Florescent Paint

[jqavins]

I just tried this Rusto florescent, and I'm not real happy. Does anyone know a better one? I found this to have really poor coverage, requiring a heavy hand with the spraying. And it dried (fast) to a powdery texture. (And it smells really bad.)

 

[kuririn]

There are some tricks to spraying fluoro paint.
Undercoat should be a flat white, not glossy.
Otherwise the paint will tend to crack and run.
And white cuz the color will pop more.
Don't go for complete coverage in one or two coats.
Multiple light coats is the key, drying in between. After four or five light coats the coverage should fill in.
As for the smell, spray in a well ventilated area.
You may also want to try "marker paint". Might give you a fluoro finish with better coverage.
Laters.

 

[heada]

I've had horrible luck with marker paint. Most are being reformulated to be greener and less impactful on grass, etc. I used red/orange fluoro marking paint on a Nike Smoke and ended up sanding it where it didn't simply flake off and starting over.

 

[kuririn]

I used green and orange marker paint on my Edmonds Twinsee.
Came out OK.

 

[boatgeek]

I used fluoro orange marking paint on my L1 rocket. It didn’t really make a solid finish. There was a color base, but there was a fine orange dust over the top. It left orange dust on everything it touched for several years. Hence the name Cheeto Dust.

 

[kuririn]

How'd it taste?

 

[aviserated]

I used white duplicolor sandable primer as base coat and Tamiya fluorescent red for a beautiful finish.

 

[neil_w]

I bought a can of Testor's Fluorescent green, and after a quick test I decided that I didn't really need fluorescent after all.

That can is still staring at me, though; at some point I'm going to have to give it another try.

The fact that fluorescents allegedly lose most of their fluorescency when clear-coated is another discouragement.

 

[K'Tesh]

Marker paint is designed to "decay" over time so that it'll eventually disappear. Mind you, that's when it's out in the elements (exposed to the Sun's UV, and to rain). While likely not a problem for rockets, it *might* not be a good choice with rockets that would get stored where they are exposed to sunlight.

 

[jqavins]

The fact that fluorescents allegedly lose most of their fluorescency when clear-coated is another discouragement.

That would probably be true for UV protectant clear coats.

 

[aviserated]

Decanted Tamiya ts-96

 

[aviserated]

Correction...I used decanted Tamiya ts-36 florescent red. I decanted so I could control spray pattern better thru air brush. This is a lacquer and will not go over enamel primer such as Rust-oleum 2x primer. Works good with plasticoat sandable primer.

 

[BABAR]

I bought a can of Testor's Fluorescent green, and after a quick test I decided that I didn't really need fluorescent after all.

That can is still staring at me, though; at some point I'm going to have to give it another try.

The fact that fluorescents allegedly lose most of their fluorescency when clear-coated is another discouragement.

It goes well with Aqua...... just ask @rklapp

 

[Zman1961]

I used "Easy Care Premium Decor" flourescent yellow and red/orange (from Tru Value Hardware) for the fins on my Nike Smoke 4 inch fiberglass build, over Rusto gloss white (24 hours after the white was sprayed on), using several light coats as suggested by others. That came out very good, until I tried to put clear coat on the fins the next day. I got the typical alligator skin texture in some places on the red/orange, so I skipped it on the yellow. When dried, the alligator texture became much less pronounced, so I am just leaving it alone. It flies just fine.

 

[jqavins]

I started out doing the same sequence that I use with Rust 2X, a light coat every ten to fifteen minutes, all inside a one hour window. After three coats, when I would usually be done with the 2X but I have time for a fourth if needed, there were still major areas that were nearly white. So I went heavier than I'd like with coat four, and it was still not well covered and I did a fifth coat, heavy again. And yes, it did finally cover.

As for the smell and well ventilated areas: sure, I do all my painting outdoors, so it's not really important. But man, that stuff stinks!

 

[Buzzard]

I have had good luck with Valspar fluorescents. The used to have them at Michaels.

Chas

 

[Buzzard]

I used the Valspar on the Nike Smoke.

