Water based paints for balsa gliders

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J Blatz

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I am working on a Flat Cat boost glider, and it's darned near done. I had flirted with the idea of using markers, but now I think I am leaning towards using a thinned down water based paint. I used some of the balsa scraps to test and there wasn't any evident warping.

What do you think? Ok to proceed?
 
I'm using a light misting of krylon on mine these days. Give it a coat of Minwax spar varnish (rub it on with a paper towel) and then spray with just enough paint to add color, not cover up the wood grain.

That gives you a light, colorful finish that looks pretty good. It also adds so little weight as to be negligible (trust me, I fly events where .1 g extra will cut your flight times by 20%).
 
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