how do you paint? - ok, apparently this isn't working...

[petn7]

ok, so making the sub turned out the be the easy part. painting the sub seems to be the hardest part so far. nothing is working. so here's the deal. i have my hull already painted in red and black Testors spray paint. now i need some sort of clear coat. where do i go from here and what do i use? i tried 2 different Krylon acylic clear coats (doesn't seem to work, but could it be the humid air? the only wait i could get a smooth finish was by spraying the hull 3 inches away. if i sprayed from about 12 inches away, it just left a "dusty" looking finish, like i said, could it be b/c of the moisture in the air?), one by Dupli-Color (appears to react with the paint so that it makes little cracks in the paint finish), and the Testors Dullcote and Flat Lacquer. luckily i painted a few extra hull peices to test the paints and clear coat on. here's what i did. i took my extra hull peice and painted it with Testors Flat Black. I then gave it a few coats of Testors Flat Lacquer and let it dry for a few hours. i put it in a bucket of water for a few hours and of course i got white spots that i mentioned in an earlier post. then, i painted my REAL hull with the same Testors Flat Black, but waited a few days for the paint to dry, then i gave it 4 coats of Testors Dullcote. only this time i waited b/w 8-12 hours between clear coats and waited 21 hours after the last coat before puting the hull in the water for about 1.5 hours. well, guess what? i got white spots again, although not as many. so here's my question. did i do something wrong while painting on the Dullcote (such as not waiting long enough to dunk it in the water) or do i just need to find another clear coat? if it's the latter, what clear coat could i use that is flat (but i'll take semi-glossy if i have to) and won't screw up Testors paint? i know it's recommended that the clear coat, whatever the type, is the same BRAND as the colored paint, but obviously it's too late for me; i don't think i can scrape off all the red and black paint already on the hull, especially around the fins.

this is so frustrating.

p.s. if you can't answer my questions, can u at least tell me how you guys paint your hulls? at least i'll learn for future reference

[boatbuilder1]

your in the right direction
I

your in the right direction
I do pretty much the same as you prime then sand and sand all the way up to 600 then wash and let air dry 24 hours
color coats misted on up to 4 coats then wet sand starting at 400 and stop at 600 then wash and let air dry another 24 hours then medium color coats upt to 4 but usually 2 to 3 then let dry for 48 to 72 hours and wet sand with 600 and work up to 1000 again wash and let dry
remember not to use acrylics over enamel and visa versa nasty reactions
I use testors dull coat but real heavy coats sraying from only 4 to 6 inches away taking care not to run or drip
one last thing to try for you polish the hull with plastic polish
I have done this a few times and had great results but care must be taken to test first what your looking for is a light covering over the clear coat

the water spots you see btw are from hard water or somthing of that nature and they don't go away very easily
hope this helps
I am trying D Merrimans technquie with auto paints and clear coats soon it seems Daves paint jobs are legendary

ca

[petn7]

what's a primer for? i

what's a primer for? i didn't use it; seems it's too late to use it now. also, i doubt the spots are from hard water as i took a test peice coated in Krylon's acrylic cleasr coat that reacted somewhat to the red Testors flat red paint. anyhoo, i tested it's waterproofing ability anyways and it was perfectly waterproof; no white spots even after 3 hours.

thanks a bunch for the help. seems that you used the same Testors Dullcote i did, but with no problems. how long do you wait b/w the coats of Dullcote? and how long do u wait for the Dullcote to dry before submerging it in water?

[boatbuilder1]

primer is the first coat

primer is the first coat to go on either grey or red or black your choice you need to rough the surface of the model first with 0000 steel wool or a scotch bright pad to give the paint a good bite to adhear to the model dont for get to wash the model before you do anything to remove mold release agents (coatings)
I wait around 20 to 30 minuets between coats of dullcoat

[petn7]

ok, i'm gonna try your

ok, i'm gonna try your strategy of literally submerging the hull in Testors Dullcote and recoating every 30 min or so rather than follow the store's advice of waiting 12 hours between coats with each coat being a medium misting of the hull. apparently that advice didn't work, so your method can't hurt to try

[JWLaRue]

Krylon makes at least two

Krylon makes at least two types of clear coats...and (if I remember correctly) the latex enamel is not waterproof, which means that even a relatively short exposure (15 minutes) in water will cause it to cloud up. (it gets that milky white look, but will eventually clear up when dry)

Painting in humid air is always a *bad* thing, even with water-based paints.

I've used lacquer over acrylic (and vice-versa) and as long as you don't get too heavy a coat of paint on at one time, it works fine. The trick seems to be not allowing the thinner to eat away at the coat underneath.

The 'dusty' look that you are seeing....could you also describe it as a 'rough' or fuzzy' surface after you paint? This sounds like the paint is drying before it gets to the hull. You want to position the airbrush/can close enough so that you see a nice, even wet looking coat being applied. Of course, too much and you end up getting drips and sags! It's a bit of a balancing act!

-hope this helps,

Jeff

[petn7]

yeah, the "dusty" look is

yeah, the "dusty" look is rough and fuzzy. fine particles rubbed off on my hand when i handled it. but when i sprayed closer, i got that "wet" look and that seemed to work like you said it would. right now i'm repainting with the Testors Dullcote, but im' also spraying it a bit closer to get that "wet" look, and this time i'll wait 72 hours until i test it in the water.

as for the Krylon Clear Coats, i thought i was using the same stuff Merriman used on his Skipjack...

[boatbuilder1]

thanks jeff ever the eloquent

thanks jeff ever the eloquent one you are
I should have said a wet surface sorry pal jeff is right wet it out but no drips or sags you can wait for it to flash (go from gloss to matt then wait an additions 15 minuets then coat again this is how a few guys I know paint in the pro body shops paint wait for the flash then paint again but there the object being painted is alot bigger

ca



Edited By boatbuilder1 on 1088824208

[petn7]

yeah, i did wait for

yeah, i did wait for that "flash" and then 10-20 min before puting another coat of Dullcote. i posted in other forums and one guy said on his boats, he wait over a month from the time the last coat of paint/clear coat goes on until he puts the boat in the water. how long do you guys wait?

[JWLaRue]

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[color=#000000]re]

[petn7]

do you think 2 weeks

do you think 2 weeks is long enough to wait before puting her in the water?

as for the krylon, it works well, but since i already put the Testors Paint on it, it's too late. maybe next time

"Ya live, ya learn"

[JWLaRue]

I have placed a Krylon

I have placed a Krylon painted sub into the water as soon as 2 or three days after painting.......no ill effects.

What kind of Testors paint did you use? I like using their ModelMaster line of paints for my U-boats and it works quite well. Plus they have a great range of Naval colors to choose from.

-Jeff

[petn7]

they are just "regular" Testors

they are just "regular" Testors flat black and flat red enamel. when you paint with the ModelMasters series of paints, what do you use as a clear coat, if at all? if you use a clear coat, how long do you wait for that to dry before running your sub in the water?

[JWLaRue]

I've never used a clearcoat

I've never used a clearcoat when using the ModelMaster paints. I haven't felt that it was necessary...these paints seem to hold up really well by themselves.

I have used the Krylon acrylic clearcoat for covering other paints (especially Krylon) and the shortest that I have waited is about 2 days. Worked fine!

-Jeff