I hate paint

[o1d_dude]

That is all.

 

[hornet driver]

Show us, how bad can it be ??

 

[jd2cylman]

Allrighty then. So there! We have been warned.

I hate green beans.

Adrian

 

[o1d_dude]

It was bad. Not impossible but bad.

It's about 50-55 degrees outside and I was hoping to lay down a primer coat. I warmed the can up in warm water...maybe 90-100 degrees...and started spaying in my usual fashion. Not to brag but I'm normally pretty good with the rattlecan.

Needless to say, within seconds I had runs everywhere. Not that it's a big deal at the primer stage but this NEVER happens to me.

The paint in question is Killz Oderless white primer which I have used many many times without issue. Grrr.

 

[MasonH]

I hate paint as well.

Fillets and sanding I can deal with, though.

 

[hornet driver]

It was bad. Not impossible but bad.

It's about 50-55 degrees outside and I was hoping to lay down a primer coat. I warmed the can up in warm water...maybe 90-100 degrees...and started spaying in my usual fashion. Not to brag but I'm normally pretty good with the rattlecan.

Needless to say, within seconds I had runs everywhere. Not that it's a big deal at the primer stage but this NEVER happens to me.

The paint in question is Killz Oderless white primer which I have used many many times without issue. Grrr.

Your comment reminds me of a guy back in the mid 70's--He painted a 68 mustang with rattle can--honestly did'nt look bad all things considered---From that point on his nickname was "rattlecan". He was an ugly puss and had little luck with the ladies. Everytime one of us would see him talking to a girl we would let her know that he was "hell with a rattlecan"---He ended up marrying the nicest and best looking girl I've ever known. So,hang in there rattlecan II---Back more to the point, warming the paint is a great idea--sounds like the surface temp might have been a bit cool. This would cause the result you experienced. I spray a lot in the cool months but have the rocket in the sun and out of the wind---at least it works for me----H

 

[o1d_dude]

Here are few pics uploaded from my phone.

 

[o1d_dude]

Madcow Squat 4" diameter body tube with 54mm motor tube if anyone is wondering.

It's only the first coat of primer and as such most of it will be sanded off anyway. I like to use one of my doodle bug pad sanders for speed but the runs and drips take a while to cure.

 

[bradycros]

Madcow Squat 4" diameter body tube with 54mm motor tube if anyone is wondering.

It's only the first coat of primer and as such most of it will be sanded off anyway. I like to use one of my doodle bug pad sanders for speed but the runs and drips take a while to cure.

Doodle bug?

 

[hornet driver]

I guess in the end it's just an aggravation---gotta sand it off anyhow. I'll stick to my guns with the cool surface theory. In the real world they would call it pilot error---we are not in the real world !!---funny thing is , I try to run my primer/filler coats. I load 'em up and then let them cure for a few days

 

[o1d_dude]

I was kinda hoping to launch that puppy this weekend at the upcoming LUNAR Snow Ranch launch.

You may be right about the cold weather but the airframe and the paint came from indoors where it's always a toasty 70 degrees.

BTW, a doodle bug sander is an electric pad sander. I have a round one, a square one, and one that is best described as an ironing sander. Ryobi, Milwaukee, and Porter Cable. Why I like them is that I can attach them to the shop vac for dust free sanding. I use a "Fine" dust collection bag and a HEPA rated filter in my Ridgid vac.

 

[Dork_Vader]

I had issues painting when it was 37 degrees. I found that heating the rockets body with a blow dryer helped A LOT. Basically what I did was just hang the rocket and put the blow dryer in the top of the tube. It fit nicely and baked the paint on fairly good. I set it on low heat high fan when I sprayed it then I turned it to high heat. You need to be very careful you don't want to accidently start a fire.

 

[luke strawwalker]

I had issues painting when it was 37 degrees. I found that heating the rockets body with a blow dryer helped A LOT. Basically what I did was just hang the rocket and put the blow dryer in the top of the tube. It fit nicely and baked the paint on fairly good. I set it on low heat high fan when I sprayed it then I turned it to high heat. You need to be very careful you don't want to accidently start a fire.

Yep... not good for your hair dryer, that's for sure... the fan will ingest paint particles and blow them through the heating coils...

