Acrylic Paint

[dr.spitfire]

hi all,

am into painting my first canopy.. so i bought aztek 4707 airbrush and got myself some acrylic paint, epoxy grey primer and clear coat.

i primed it was feeling ok.. then got into the paint i feel that the surface is rough is it ok to stay rough.. or it should be smooth from the beginning.. or is the clear coating will smoothen it out.


i think i need expert painting tips and help here!!!!

[DavidH]

The finish should be smooth. Clear coat is not going to smooth it out.
An airbrush is great for adding stripes and figures to canopies. But personally I have never had any luck trying to paint the whole canopy with an airbrush. I don't think you will have much luck spraying the clear coat with an airbrush. It can not put out enough volume to do a correct job. That is basically what is happening with the paint if your trying to cover a large area at once with the airbrush.
A 4 oz HVLP type spray gun works well for painting canopies and clear coating.

David

[keith shaw]

I agree with David. The airbrush is great for detail work and fades, but to apply a base coat and clear coat you will need a larger spray gun. And to answer your question of smoothness, you should sand with a very fine grit paper between prime coat and base coat. Personally, I wet sand mine with 400-600 grit to get the best finish. :wink: