Painting and Prep Q's

My qualifications: I've never built a rocket. I ruined the paint job on my son's pinewood derby car :y:

So, I found this awesome rant on some rocket forum that went something like "...use createx wicked colors and future" and had all the brands and steps from beginning to end. I can't find it again, have searched extensively.

Main question: I have Hobbylite filler, createx wicked colors, and pledge floor shine. What else do I need in terms of primer (sandable and non) and sealer? What brands work with the stuff I have?

Also...

Do you need Filler AND Sealer AND Primer?

Do you need to put regular primer over the sandable primer?

Thanks for your time.

Extra Credit: How can I insure balsa wood fins do not warp?

Welcome to the forums! Lots of useful information to be found here.

No shame in your ruined misfortune, we all have to learn to paint at some point. There are tons of videos on YouTube talking about painting techniques.

The createx wicked colors is a water based paint that can be used in airbrushes. I've never used it but it is definitely on the higher priced premium paints. Maybe consider using a cheaper paint? You also need to own a airbrush and a compressor in order to use it.

Okay, I am assuming you are painting a rocket here, if the rocket has visible spirals which go deep into the body-tube, you can fill them using either Carpenters Wood Filler, epoxy clay, OR filler primer. They ALL need to be sandable. If they aren't sandable, (which I doubt that have a non-sandable primer on the market) don't get it. They may not say but look on the label. I myself have just started using filler primer and I can tell you it is a hard and laborious process, and most likely will not end up looking as pretty as spiral filling with CWF. If you take the filler primer route, (which I don't recommend!) you will need to sand a LOT and mask every part of the body tube except for the spirals using thick heavy coats of primer until the spirals are no longer visible. You can see how I did it on my Estes Leviathan Build here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?132421-Estes-Leviathan-Build

Sanding sealer isn't really necessary in my case and for someone starting out, but it is a good practice.

It goes like this:

The ENTIRE rocket is sanded down smooth with 400 grit sandpaper,

Bodytube is masked with painters tape except for spirals,

(If using Carpenters wood Filler or epoxy clay watch this

[video=youtube;bf2HCvp4h5s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf2HCvp4h5s[/video])

Repeated coats of filler primer until spirals are no longer visible

400 grit sandpaper in between coats of filler primer then remask with painters tape

Rocket is primed with regular primer using light even coats 6-10 inches from rocket. About 3-4 coats until no more bald spots are visible. Make sure to sand with 400 grit in between coats

(Sanding sealer can be applied before that step)

Paint


Balsa fins warping? I am not familiar with that.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your rocket build!

Daniel

Edit:

If you have hobbylite filler on hand you can use that to fill the spirals. Then you can give the rocket coats of filler primer to get rid of any other small visible damages on the rocket. Remember to sand it all flush to the bodytube until the entire rocket is smooth.

Dan -

Thank you so much for your lengthy reply! I think that you have really helped me. I read your leviathan build thread and I figured out how this forum works and I think maybe I approached this the wrong way... . I will post my build and wait long enough between each step to have everyone give me the pro-tips. I'll have a picture of all the stuff im gonna use, and like wait 48 hours for the old timers to be like "... wouldn't use that epoxy with that plastic..." or in my case paints... and sealers, fillers, primers....

yeah, I guess I am confused about the difference between sanding sealer and sanding primer and wood filler

order of operations

So I am gonna filler, sand primer, paint primer... and just ignore sanding sealer...

What kind of paint primer, sand primer brands do you recommend? Will they be compatible with the products mentioned (future, createx, hobbylite) ?

I really like the Duplicolor automotive primers. I usually avoid Rustoleum automotive primers since their primers when dry feel a bit rubbery and are hard to sand. Keep in mind these are rattlecans. The reason I don't trust airbrush primers because they are mostly waterbased. The problem with waterbased primers is that they are not as strong and adhesive as oilbased primers, and can easily peel or flake off the glassine layer on cardboard tubes. Latex primers actually CAN be used in airbrushes and are a excellent primer or primer sealer. The most notable brand being "Bull's Eye 1-2-3 Primer." I have used this brand before, but have never noticed it was a latex primer. I used it (coincidentally) on a pinewood derby car and it was really good at sealing in the wood grain and providing a smooth even surface for the paint.


And just a heads up on paints:

There is much disagreement of the 2 in 1 paint + primer's (like Rustoleum 2x) because it doesn't do what it's intending to do. The purpose of primer is to even out surfaces and give better adhesion for a layer of paint, ultimately resulting in a better finish. The problem is that it is not sandable, and that defeats the purpose of a primer. The only reason I like to use it is because of the quality of the nozzle and that it is slightly more adhesive to a wider range of surfaces than other paints, like plastic.

You can also use sanding sealer to seal in the wood grain on balsa or other wood fins. Filler primer can also do this as well, as the name suggests, just sand until smooth and sealed.

danielsadjadi said:

Yes, sanding sealer is more for metals and automotive, hence why it's usually sold in places like Autozone and O'Reily.

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Um, what?

Sanding sealer is used on wood, not metal.

Nathan said:

Um, what?

Sanding sealer is used on wood, not metal.

Click to expand...

Yes you're right, I made a error. Sorry about that.

I've posted a video that may be helpful for painting rockets:
jcrocket.com/simple-painting.shtml

Thanks John... Super jelly of the workshop

scuga, I would suggest you glaze over some of the low power and mid power build threads, maybe even hit the scratch build threads. Some of us tend to get pretty detailed with our build and paint techniques in them. Folks ask a lot of questions along the way too!. It might be easier to absorb the process that way. The fact of the matter is, there are so many products out there and so many different techniques, the novice can be overwhelmed. In the end you'll have to do the work and learn about the different ways of doing things and which products and techniques fit your style. Most of the build threads take you from A to Z in the process and that will help you understand the why's and what's of the hobby. Trust me, I'm not trying to be rude here !! Think of yourself as a cave man. We just handed you a nice bright shiny pocket knife. Soon enough you'll figure out how to open it and cut yourself. You might carve some meat with it. If you let us teach you , we'll have you starting fires, building structures , carving art, all with the same knife and you won't loose any digits in the process !---H

hornet driver said:

scuga, I would suggest you glaze over some of the low power and mid power build threads, maybe even hit the scratch build threads. Some of us tend to get pretty detailed with our build and paint techniques in them. Folks ask a lot of questions along the way too!. It might be easier to absorb the process that way. The fact of the matter is, there are so many products out there and so many different techniques, the novice can be overwhelmed. In the end you'll have to do the work and learn about the different ways of doing things and which products and techniques fit your style. Most of the build threads take you from A to Z in the process and that will help you understand the why's and what's of the hobby. Trust me, I'm not trying to be rude here !! Think of yourself as a cave man. We just handed you a nice bright shiny pocket knife. Soon enough you'll figure out how to open it and cut yourself. You might carve some meat with it. If you let us teach you , we'll have you starting fires, building structures , carving art, all with the same knife and you won't loose any digits in the process !---H

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1+ Hornet said it excellently