If it were me, I'd attach the blow dryer to a hose of some sort (old vacuum cleaner hose, or something similar, or some hose from the hardware store) and then put the blow dryer some distance away, just to keep it away from the paint fumes and droplets...

You're quite right about being "careful" because there's plenty of ignition sources (sparking commutators, hot heating elements) and forced air from the blower fan could possibly cause a fire or explosion, especially in a confined space!

I once used the fan from a vehicle (cooling fan that blew air onto the fuel injectors of a truck engine to keep them cool enough to operate properly) to vent all the remaining fumes from a propane tank I was turning into an air tank... it had a small foil-lined paper air hose that went to the air intake filter box of the truck, so it drew clean air to blow through a manifold and small outlets directly onto the fuel injectors. I taped the suction hose over the valve port of the tank, ran a vent hose outside, and turned the fan on with a car battery overnight. A second valve port was unscrewed to allow air into the tank, so that it would purge all the remaining vapors.

Can't be too careful about this sort of thing...

A welder died down the street from where my brother used to work; he was welding on a tanker truck that had some residual fumes in it that ignited, and blew his entire shop to kingdom come...

Later! OL JR

PS... a hair blow dryer is a handy tool for starting recalcitrant tractors, vehicles, or equipment on cold days-- I used to stop at the shop before I ran my bus route of a morning and turn on a blow dryer propped up under the hood of the tractor... it would blow under the battery box, down the length of the cylinder head and intake manifold, across the diesel injectors and lines, and around the upper radiator tank and hose before venting down and out and around the engine block and radiator and injector pump. This would warm the battery up (more cranking amps, since cold batteries don't put out as much power), warm the cylinder head and intake manifold (so the engine would be drawing in say 50-60 degree air instead of 20-30 degree air when starting) and warm the diesel in the lines and injectors as well as the parts themselves (warm fuel vaporizes and ignites easier than cold fuel) and warm the coolant in the upper radiator tank and hoses as well... and the warm air venting down under the hood around the engine helps warm the block as well...

When I'd actually crank the engine, I'd remove the air filter precleaner and stick the blow dryer, still running, in the end of the air intake pipe, blowing into the air filter-- that way the engine was drawing in HOT AIR while it was cranking, helping the starting process as well...

 

[Dork_Vader]

That is a good suggestion adding a hose could help a lot.

You might also be able to get away with just heating the tube or surface you plan to paint.

Another option would be heat lamps.

But again I can not stress this enough do this with caution! Do not leave the room until all surfaces/heat sources are cold.

I would also like to add if you attempt anything like this do it at your own risk. It is VERY easy to start a fire.

 

[luke strawwalker]

Heat lamps...

I'm kind of on the fence about those...

We used to use them in the pump house to keep the water well from freezing up in our rather infrequent forays into the 20's around here years ago... even tried it on the tractor one time, came back an hour later and found the battery case partially melted! (thankfully not all the way through, just some outer fins and bracing areas had melted and sagged and warped the outer casing).

The problem with heat lamps is they ONLY heat the surface area that absorbs the infrared radiation... so the remaining air in/around the thing the heat lamp is shining on remains completely cold... it also creates some pretty bad hot spots as the IR radiation isn't absorbed evenly... even slight differences in angle and proximity to the lamp makes a huge difference (IE round body tube will heat up MUCH more in the "center" facing the lamp, and very very little at "right angles" of the tube from the lamp). The air remains ice cold, as the IR wave simply pass straight through it. For awhile, we had an IR heater in my grandmother's bathroom after her old propane heater gave out, one of those types where the gas burns directly on the surface of the bricks (through tiny pores in the brick) and heats the brick red hot so it gives off IR radiation... problem is, only the stuff facing the heater would get warm, on that side... meanwhile the room remained freezing cold because the only thing heating the air in the room was air in contact with surfaces warmed by the IR radiation... and that's not much... we replaced that heater within a year or so with a regular propane heater that would heat the air in the room-- which then heats the items in the room (like the toilet-- nothing worse than sitting down on a stool that's like 80 degrees on one side and like 40 degrees on the other!) The IR is so weird in how it transports heat... you'd grab the shower door handle and it'd be 80 degrees, but the air in the room was maybe 40-50... the lavatory cabinet would be quite warm to the touch, but the air in the room would be freezing... heat surfaces, not the air... pretty useless.

