paint smudges

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Che

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I just finished painting a rocket and after the one hour dry to handle time I started cleaning up my mess and picked up a couple of latex gloves with the rocket and smudged up the rocket all over the airframe (orange) with the color from the nose cone (green).

Is my only option to re-paint the airframe? Or is there a way to clean up the smudges?


[I admit it. I was trying to be thrifty. I sprayed the nose cone, took off the gloves, turned them inside out, prepped the airframe, put on the gloves inside out, sprayed the airframe, and then took off the gloves (again turning them inside out). I guess I thought that since they didn't get my hands dirty while painting (15 minutes after I painted the nose cone); I didn't think twice before touching the airframe nearly two hours after I used the gloves.]

Anyhow, your advice is much appreciated
 
Repaint it. And in the future, set the rocket aside and don't touch it for 24 hours, regardless of what the label says. I'm serious -- wait until the same time the next day before you try to handle it.
 
To quote Captain Low 'n' Slow, "Paint is the DEVIL!"

Orange and green? Sounds like camouflage for a hippie music festival. Could work. :D
 
Paint is the Devil! Well, it is what I had on hand. I asked my wife, does orange and green go together? She asks, "for what?" I say, "for a rocket!" She says, "yeah yeah, sure, whatever." I ask, "really?" Then she says while working on her computer, "yeah, it'll look good." So, I have green and orange. It actually, looks pretty good.
 
Bright colors are great for locating rockets on the ground.

Do NOT paint your rocket a color that blends in with the launch site's ground cover or bare earth. A bright color on the parachute helps as well but I find alternating black with a bright color for contrast also works well.

My birds are fluorescent pink with black trim and are highly visible in the air and on the ground. Your orange and green should be fine for the desert launch areas you will most likely encounter. Well, assuming the green and orange are bright shades.
 
Try letting it cure a day or two, and then lightly sand the smudges off with some 600 grit wet-n-dry sandpaper moistened slightly with water... Sand in a circular motion (move the paper in little circles as you gently rotate the rocket with your other hand-- this minimizes sanding scratches and makes them "swirls"). GO LIGHTLY and let the paper do the work. The smudges should be on the surface (presuming you're saying that the green transferred onto the other color, or did you put fingerprints in the paint??) Either way, you should be able to get rid of the smudges. How much damage it does to the underlying paint depends on how good you are with the sandpaper (remember, GO LIGHT! Let the paper do the work!)

If you sand through the underlying color layer, you'll have to respray the area or the whole rocket. If you get rid of the smudges without sanding through the color layer, you can clearcoat the rocket and it should all end up with an even finish.

Good luck! OL JR :)
 
luke strawwalker said:
Try letting it cure a day or two, and then lightly sand the smudges off with some 600 grit wet-n-dry sandpaper moistened slightly with water... Sand in a circular motion (move the paper in little circles as you gently rotate the rocket with your other hand-- this minimizes sanding scratches and makes them "swirls"). GO LIGHTLY and let the paper do the work. The smudges should be on the surface (presuming you're saying that the green transferred onto the other color, or did you put fingerprints in the paint??) Either way, you should be able to get rid of the smudges. How much damage it does to the underlying paint depends on how good you are with the sandpaper (remember, GO LIGHT! Let the paper do the work!)

If you sand through the underlying color layer, you'll have to respray the area or the whole rocket. If you get rid of the smudges without sanding through the color layer, you can clearcoat the rocket and it should all end up with an even finish.

Good luck! OL JR :)
Click to expand...

I'll give it a go. At this point I have to wait at least 24 hours to mess with the paint anyhow.
 
Che said:
I'll give it a go. At this point I have to wait at least 24 hours to mess with the paint anyhow.
Click to expand...

You really want the paint to be pretty well cured when you do this... if it's the least bit gummy.... Basically when you can't smell the paint any more, it should be hard enough.

If it's gummy you may end up "smooshing" the two colors together and getting a really ugly mess on your hands...

Hope it works for you... worst that can happen is that you have to repaint...

Lesson learned-- don't rush and don't go cheap on gloves (course I don't bother with them-- I just scrub any overspray off my hands using Fast Orange with pumice-- takes it right off!

Later and good luck! OL JR :)
 

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