A bit of a mess

[andy watson]

The Flair DVII I am building has various plastic mouldings (wheels, fuselage "cheek" panels and front cowl), that need to be the same colour as the fuselage.  I wouldn't have chosen it if I had realised what a pig yellow was going to be, but that's only half the story.

So I bought yellow solartex for the plane, and all is well.  I then bought a can of yellow spray paint for the mouldings.  Sprayed them, and they looked fine until I put them against the fuselage.  The sprayed components are a much more orangy yellow (I guess cub yellow- although the can just said yellow) than the solartex- which is quite a pale almost lemony yellow.

Now I appreciate most blokes are losing interest at this point, as it's a bit like my girlfriend trying to explain the difference between 2 handbags I haven't seen, and don't care about- but please stick with it.

A root around on the net showed that it was basically impossible to buy a paint that directly matches yellow solartex- the Flair paints are matched on solarfilm.  Having said that there is a mixing chart, so today I went off and bought yellow and white, for a 4:1 mix that should match.

The good news is it does seem to match ok- so that's fine.

The bad news is the Flair paint is attacking the already applied spray paint and causing it to crinkle and ripple.  I have started with the wheels (fortunately) and they can cope with the slightly textured look, but the other pieces can't.  How do I stop it happening?

I can think of 2 options.

1) Sand off the spray paint.  I would hate this option, and would do almost anything to avoid it!

2) Would a layer of aerokote fuel proofer painted over the spray paint protect it so I could paint on top of that with the Flair paint?

or is there an option 3- which doesn't involve the high likelihood of a heart attack if I have to ask Flair how much replacement parts would be?

[001]

Andy, you do not say what type of paint the first yellow was, I suspect that it might be a cellulose car paint.

1) Do not use a solvent to remove the paint as it will probably attack the plastic.

2) Definitely do not use a paint stripper.

You might like to try an aluminium/silver enamel as I have found that it seals the surface, or try a decorators sealing product from B&Q etc. But try out on some scrap plastic or a hidden area.

[Tony Read 2]

As Richard says, its difficult to be specific without knowing what the first paint was. I would try to experiment with airbrushing over with a yellow acrylic paint to act as a barrier coat. Do not use an aerosol as the thinners may react, thin with water. Acrylics seem to be impervious to most paints but build up your final colour in thin quick drying coats just to limit any risk of reaction. As Richard recommends, try this first on a scrap of plastic.

BTW there are paint strippers just for plastic. Your local model shop should have them. They may be more effective on enamel paints, but maybe worth a try as a last resort.

[andy watson]

I have had a look at the tin for the first paint, and it doesn't say what type of paint it is.

The brand name is RC colours- planes and boats.

Don't know if this helps!

[Tony Read 2]

SMC stock it but I can't work out what it is.

<a href="http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/uploads/spray.jpg" title="Click to open a larger picture of the RC Colours Profilm spray paint" target="_blank">

</a>

If I were to guess from the description on the SMC site I would say enamel, but the Flair (Spectrum) paint is also enamel based as well. I have used Spectum from the tin and found it to be very good. If you applied it from an aerosol too thickly maybe the thinner reacted? Try airbrushing in mist coats thinned with say white spirit.

Hope this helps!

[Martin McIntosh]

Hi Andy, ordinary knotting compound thinned with meths stops bleed through of one colour (red is the worst) to another so may be worth a try. Have had the same happen to a model which was sprayed with car aerosols then Tufcoated. Surface crazed like hell after a few months.

[Tony Read 2]

That reminds me of when I touched-up my tractor (whey-hay!). I used an automotive barrier coat then sprayed with car paint. Looked gooooood for a few weeks then went like crazy paving! Still can't work that one out.

[andy watson]

That's the stuff Tony.  I wouldn't mind, but the spraying went really well, and has a very nice finish- just the wrong type of yellow!

The Flair paint is in a tin, rather than an aerosol, as I have had to mix yellow and white to get the right shade.

