Topic: Fixer upper project wanted

I am not keeping it
I decided by model fund will have to wait till it gets a little bigger

Just have to keep sneaking the odd quid out every once in a while 

...join the club..

Ten tins!! Sounds like you're not prepping that very well mate! Years ago I resprayed an entire fairing set for a motorcycle with 2 cans of primer, and 2 cans of colour.

Z

Standard 300ml tins.
Depends upon the previous colour as you need primer depth to completely hide it. Stripes are a 'mare.
Then it depends upon your chosen top coat colour. some need lots of coats to achieve uniform colour.
I also count one coat as one cure cycle. Ie it might take complete passes/coat over a wing with 15min inbetween. Thats not 3 coats thats one. Leave it for  36 hours or so then repeat.
Not to mention inbetween a wet and dry.

I also disgard the can before it empties. They start spitting which ruins the whole thing.
So it's easy to see how lots of tins can be used.
I don't think it helps in that rattle cans have a small spray pattern. I might look into costing a compressor and gun when I get a proper workshop.

Or maybe it's the bridges and walls I can't help grafitting between coats!

Oh ok - I've never bought spray cans in 300ml mate. Tend to always go for the 600ml jobs. If you pop them in hot water for a while before use, you can get to use the entire can btw. Works really well.

Z

or a hot room like a conservatory.  Really works much better warmer

Difficult to keep 'em warm when doing bridges and walls

Stuff 'em down yer pants.
Make the chix dig you more to......................

 

Guys, that Vector is definitely fixable and paint is a major cost that usually decides whether its worth it or not.

10x 300ml cans though is excessive!

Paint work doesn't affect the flyin'. So if you just can't do it with an ugly model then the best tip I can pass on for paint coverage is to block the repaired area with a lighter colour first. If your primer is too dark or you have light and dark patches showing through a couple of light coats of white (or any lighter colour than the top coat) helps. You want to blend the edges so that any colour showing through is less obvious than a hard edge.

You shouldn't use a primer to do this job its way too heavy especially the primer filler variety. Its for very minor filling or weave etc but if your lucky and the primer has covered the repair area and isn't too much lighter -Then go straight ahead with the top colour. Thin coats to start and heavier for the final coat. 3 maybe 4 coats is enough for full opacity even for white (unless very orange peely and you have to flat a lot between coats but thats down to bad spraying technique and not the fault of the paint).

If your first coat is rough. Stop painting and wait until hard enough to go over with a wet flat and try again. Never recoat a poor finish.
 
Also if you go on too soon between coats you reduce the opacity too. Anyway, if your not after a top finish you dont need to be so fasiduous. Otherwise go over with a couple of coats of clear lacquer for a killer finish you can T Cut into the original.

Yes, its harder with rattle cans and there is a lot of wastage with overspray but you can get very good results. Anyone who has tried will know a lot can go wrong like reactions and pin holes, never mind applying the paint well...but if you never try you never learn.       

One more thing, with our warm weather at the mo be careful 'hot potting' cans. If it's too hot it might come out the can because of increased pressure but you will not get it to flow as nice. This is because it flashes off quicker leaving a rough surface, which in turn you might spray even heavier coats (more chance of runs) to compensate. Good though when the weather gets cold. 

Wise words from the master!

Yes, I have found that you can make cans too hot, the paint then doesn't flow and it dries too quickly

I find the blend of getting the correct primer colour to top coat the hardest.
For instance my Vek was pea green top with stripes at tips and black/white d-day underside. I wanted to paint it bright orange with blue stripes underneath and a couple of black flashes upper.
To obliterate the black/white I had to use grey primer. However from experience I've found grey primer does'nt allow bright orange to be bright. I wanted bright. Hence I used white primer upper. I had to get a few coats on to achieve uniform depth of colour. (I allowed 36 hrs between)
Although the white primer gives a nice vividly bright orange it also shows the translucence of the orange coats. I've had to build up coats (more 36 hrs between) to gain a uniform depth of topcoat colour.
The underside being grey took less but is much duller.
I've also found that the Halfords orange I used creates streaks on each pass. You have to use a light source to watch the wet edge and try an maintain a very even stoke pattern. Again the translucence of the colour made this more awkward.
The only way of producing a good deep topcoat is to use lots of paint in this case. A deeper colour such as red or blue or black etc would have been a walk in the park.

I've used enamel rattle tins before and they were superb. Awkward to get though.
I made it more difficult for myself with the colour choice I made over the colours I had. As I mentioned I've now broke even with the cost of a new airframe if I'd got a ton for the wreck.
The Vek will be my most used mouldie though so I wanted to make it nice again.
I have learnt my lesson but time is'nt an issue and the cost of paint is'nt too extravagant. It has made me think and plan more for future repairs though.
(get Tony to do the lot )

I gotta be honest I'm hopeless with paint, I just hose it on usually with a hot air gun in one hand and the paint in other, drying as I go along  . Even with my amateur paint attempts I've had better results using paint from an auto paint supplier, they mix the paint to any RAL code and put it in a rattle can, the cans are about twice the size of the Halfords ones for £9 odd, might be worth checking out other paint supplies. 36 hrs between coats, I'd be lucky to get 36 minutes  don't have the patience for painting, plus you can't tell the differance between a good paint job and a bad one once its in the air just get some wing covers for when its in the pitts 

I did that MB you have in a oner using a heatgun. Checked it next day and it had that spiders web crazing everywhere! Don't rush it anymore.

when I paint with the rattlers I go all out on the first coat using a hair dryer so allow a thicker coat, I put way to much on with runs the lot
and leave it 24 hours then 1200 wet and dry paper smooth it off, one final coat done with care and love ,then leave it lieing around for a few days before the lacquer
In fact if your any good with the lacquer and 1200 wet and dry you can make any paint job look pro but if you rush the paint drying without a proper oven bake  it will all be a waste of time

Here's how I do it:

This is was very poorly X-Calibur, a big semi scale 3m. Fuse boom bent, cracks all around the wing area and nose bust off with missing bits.

I made a jig and rebuilt the nose laminating inside and out using a bladder. Same for the boom too. Then shaped the exterior using 80g production. Some epoxy and microballoons as filler to get the final shape more 80g working up to 600 W&D. Prime. More minor filling with stopper and work up to 800g after more priming ready for paint. Primer was grey so blocked with white. Airbrushed topcoat using approx equivalent of 1/2 a can of 300ml aerosol- 3-4 coats of thinned Holts acrylic colour matched. Whole fuse was done except the fin. Canopy was restored to bright red instead of dark blue when I got my hands on it. Finally 2 coats of clear and it passes ready to go back to the owner.

Only light flatting of the top coat was necessary so most of the paint stayed on the work. Secret is in the prep and using a guide coat to flat.

It ain't perfect you can always do better but the original finishes from most manufacturers are that way too.   

Did the client WANT a red canopy instead of navy blue .

When you say: " ... blocked with white":  what does that mean, Tony?

What about the bust spars Tony? 

Yes he wanted it red!

It was originally that colour but he's own repairs ended it in being a dark blue. Point is if you want to spray a light colour that has problems with opacity spray white (or any lighter colour) first. It saves on how much top coat you will need as covering a lighter colour is easier than covering a dark colour. Primer has low pigment and trying to block with primer is heavier than paint.

Spar breaks on 'that' Vector is pretty standard fix. Its quite outboard so not as critical as say the wing boxes. Shear web is poorly done anyway (a lot of bog in the example I've fixed before) so very likely you can do this better and make it strong(er).  It's a big job though. You need the right materials and technique to get it adequately strong again.