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It seems to be a topic that pops up all over the place. I thought it would be a good place to consolidate the wisdom of the group in one posting. What paint do you use on your sub? and what are the reasons (other than it works - duh )?
If you can cut, drill, saw, hit things and swear a lot, you're well on the way to building a working model sub.
I've used enamels and acrylics with good results. About 8 years ago I shifted over to acrylics and haven't had any problems, some models have no clear coat on them. If I apply water slide decals, I clear coat over the model. On my NAUTILUS build I used Alclad II Lacquers and their clear coat.
I'm very found of Tamiya Acrylics You can spray right out of the can and have it look like it was done with an airbrush.
Tamiya paints do not fill in the detailing as so many others do. Make sure you use Tamiya clear coat, if your going to be running your boat. The other key thing is to give it a whole day to dry between coats. It will feel dry to the touch within an hour, but you still need to wait the rest of the day. Best Wishes Mike
Matt, Tamiya XF66 Flat light grey mini Acrylic paint, is all it says on the can. You can get it at hobbyKing.com It's the best paint I've found for use on running subs. Best Wishes Mike
What type of paint can I use that's durable enough that the inside of the fiberglass haul would not peel over time . I could paint the inside with colored resin but it needs to be think for the color to show so paint is the only way I think.
Is there a particular reason you want to paint the inside? Most folks don't and I don't recommend it as if/when you need to bond something to the inside hull the paint will need to be entirely removed.
I usually spray the inside of my hulls with automotive black primer from the can. Around here about all that is available is Rustoleum which is not as good as the old sandable primers were. Why do I do it? Because I am a scale modeler and do not like to see the internals thru the flood holes, think that detracts slightly from the sense of scale and presence of the model. Also, I use the sandable primer as a base coat for most of my subs. Floquil and Model master enamels are best for spraying scale models but are not as durable as acrylics are. The right black primer seems to age in the water and easily lends itself to looking more realistic without any real effort.
Is there a particular reason you want to paint the inside? Most folks don't and I don't recommend it as if/when you need to bond something to the inside hull the paint will need to be entirely removed.
-Jeff
I was informed by the retailer were I buy my stuff that fibreglass mouldings, no matter what resins are used, are not actually totally waterproof. You have to coat them, normaly with a special topcoat, I use also automotive paint to do the job.
Individual water molecules are so small that they can actually find their way into and ultimately right through the layers of glass and resin forming a boat hull.
They react with the chemicals and form acidic molecules which are bigger then the water molecules and due to that they are trapped......and then osmosis kicks in and you get blisters.
But probably by then the boat is collecting dust in an attic.......years later someone finds it....it looks like shit and he trows it away……..jeez that went from interesting to depressing in no time LOL.
I can only speak from my experience, but I'm fairly certain that for the duty cycle that our R/C subs are getting in the water that this is a negligible issue. I have fiberglass hulls that I've been using for almost 20 years and cannot see any sign of degradation.
Now for a 1:1 scale boat that sits in the water and out in the weather.....I can see the potential for long-term issues.
Yeah I hear you Jeff...that's why I added the last part.
But after building on the sub for a couple of years and I used Chopped strand mat for my layup which resulted in quite a rough finish.....so after the guy explained that GRP hulls are not waterproof.......I left the shop.....went home......and sprayed the hell out of the inner hull......LOL.
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