I would be willing to try a lighter coat if I was sure I could rub it out. I've been waiting two weeks and the paint still seems a little soft to me. Has anyone tried rubbing this stuff out?

Yes, it does work, but it has to be completely cured- sometimes that takes a LONG time depending on your climate. I have used it on small parts several times, not until recently on an entire airframe. If you can hit it with fine sand paper (say 400 grit) in a spot and it won't load the paper then it is as dry as it is going to get. You can wet sand and buff the stuff out with rubbing compound.

Jake

Can it be applied thinner using a gun? Or is a thick, heavy coat required for coverage?

Ok, guys, let's see if I can recap the additional info. I have let my 1/2A plane with white 'stoleum "cure" for over two weeks now. I am going to level the finish and scuff sand it with 400 wet or dry with solvent (equivalent of prepsol(?), or maybe alcohol.) Then I am going to mask for trim coats using my white vinyl electrician's tape. Spray on the blue 'stoleum trim. Wait forever for the trim to "cure," then the final rubout of the whole plane.

I didn't really want to stick the plane in the oven because I was afraid of warping it, but I guess I inadvertently followed your advice when I left it in the truck this weekend when I was visiting my folks. It was hot and sunny out!

I had no trouble at all with the opacity of the white paint. One dust coat, followed immediately by one wet coat covered it completely. But on a small model when you try to hit all the little corners and edges you get a lot of extra paint and overspray. The temptation to wet that out was just too great--so mine is a little porky.

I've heard of guys spraying LusterKote into a jar, thinning it and then putting it into their detail spray gun. Are you suggesting doing this with the 'stoleum?

I need to work out the details, because I've gotta paint my SIG Buster real soon. Got the Internet Racing League deadline coming up....

I heated the paint can as recommended and wanted it to dry quicker. I had a fairly large cardboard box that my tool box came in, used it as an oven. Stuck the plane inside, placed a small space heater so it could blow the hot air inside, left the flap part way open to control the heat level, rotated the plane about every half hour, was much faster. I had it painted and masked, applied a second color, all dried, then monokote the wing in same day. Only problem was when the hot iron touched the paint one spot, it tried to smear the paint by melting it.

Yep. Not completely cured yet. Alkyd enamels are plastic based and they take a long time to fully dry. From what I understand they actually both dry and cure. This is one of the problems with them- it takes quite a while before they are really "done". Once they are though, they are pretty tough- not as much as an epoxy, but pretty decent.

J

Me and a buddy used to use Rust-oleum spray paints a lot on model airplanes, and I used it a lot also on model rockets. My buddy once did a test with 70% nitro fuel on the white color Rust-oleum ..... he had sprayed the paint on a cup shaped test surface, a few days later he poured the high nitro fuel on the surface and left it over night, the paint was totally un-affected by the high nitro fuel! Once I over sprayed (too thick) a model rocket and with normal over-night drying it was no where even dry to the touch .... I put the rocket in the oven at about 140 to 200 degrees, a few hours later the paint was completely dry to the touch, and looked good too. You might try this technique to speed up the drying of Rust-oleum paints, that is if your oven is big enough? I might add that the Nitro test was done years ago well before the recent formula changes.

Yeah, Rustoleum is really good stuff but cure time is forever. It can usually be handled, masked, etc. after 3 days but keeps curing for several more days, maybe weeks.
You can speed things along by placing the painted and semi dried model in a hot vehicle in the summer. Careful though, if it's too hot paint will blister. I'm not sure how hot too hot is but probably around 100 to 120 or so would be aout right.

Jake, I have tried Rustoleum and got good results with the exception of striping. The problem that I had was the striping tended to pull away with the striping tape. In particular, silver just did not want to stick very well. I suspect that Rustoleum won't stick to itself very well without light sanding. That is, striping on top of well cured base coat. Good luck.

Sunshine

The last couple planes I sprayed on a dust coat, followed by a fairly heavy coat, mostly wet, and let it dry. My workshop was about 50 deg. at the time. Let it dry overnight, masked it and sprayed on a coat of red trim, the same way. Let it dry overnight and pulled the tape. A couple places the white tended to pull off the base, so I took more care to pull the tape 180 deg. and it came off OK> Went flying the next day, spilled 10% nitro all over everything and it held up fine.

6 m. later the paint has held up fine with no signs of fuel proofing problems. Rustoleum Gloss Protective Enamel, Red, White, and Black.

Easiest multicolor paint job I ever did.

Well, I put the red on this afternoon because the weather was pretty good and I figured I'd better do it while it holds. So far so good, I'll let it cure a few days and add the black. Local bat seems to be doing his job sucking up all the gnats. I was out watching him just before it got dark- really amazing the turns these little dudes can make.

JAK

I am lucky enough to live in Florida and whenever I paint with Rustoleum, I can set the plane out in the sunshine and the cure time is usually about four hours.
I first noticed this with a R/C plane I had painted with some Sears Epoxy enamel. The surfaces would feel "tacky" for weeks but after sitting on the flight line for the first day I found the paint to feel hard and smooth.
I suspect the combination of heat and the UV affects the cure.
Sure beats trying to find an oven big enough.

Dick A.

That could well be. In Houston we have a serious humidity problem- mostly it is either hot and damp or cool and damp- sometimes both in a space of a few hours. I have had people tell me that they thought Viet Nam had a lousy climate- then they came thru here.

Jake

The next step is to learn how to "BRUSH" a coat of Rustoleum on with a
camel hair brush--on a "Nobler"--ONE OUNCE--total weight for the color
Then if you don't like the shine then spray a coat of Minwax Polyurethane, gloss or semigloss-I couldn't find the weight of the minwax--didn't show on the scales I was using!!! Enamel to Heavy--don't think so!!