Paint Prep

[GimbalFan]

I'm sure this has been asked and answered many times before, but like many I'm hoping for the latest info.

What type of plastic (polyethylene, polypropolene, etc) is this stock Rex SE canopy made of?

What's the proper prep before painting it?

What's the appropriate paint type to use on these canopies?

Thanks.

[EKIM]

I used a stock trex canopy as a practice canopy for my raptor. I preped it by first triming anything major with a blade. Then I wet sanded it with 600 grit sandpaper to give the paint a better surface to bite into. I shot it with a coat of white primer (not sure which kind krylon I think) ALWAYS DO EVERYTHING IN LIGHT COATS. This seemed to be the key for the best results with ample drying time. I used pactra racing paint in a can. Then I shot it with a few coats of the darkest color first. After my base coat was done, I masked it with liquid mask, trimmed the graphics with a knife, sprayed a silver base coat to make the blue "pop" and that was it. It actually sticks better to my trex canopy than the milk jug raptor canopy. I'm a terrible painter because I don't have the patientce but here is my raptor caopy after it was all said and done....now if I could only see it in the air :roll: I got a "thing" for flat black and candy graphics

[GimbalFan]

Your Raptor looks great. Mine's plain Jane, intended for max contrast and visibility.

I'm guessing that paint sticks poorly to a Raptor 'bleach bottle' because it's polyethylene, and that the Rex is a different type of plastic. For my R50 I went with CallieGraphics for the simple solution.

[EKIM]

Your Raptor looks great. Mine's plain Jane, intended for max contrast and visibility.

I'm guessing that paint sticks poorly to a Raptor 'bleach bottle' because it's polyethylene, and that the Rex is a different type of plastic. For my R50 I went with CallieGraphics for the simple solution.

This was my first canopy paint job and I forgot to think about visibility :roll: I wanted to practice on this before I try it on a fiberglass canopy. That one is going to be super bright! :glasses:

[rdlohr]

I'm a terrible painter because I don't have the patientce but here is my raptor caopy after it was all said and done

For being a "terrible painter", I'd say you did great! very nice!

I've been thinking about one side in florescent yellow, and the other in florescent green with the seperation line right down the hood. I still have orientation problems and I'm hoping this will help. What is the best way to make the line? I was thinking about masking tape.

[EKIM]

If you are going to mask it with tape use that blue masking tape for home painting it doesn't let the paint bleed through like some tapes. I happen to like liquid mask because it peels off more gently and won't really disturb the paint as much that its adhereing to. Either way you would spray the whole thing down with a primer or light color base coat to make your yellow and green super bright. You would then mask off one side and spray it. then mask the other side and sray it the other color. then you would mask both sides except for the seperation line and spray that on. Good Luck! I look forward to seeing some pics when you're done!

[rdlohr]

Thanks much. I'l have to get some of the blue masking tape.

[GimbalFan]

So -- on Rex's are we sanding first and then primer, or is just a thorough cleaning enough?

[EKIM]

So -- on Rex's are we sanding first and then primer, or is just a thorough cleaning enough?

I cleaned it with dish soap then wet sanded with 600-800 grit wet sand paper. then I cleaned it again with dish soap and alcohol (to get rid of the oils from my hands) Then I shot it with a white primer coat (2 light coats should do it) I guess you could give it a thorough cleaning and it would suffice with the already smooth rex canopy. I just did it so the paint had a better surface to bite into. And as you know with the raptor,it has a textured canopy. I had to use 4 different grits of sand paper to get that one smooth.

[EKIM]

Thanks much. I'l have to get some of the blue masking tape.

One thing with that tape is that you have to peel it off carefully. If you just yank it off it could take the paint with it. And then you have to do it all over again. ( Found out the hard way) It was more of a problem with the Raptor canopy than the trex canopy so you should be ok.

[rdlohr]

I like the idea of the "liquid mask ", but can you make a straight line with it?

[zooland1]

I've been thinking about one side in florescent yellow, and the other in florescent green with the seperation line right down the hood. I still have orientation problems and I'm hoping this will help.
I just had to giggle when I read this. It'd be real easy for me to paint this one. All I'd need is a red stripe over either the yellow or the green. Being color blind, this combination would not help "my" orientation at all. Good thing the red light is always on the top. Except in Jacksonville where the lights are sideways, that's very interesting :)

[rdlohr]

Hehe. I hope I have better luck with it. Nothing seems to help me much so far. In dim light I sometimes get disoriented.