 

[icyclops]

I just tried this Rusto florescent, and I'm not real happy. Does anyone know a better one? I found this to have really poor coverage, requiring a heavy hand with the spraying. And it dried (fast) to a powdery texture. (And it smells really bad.)
View attachment 465514

I use the testors enamel model paint...it usually comes in small 1 oz bottles, but sometimes you can find it in 2 oz - 4 0z. I use it through an airbrush so it takes 2 -3 coats over white undercoat.

 

[aviserated]

Testers is a good idea and it will work with that x2 Rust-oleum primer. I thin my bottled Testors enamel 50/50 to use in my airbrush. Do you have airbrush?

 

[jqavins]

For all intents and purposes, no.

 

[tfish]

I used "Easy Care Premium Decor" flourescent yellow and red/orange (from Tru Value Hardware) for the fins on my Nike Smoke 4 inch fiberglass build, over Rusto gloss white (24 hours after the white was sprayed on), using several light coats as suggested by others. That came out very good, until I tried to put clear coat on the fins the next day. I got the typical alligator skin texture in some places on the red/orange, so I skipped it on the yellow. When dried, the alligator texture became much less pronounced, so I am just leavin
g it alone. It flies just fine.

I like the True value florescent colors too. I use the Spary Max 2K clear over it and am very happy with the results..




Tony

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Oh, this is one to watch. No question Rustoleum lost it's fluorescence with clear coat, and as well it was brittle - a little flexure of any part and it cracked like glass. But I like florescent colors - I'll be building the Odd'l Cylcone soon, I hope - and for those little ones you like to be able to see'um! So this is totally a "watch" post! (I do have some Createx florescent colors, but I want to practice on scrap first!)

 

[jqavins]

I'll be clear coating my Rusto florescent anyway. Other parts of the rocket are painted with a gloss paint in a deliberately ugly color scheme, and I want the gloss to match. Even without actual florescence, it should still be a bright, shocking lime green, which will be adequate in this application.

(The lower section, about half the rocket is this florescent. Then it picks up some fire engine red and forest green speckles. Then it's all forest green and red. The nose cone is majority black, with a little of the red/green speckle near the bottom. I was going for ugly. I nailed it.)

 

[aviserated]

"I was going for ugly. I nailed it." That was funny. Most people do...

 

[Blast it Tom!]

"I was going for ugly. I nailed it." That was funny. Most people do...

MY wife says I sure did...

 

[Zman1961]

I like the True value florescent colors too. I use the Spary Max 2K clear over it and am very happy with the results..


View attachment 465704

Tony

Beautiful job! Thanks for the tip on the clear coat. Is that from True Value also? I didn't see it at one I went to. In fact, these colors of flourescent spray paints were difficult to find from any brand or retailer in my area.

 

[Zman1961]

Here is what my Nike Smoke looks like.

 

[tfish]

Beautiful job! Thanks for the tip on the clear coat. Is that from True Value also? I didn't see it at one I went to. In fact, these colors of flourescent spray paints were difficult to find from any brand or retailer in my area.

The clear is from an automotive paint supply place. It's a tad pricey..but worth it as.idiot proof, easy to use, I have not had any wrinkles with it. Best to order the True value paints online and have 'sent to your store'.

Tony

 

[RobertH3]

So the Tamiya covers well - did you use the mini rattle can or mix and airbrush???

My biggest bit$h with it is the poor coverage, especially on large models. Small models will tend to fill in with a couple coats but large ones will have a finish that varies in depth even after a couple coats.
The powder part you can almost fix - thin, even coats and then 4 or 5 'ought' steel wool will smooth it out before clearcoating. However, you do have to get all the little pieces of steel wool before clear-coating.
Echoing the 'watch' - I love FL red but would really love to be able to get FL blue to work. The translucency of the FL blue out of a rattle can is so bad it's nearly impossible to get an even color.

I did the upper on my Mini-Magg FL red and it was a LOT of work (and paint) to even out.

FL Red = best even fill
FL Orange = OK fill
FL Yellow = good fill
FL Green = not so good fil
FL Blue = awful fill

Cheers/ Robert

 

[Hobie1dog]

I use to get good results with the Createx paints:

https://createxairbrushcolors.com/fluorescent/5406