I was wondering what is better krylon or rustoleum. Where I live it is in the 40's and rainy. I am ready to paint my rocket and I want it to be a glossy white. I know to keep the spray cans in the house. I will be painting in my non heated garage. I have read good and bad things about the new krylon paint. I do not mind building up layers and taking my time. However I have stripped the paint once already due to runs and drips using tamiya. I do not want to strip it again and I do not like paying money for more paint. My wife is not too happy. I also want nice adhersion. I tried duplicolor and that was awful too. Due to the weather what kind of paint should I use for good adhersion and no runs drips or blistering. Thank you so much.
Tems in the 40's and raining are going to be hard to get decent results no matter what paint you use. Usually the instructions say 60-70 degrees minimum and lower humidity, and it's there for a reason-- they aren't just whistling Dixie...
The new Krylon is an alkyd enamel, and only a so-so one at that... it's ok, but nothing special. The main problem in getting a good application is the crappy spray nozzle they use on the can. It tends to "hose" the paint on and the droplets are too large and coarse and the thing puts out too much paint. You CAN paint with them, but you have to "learn how" to paint with their crappy directional flat-fan tips.
Walmart Colorplace makes a perfectly fine alkyd enamel that's about a buck a can, and has a MUCH MUCH better "cone spray" type nozzle on it (the kind Krylon USED to have) and it goes on really nicely and lays down smooth and dries to a beautiful gloss. It goes on lighter and so drips/runs are less of a problem, and I haven't had ANY problems with it doing bad things as it dries (blistering, etc,) unlike the Krylon which some folks have reported having problems with getting one layer to adhere to another, compatibility issues, (even over underlying Krylon coats) and other such problems.
Valspar and Rustoleum are good brands. Some are alkyd enamels, but both (IIRC) offer lacquer formulations as well under their brands (IIRC-- I know that Rusto does). Be sure of the formulation before you apply, and make sure you're topcoats and basecoats are compatible-- you can put enamel over lacquer, but NOT lacquer over enamel! The "hotter" lacquer solvent will dissolve the enamel and craze it or do other really nasty things.
Duplicolor is a VERY good brand of paint, mostly lacquers, but I do think they have some enamels as well. Lacquers behave a little differently (tend to go on thinner and run/drip easier, and the solvent is 'hotter' so they flash off faster, and are less forgiving of poor weather conditions when spraying them). Enamels are usually a little more forgiving, but they take longer to tack up and dry, and so the recoat times are more limited, and they usually aren't as 'hard' a paint when cured and damage more easily... If you're new to painting, I'd stick to alkyd enamels til you learn the ropes.
If you're getting runs and drips, you're applying your paint too thick in a single coat, or you're moving the can too slowly while you're spraying. You basically want to 'dust' the paint onto the model-- move the can about the speed you would if you were wiping something off the counter... maybe just a TOUCH slower... You can't hardly move the paint can TOO FAST past the model as you're painting but you DEFINITELY can move it TOO SLOW. Try to keep the can an even distance from the surface of the rocket, and as close to perpendicular to the surface as you can. Start spraying (press the button down) before you actually get the nozzle to the rocket, and spray a little bit past it before releasing the button-- and move in one steady, long, even stroke... stopping, hesitating, or speeding up or slowing down mid-stroke will give you an uneven coat and lead to 'heavy spots' which are prone to drips and runs. Dust a good even coat on the rocket, but it doesn't have to be 100% covered on the first coat. I usually turn the rocket 3-4 times as I put on a coat, overlapping each stroke slightly as I turn the rocket. This gives the most even coat, and by making a pass and then turning the rocket, that gives the passes a bit of time to 'flash off' (let the paint tack up a bit) before the next pass by the time the rocket is turned all the way around for another pass. Follow the can directions about time between recoats (depending on the formulation) and make sure that you can get back to do the second and if necessary third coat before the time interval expires (and if you can't, be sure to wait the minimum time (usually "after 24-48 hours") before attempting another coat-- again, they aren't just whistling dixie...)
There's definitely a bit of a learning curve to getting good results spray painting but it's well worth the effort. You can get pretty good results with even 'cheap' paint if you have good techniques, but buying expensive paint will not give you good results WITHOUT GOOD TECHNIQUES. Also, spraying conditions DO have a BIG impact on the results you get... and you're not going to get good results in 40 degree weather when it's raining no matter what you do... (unless you're in an environmentally controlled paint shop).
Good luck, and practice, practice, practice... OL JR