[EKIM]

I like the idea of the "liquid mask ", but can you make a straight line with it?

The way that type of masking works is you cover the entire canopy in it and carefully use an exacto knife to cut away the part you want to paint. So if you look at my raptor canopy I did it in this order:

1 clean and sand it
2 clean it again and make sure its dry
3 two light coats of white primer
4 spray the entire canopy flat black ( a few coats)
5 Cover the entire black canopy in liquid mask 2-3 generous coats and wait for it to dry. (its like a thin layer of rubber when dry)
6 cut the outline for my soon to be blue graphics and peel away the liquid mask from where the blue is in the pics above so now the entire canopy is covered in liquid mask except for everywhere that is blue in the pics.
7 spray the blue area in the pic I posted with a metalic silver base coat
8 spray the candy blue over the silver to give it that extra sparkle.
9 carefully peel off all of the remaining masking and you're done!
10 (optional) a coat of clear coat
hope that explains it a little better.

[rdlohr]

Oh wow, I had no idea. Thanks for taking the time to explain that. The liquid mask would make a lot of sense for doing perfect patterns. I'll keep that in mind for future paint jobs when I get more ambitious in my design.

For my straight line, I would guess the masking tape may be sufficient.

[zooland1]

When I want straight line on a curved surface I use a thin plastic ruler.

Testors makes a stretchable mask. It's very thin plastic about two inches wide. It's made for doing camo painting on models. I use it all the time for staining jobs. It has a light film and sticks really well so no bleed through, but also peels easily when you want it to. I think the liquid mask would probably work better, but at least there's another viable option.

[rdlohr]

Interesting, thanks. I'll check that out too.

You guys got me into it, now I guess I'm really gonna have to actually do it!

I've got a new canopy on the way, so I guess I'll have to give it a go.

Thanks
RIck

[Skiddz]

I haven't shot my SE's "clothes" yet, but have been trying differnt things on the windshield cutout..

What's working great thus far is sanding with 220 to get the panel lines down, then 400 to smooth it out, followed by a washing with laquer thinner, then soap and water. I blow it dry with compressed air (helps to have a water trap on your air line) then apply 3 light coats of Adehsion Promoter. After that 2-3 coats of sandable primer then hit it with 600 grit paper to get it very smooth. Might need another coat of primer after to fill in any low spots and then the 600 grit again.

Once it's primed/sanded, I hit it with Duplicolor automotive paint in a rattle can for the base coat. I screwed up my 1st attmpt (giant thumb print) and tried to scratch it off after 24 hours and was hard pressed to get any paint off. Even sandpaper didn't do much. Twisting the part showed the paint to be flexible and adhered very well.

I ended up cleaning off all the old paint with laquer thinner and starting over. So far, so good. Very high gloss out of the Duplicolor on the base coat (silver) and I'll be shooting the colors this weekend after allowing the base coat to dry all week, then letting it dry another 5 days, then color sand with 800 grit and shoot clear over the whole mess.

Anyone know if the Trex stickers will work under the clear coat??

[zooland1]

The stickers should work fine with very light coats. Too heavy and the clearcoat could seep under the stickers and break down the glue. I've used it before on signs with stick on letters and it works good.

[GimbalFan]

Thanks for all the tips.

I'd asked about just washing because I'll only paint one part of it, and the finish on the part that'll remain unpainted is fine as it is -- don't want to sand that part and lose the gloss.

I'll try washing it several times, lastly with alcohol and see what happens. At $11 I could screw it up and it wouldn't ruin my day.

[zooland1]

If you wipe the area you want to paint with laquer thinner you'll effectively remove any residue that would hurt your adhesion. Obviously sanding is best, but getting rid of all the oils is critical.

[Finless]

Also see this link
http://together.net/~justcan/painttips.htm

Bob

[rdlohr]

Excellent!

[TomRex]

Try Scotch Brite, an old worn out piece. tape off anything you don't need paint on, scrub with dry scotch pad, wipe with alchohol, spray!