Painting on Monokote - New Option

Building and other racing tips and suggestions.
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Canderson
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Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by Canderson »

For those of you who want to use trim a monokoted EF1 or any other film covered plane with paint, your options have been very limited until now. Its a hassle building a nice looking EF1 if you arnt set up for glassing and painting with all the color matching that can be involved.

You can now go to Ace Hardware (and other places) for this great new paint from Rustoleum in a spray can. This version is called "Painters Touch" It sticks to plastic aggressively. On monokote its unbelievable! I swear you dont have to prep the film in any way. It comes in a variety of colors including some satins or flats. Prep and masking off for trim is a breeze. Can handle in a couple hours and mask over it in six. Using any of the adhesive tapes in my box, I have not been able to pull up any paint that was on the film. Its like a miracle. $3.99 a can

The spray head is remarkable. It allows you to spray in any position and ive never seen one clog. The spray pattern is really nice. The paint has alot of solids in it so it covers very quickly. It also appears to be fuel proof. Jerry Small and I both tested against 15% fuel. I checked the primer as well and we never saw any hint of a issue. Granted, this is not official.

They have several colors of primer. I started using the product because i love the primer. Its an easy sanding primer that builds and fills well. I discovered it stuck to monoikote by accident when some overspray got onto one of my planes. I was able to clean off the overspray but it was an impressive adhesion. If you use their primer and your finish is smooth, you can spray the color within two hours of spraying the primer. It works great, the paint flattens out really nice without alot of buildup. The edges of the paint lines are hardly noticable because you are not putting down very much paint. This stuff is WAY better than the TopFlite paint. By the way, do not use this stuff with the TopFlite paint. I tried and it was a terrible outcome.

Jerry Smalls and Dub Jetts EF1's (at the 2012 Nats) are my first productions using this paint. I expect when everybody hears about this paint, it will be a game changer.

Chuck Anderson, OKC
jima
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by jima »

Thanks Chuck for spreading the word on this paint. Jerry mentioned it to me as well. I rounded up some colors and tried it out on a little Cosmic Wind that GP sells. It's too small for EF1 and has a glass fuselage but made for a good platform to try the paint. Wing and stab are monokote and fuse is painted glass. The planes come in white and red with no trim. Here's a photos of it. Great paint.

To shade the numbers, I sprayed the paint into the cup for my airbrush and sprayed it straight with no thinning. Worked great.

Jim Allen
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cpaine
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by cpaine »

I did try this technique on my latest EF1.. whole plane is covered in white ultra coat.... red is Krylon, grey is testors primer and the yellow is rustoleum. Clear coat is also rustoleum... (also white testors on the plastic bits.)
I tested all coats on top of each other with no issues. however, I Do NOT, recommend the Krylon... very thin, multiple coats to cover, as well had seepage on the tape line. fixed with white trim tape for cars (1/8")
the only reason i clear coated, was to make the Primer shinny, otherwise, it wasn't needed. In saying that, for some reason the clear reacted with the yellow... (both rustoleum) Im sure it was some kinda of contaminate on the fuse... either from sand paper, or fingers... i have no idea to be honest. the wing had no issues at all. so I tried to fix multiple times, and every time i hit it with the clear, the problem would come back... so i got fed up and ironed on the numbers! lol :-?

All in All... I 'm happy with it. and would do it again.... but would keep it all Rustoleum... covers well and dries quick!

Cheers
Cory Paine
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cbk07
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by cbk07 »

Absolutely beautiful Cory! Thanks for sharing
Dave Yost
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by Dave Yost »

WoW! That thing looks great!! :D

Cheers, Dave
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RCjunkie
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by RCjunkie »

were did you get the plastic bits
2 wrongs don't make a right But 2 Wrights makes a Airplane
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cpaine
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by cpaine »

RCjunkie wrote:were did you get the plastic bits
I bought a kit from Jerry Small when they were available.... you would have to ask around to see whats available now.
ronin4740
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by ronin4740 »

Curious if you could give an idea of how much weight was added from the unpainted covered model to the finished product?
cpaine
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by cpaine »

ronin4740 wrote:Curious if you could give an idea of how much weight was added from the unpainted covered model to the finished product?
I didn't weigh it prior to painting....that would of been a good idea though. Usually my kit built Ef1s come out a bit under weight, so i assumed a bit of paint wouldn't make it a slug 8)

All said and done, the flying weight is 3lbs 8.3oz... not to shabby. :D
ronin4740
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by ronin4740 »

3.51lbs is a nice weight to be sure. Will have to try it on a spare Proudbird after I strip it and sand it down a little to see what the weight gains are.
KRProton
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Re: Painting on Monokote - New Option

Post by KRProton »

My concern about painting over MonoKote - however well the paint adheres - would be how does it react to the heat of an iron with a cover sock when you want to go over it later to remove any wrinkles that typically appear from time-to-time? I'd be afraid the paint would smudge. :cry:

Sounds like that Painter's Touch in the original post (from 2012?) is the ticket though.

Tim
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