IMHO, I think the "warm air" solution is the best... if one had a box-- maybe an appliance box, or better yet get some of that pink or blue foam sheet, or the foam sheets with aluminum cladding on them, for insulating house walls before bricking over it or whatever... get some of those and build a "hot box" that could be kept warm with a blow dryer connected with a hose (I wouldn't connect it directly due to localized heating in close proximity to the blow-dryer elements and motor) big enough that the rocket and paint could be placed inside it, but still small enough and well insulated enough that the blow dryer would be sufficient to heat it (with say a short dryer hose or something connecting the two, or a small PVC pipe or something) then the rocket could remain in there (and the paint cans) and be kept warm until time to paint, and immediately be placed back inside this warm box as soon as painting was completed (between coats) and the paint cans as well to keep their temperature up.

That would seem to be the best solution to me, if I had to paint in a cold climate...
Later! OL JR

 

[o1d_dude]

60 grit works well.

Based on recommendations from fellow rocketeers, I finally got around to trying the new purple 3M Pro sandpaper. My recommendation is that you buy some of this stuff as soon as you can. Best. Sandpaper. Ever.

 

[o1d_dude]

As does the Rusto 2X White primer.

No issues today painting at the same time of day in the same location using the same method.

 

[MasonH]

I absolutely hate painting rockets, but I do love a good finish so I put myself through it.

MY latest creation/squat:

 

[o1d_dude]

You did a double plus extra sweet job on that one, Mason.

Launched it yet? I'm thinking about using an H178DM for the inaugural blast with mine.

 

[MasonH]

Thanks! And sorry, no launch yet. I am keeping with the shark theme though, and going for an H120 Redline motor straight (hopefully) to 2000' on the dot.

 

[hornet driver]

60 grit works well.

Based on recommendations from fellow rocketeers, I finally got around to trying the new purple 3M Pro sandpaper. My recommendation is that you buy some of this stuff as soon as you can. Best. Sandpaper. Ever.

That's good stuff !! I use it for the first rough sanding on all my builds,does'nt load up and lasts forever. Used it for sanding down the fg on the 20 mill, I finally wore out a little spot--still usable though.

 

[Zonie]

broccoli.

I hate it.

 

[cwbullet]

I hate paint almost as much as Brussels sprouts. I think it squeaks out below sanding. Sanding is a close second.

 

[o1d_dude]

Sanding can be dramatically improved by using sanding bars, radius tools, good sandpaper, power sanders, sanding sticks, and learning to like sanding.

I also do a bit of wet sanding now that I've learned how do it with cardboard tubes without turning them into mush.

 

[thobin]

I hate %$@#* paint too! Some days the bear just gets you.
(fill in your own profanity here.)


TA

 

[jd2cylman]

My PML Tethys suffered a zipper (well Quantum tube just breaks rather crazy, but you get the idea).
So I spliced on a new tube and primered that bugger. Put on the first layer of finish coat and the paint crazed like you would not believe. So, sand down to primer, start over. Same thing. I've used the combinations before, so it was not incompatibility issues. Start over. Same thing AGAIN! So I fly a textured Tethys now. I know when to listen to karma.

Adrian

 

[Davidtmp]

I'm with you......I painted my Leviathan with colorshift paint, and after 2 coats looked good. On the third, the flakes or something seemed to run away and the finish looked dull. sanded down and reshot the black, then colorshifted. Still looks like crap. Probably should have left well enough alone. Oh well, I'm done with it, may shoot some clear and be done with it. Let it fly.....shame too, probably the best looking fillets I've ever had. At least the nose section looks good....the fin section, not so much.

 

[o1d_dude]

Third coat of primer applied and sanded down. The new 3M sandpaper rules. If it clogs just slap it against something/anything and the boogers just fly off.

Sorry about the crappy iPhone images.

 

[AfterBurners]

60 grit works well.

Based on recommendations from fellow rocketeers, I finally got around to trying the new purple 3M Pro sandpaper. My recommendation is that you buy some of this stuff as soon as you can. Best. Sandpaper. Ever.

Does Home Depot sell it and what grits does it come in?

 

[o1d_dude]

I bought the purple 3M paper at Home Depot. In my store it is in the spraypaint aisle but YMMV.

I bought 60, 80, 100, 120, 180, and 220 grit. Not sure if it goes any finer because it is NOT Wet-or-Dry paper.

Excellent stuff!