It does have a warning on it not to use over "enamals or oil based" paints. 

[Tony Read]

Enamel on enamel if it is well cured should be OK (depending on the thinner used) but to be honest Andy, I think you will either have to keep the colour you have or take it off by rubbing down or using a plastic paint stripper. Experiment with barrier coats by all means but you do run the risk of it crazing in the future as Martin found out.

[Ernie]

 Hi Andy

Don't  mix paint systems..There will  always be  problems .    Easiest are car sprays with a huge range of colours and finishes..Enamels ie turpentine based and, cellulose.ie acetone based just don't mix.

You can put cellulose onto enamel, but not vice versa, but, I wouldn't do any of it

Best of all are the 2 part mixes, but what a hassle ...................................................Space suit protection

I'd rub it all off, Thinking of something wonderful,  like wind whistling in the wires, and sun through the fabric

ernie 

[andy watson]

OK, thanks for all the advice.

First things first, there was no plan on mixing types of paints- it was only after the spray coat dried I realised it was the wrong shade and wanted to change it- nothing I could do really.  I  can't believe there is no range of paint matched to solartex .  That would have avoided all these problems.  Maybe a business opportunity for someone there?

Well sometimes to solve a problem like this you have to think laterally- or in this case "out of the box".  I actually have a spare kit, so stole the cheeks out of that and painted them with the mixed Flair yellow/white.  They were the bits I was dreading sanding as they have all kinds of moulded louvres and hatches etc.  The cowl........ well I suppose I could sand it whilst watching the GP on sunday!

Thanks for the time taken guys.

[Ernie]

Sorry I'm not explaining very well. I don't mean actually mixing the paint,   I  mean coats of different types

ernie

[andy watson]

I did understand Ernie- I was just clarifying that I wasn't mixing them on purpose!

[Clive Moore]

Hi all, I have so far found Solarlac paint to be a perfect match for Solartex and Solarfilm its just not very nice to use and is better sprayed than brushed. Not sure what it would do if painted on top of whats already there though?

If you go to the Solartex web site (http://www.solarfilm.co.uk) and go to the "HOW TO" tab they have a chart that shows which paint matches what tex, they even show what paints and in what quantities to mix to get some of the colours.

Hope this helps

 Regards

[Myron Beaumont]

Andy

Why not spray what you have with the plastic primer you can get for the "plastic" bumpers on these new fangled crumpable cars these days & while you are in Halfords (Solartex in hand) -look at all the different yellows .Alternatively they can mix the colour up £10 a can though !  Personally i have found that most paint combinations work IF only the merest whisper of a coat is sprayed on in high ambient room/ shed /hanger conditions .  Even cellulose (which isnt used much these days ) on well matured enamel -Just dont ever try & cover in one coat -EVER .  Probably doing a grandmother sucking eggs job -Then again she would know more about the handbags you mentioned in your first comment

Ps  I usually spray everything with primer -thats why its called primer ( Ex- car renovator )  Hope I have been of use -somehow I dont think I have

Grumpy Myron

[andy watson]

Well I got around the problem with the cheeks, and I have just invested in some very fine sanding pads to remove the paint from the cowl- which shouldn't be too bad a job.

Clive, I used that chart to get the 4:1 yellow-white mix and that is fine, but it does- as you say- look better sprayed than brushed.  Unfortunately an airbrush is out of my financial reach at the moment, and that is why I went with a tin of spray paint in the first place.  I will just have to live with the brush marks- but as the planes were painted in the field, I can always try pass them off as "scale"

In hindsight Myrons suggestion of getting a can colour matched in the first place would have been the best solution.

This thread has generated a bit of interest- and if you want to see the final colour matched cheeks they are on my build blog here

[Martin McIntosh]

Ernie, is that not the wrong way round? You can happily put anything you like on top of doped (cellulose) tissue. Cellulose over enamel becomes a good paint stripper, as does Tufcoat thinned with cellulose as a second coat over itself. Anyone know if acrylic will withstand 20% nitro?