Canopy painting?

[Kevin22]

I was wondering what type of primer do most of you guys use. The weather is starting to get nice and its about that time to paint my spectra canopy. I am unfamiliar with the type of primer that is required with fiber canopies. If you can please post the exact name of the primer. thanks.

[claysmith]

What type of paint do you plan on using?

[Kevin22]

What type of paint do you plan on using?

I don't know what type of paint i should us. What would you recomend and what type of primer would you use with it. I bought a airbrush not too long ago so i am very new to this. However i have worked on plasitc raptor canopies and have mainly used krylon fusion as primers and used whatever paint, but without an airbrush. i would greatly appreciatte any helpful suggestions. i have looked on airzona heli and canopy fx but they are vague as to what primer and paint to use. thanks.

[claysmith]

I paint all my canopies with createx auto air. Canopy FX uses this paint too. It is water based so it doesn't smell as bad as the urethanes and washes off your hands with water. For your spectra canopy, all you need to do is sand it a little to get it smooth and use the createx base coat sealer, light or dark depending on what colors you intend to use, then put your color on it. It still has to be cleared with an automotive clear, I use PPG Omni because it is fairly cheap and works well on these canopies. You can buy the createx at http://www.dixieart.com and get the clear at your local auto paint store.

[Dale W]

I was going to put on the ho-hum kinda paint job; you know, the one with a black windshield, 3 other colors and maybe the decals that came with the Spectra G, but I really wanted something different and bright enough to show up under most conditions. I decided on 'Tucan Sam' from Fruit Loops (actually an earlier version) and since I had packed all my paint and air brush stuff away, I went with Monocote paint and Dupli-Color paint out of the can. After priming the canopy with automotive grey primer (again, spray can paint) and a good wet sand, I progressively taped, masked and clear-coated the canopy. The boom is actually matching blue monocote carefully cut to the correct length on the boom. The boom was not removed from the mechanics, however the tail rotor horizontal fin holder and tr pitch guides were removed. The fins are also covered in monocote, with all but the 'XL' openings cut out with a sharp blade in the model knife. Although I don't have a digital scale, the old analog bathroom scale is showing somewhere between 11 and 11.5 pounds as you see it. Between a scheduled trip out of town and the weather, I haven't had a chance to put it back in the air to see the visual and weight difference (if any). One of my scale buddies commented that this paint job gives a new meaning to 'nose in'! I tend to agree.

http://www.helifreak.com/album_mod/upload/23a6df12a9fc9ce280ff75d71e93a2db.jpg

Dale

[Joe Ubaldo]

VERY cool paint job Dale. I'm impressed! :thumbup:

[mevigavant]

Now thats different! :glasses: