Painting Techniques

I wanted to start this thread because I've tried numerous times to get a decent "backyard" finish. I don't know if it's just me striving for perfection or if this just happens to everyone one.

Keep in mind this about painting with rattle cans. My preference in most cases is Duplicolor. Rustoleum is good too and works fantastic, but I like Duplicolor because you can adjust the fan spray of the paint by turning the nozzle.

The problem I seem to have whether I'm painting a 2" or 4" rockets I always seem to lay down a nice "wet" finish on the fins, but the body tube on the fin can is rough with over spray. Or it's just the opposite? I also have this problem when spraying say 4" diameter airframes. You lay down one side really nice and as you rotate the rocket you notice some overspray on the opposite side so you wet the finish just to deal with the same issues on the side you just sprayed perfect. It drives me nuts!

I try to spray when there is no wind blowing and that is usually early in the morning, which gives me the night before to prep the rocket. It's actually becoming annoying. I know some of you guys seen the rockets I've painted, if not check out my gallery. They're OK and I know I can do better, but it has been a real hassle to get an even paint job.

How do you paint a rocket of the size I'm describing without get as much or very little over spray on it, using spray cans and painting outdoors? I know it has to be my technique, just can't figure what I'm doing wrong. To some extent on some rockets I've gone as far as masking off all the fins and painting them one at a time after I completed a near flawless paint job on the body. It's a lot of work, but wonder if there's another way?

It seems my only escape is wet sanding the final top coat and spraying a clear coat. The clear when sprayed using lite coats seems to blends / flows nicely after about 5-7 lite coats the last 2-3 being a little more heavier than ones before.

I would like to see maybe a "How To" video on getting a nice paint job on this subject.

Also what kind of jigs do you guys use? I use different size wood dowels with card boards rings of different sizes to fit the inside of the body tube I'm painting. I prop the rocket up in a plastic milk crate and use a couple bricks to keep things stable.

Thanks in advance.

I feel you pain. I've been there.

Here's what helped me:

Buying a spray gun (I already had the air compressor)
Building a paint booth
Getting advice from Green Jello

...honestly. Switch from rattle cans. OMG.

All the best, James

I stand my rocket vertically, then paint while continously walking around it. After the first coat I will usually rotate the rocket maybe 1/3 turn and do it again. I never look close, but I have not had anything but the occasional run jump out at me.

Whatever technique you use, once you get to a "finish point" step back 20' and look at it. If that is OK, then prep it for flight. Also, consider tying the harness to the back of your car and dragging the finished product down the street. If you can live with those results, call it good...

How are you supporting the model being Painted?
Are you Painting in a Shaded area? (highly recommended).
Constant distance from the model & spray-can movement are important. you should try to stay 10-12" away from the surface and your strokes should start and end before the model ending off the model. When spraying outdoors I try to either mount the model on a lazy-Suzan type base or on a stake in a shaded area where I can circle the model completely without worry about running into anything. Either way use complete strokes alternating vertically and horizontally continuing to move around the model without really looking at the amount of paint being applied. Pay more attention to the speed and distance keeping both as constant as possible overlapping your passes by about 1/3rd.
Never try to get a solid color coat in one pass. it will usually take 2 or maybe three to obtain the solid even color your looking for. this is especially true if applying any Yellow which will take many more coat to build up a consistent solid color.

In the Photos below you'll see a bunch of different size model holding fixtures, Turntables and adaptors. ALL can be used outdoors on a solid base board or bare ground....Grass just doesn't make a stable base for turntables However a 1/2" hardwood dowel driven into the ground 6 to 8 inches will work well on grass areas and will hold 13mm models directly. slip a spent 18 or 24mm motor casing on the end and the same dowel will handle models up to BT-80 (2.6"),BT-101(3.9") or Clustered motor models to 5 or 6 inches. Don't fly Heavy HPR stuff so can't tell you about supporting such but the same Method will work you may need a larger base dowel.

H_Rocket said:

Whatever technique you use, once you get to a "finish point" step back 20' and look at it. If that is OK, then prep it for flight. Also, consider tying the harness to the back of your car and dragging the finished product down the street. If you can live with those results, call it good...

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Funny but true... sorry I just try to do a decent job. I know more than likely it will get banged up.

Thanks guys good advice

AfterBurners said:

Funny but true... sorry I just try to do a decent job. I know more than likely it will get banged up.

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Oh so do I, I have a boatload of cash tied up in various attempts to make for pretty rockets. My latest attempt is 2 part catalyzed automotive paints. I am doing those with a gun, applying the decals, and then clear coating after the fact.

Hey Dan, I used to have the same problem. I changed one thing in my technique. I just sped up the process. I let the paint flash over and then hit it with another coat. Depending on the temp outside and wind conditions , that could be as little as 1 minute--or less. Basically your spraying wet over wet over wet. The trick is to not get runs. Also one thing that helps is going one side to the other instead of rotating the rocket. That way your final side you spray --oversprays on wet paint on both sides --and should settle in. Just takes practice !!--Bill