Vinyl wrap... it's all technique to get smooth, no chemical compatibility, or formula changes..... just a thought.
Rustoleum incompatibility issues.
- Thread starter dakota196
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
There’s a straightforward fix to prevent clear coat from ruining a great paint job. Just don’t do it.
It costs money, takes time do it right (like 2+ weeks of curing time prior to clear coating), and has been the source of endless cursing, consternation, and refinishing.
Is it really worth it?
It costs money, takes time do it right (like 2+ weeks of curing time prior to clear coating), and has been the source of endless cursing, consternation, and refinishing.
Is it really worth it?
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2022
- Messages
- 1,751
- Reaction score
- 1,764
My anecdotal evidence is that humidity plays a factor. On a day with high humidity you're more likely to get crinkles.
On a dry, low-humidity day you can spray with wild abandon. Something to do with how fast the paint dries once it touches the surface of what you are painting.
On a dry, low-humidity day you can spray with wild abandon. Something to do with how fast the paint dries once it touches the surface of what you are painting.
Humidity creates a hazy finsh. The wrinkle effect is caused by a hot solvent softening the uncured finish below it. In some cases even well-cured finishes will wrinkle - it looks a lot like when you put paint and varnish remover over paint - it wrinkles it up so you can scrape it off.
If your rocket has decals that you would like to protect, yes.
If your rocket's finish has a combination of matte and gloss colors and you would like to make it uniform, yes. (though matte clearcoat, in my experience, is way less problematic than gloss)
The 2+ weeks of curing time prior to doing it requires no effort on your part other than patience.
I use only Duplicolor if I can find the colors that I want. But recently, I wanted a shade of yellow that I could only find in Rustoleum. Sprayed it on in 2 coats separated by about 10 minutes. Last coat was nice and glossy, but it was still wet to the touch 8 hours later! I mean really wet, as in liquid. After 2 days, if I handled it, it left deep fingerprints. So I'm not a big fan.
With Duplicolor, I've masked and applied different color coats over each other only one day apart.
Hans.
I have never experienced anything remotely like that. Yikes.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2020
- Messages
- 256
- Reaction score
- 1,012
It's a bummer when this happens best future practice with Rusto2x is dry/cure time. I place a project to the side after color for a minimum of 7 days. After that a smell test before applying decals. After that I don't consider a clear coat for a minimum of 14 days or longer. Best to have another parallel project going so the wait time isn't so intensified.
dakota196
Well-Known Member
My reply now is NO!
dakota196
Well-Known Member
Duplicolor is 3 times as much 2X, but less head ache. I guess the more special it is, I’ll go with Duplicolor. Better custom colors anyway!
If X is the amount of days since the last coat of paint, the number of days you should wait to dry is X + 1. 
I got tired of the wrinkled clear gloss so switched to floor wax. Just be sure not to apply with the NC on or it will stick.
I have an airbrush kit but haven't used it yet. With Rusto, I use a Campbell soup can, put a bolt in it, and spin the paint can on a drill. Better than shaking by hand. The biggest problem I have is with Rusto white primer. That stuff usually clogs. After I use up the cans I have, I'll switch to a different brand.
I got tired of the wrinkled clear gloss so switched to floor wax. Just be sure not to apply with the NC on or it will stick.
I have an airbrush kit but haven't used it yet. With Rusto, I use a Campbell soup can, put a bolt in it, and spin the paint can on a drill. Better than shaking by hand. The biggest problem I have is with Rusto white primer. That stuff usually clogs. After I use up the cans I have, I'll switch to a different brand.
icyclops
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2013
- Messages
- 547
- Reaction score
- 253
You need to give it a week for some colors…this is a common problem with spraying a clear coat on top of newer paint. Let it cure longer….curing is not the same as drying.
While you're waiting, head down to the corner tavern. They have free beer tomorrow.If X is the amount of days since the last coat of paint, the number of days you should wait to dry is X + 1.
Hans.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2013
- Messages
- 22,537
- Reaction score
- 14,953
The major cause I've found for rocket herpes, is that the top coat (the one that causes the wrinkles) was applied too heavily, and too soon for the undercoat's VOCs to completely flash off.
To quicken the evaporation of the VOCs of your paints, you can build an "oven" for it. Some people use a cardboard box with aluminum foil lining it, others will use a foil lined foam box. An incandescent light or a hair drier (on low) then is used to heat the box with the rocket inside. A car in summer can be used as an oven (presuming the other components can take the heat).
As to deal with Rocket Herpes? Check out my tutorial...
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/d-d-rocket-herpes-heres-what-to-do-when-it-happens.168386/
To quicken the evaporation of the VOCs of your paints, you can build an "oven" for it. Some people use a cardboard box with aluminum foil lining it, others will use a foil lined foam box. An incandescent light or a hair drier (on low) then is used to heat the box with the rocket inside. A car in summer can be used as an oven (presuming the other components can take the heat).
As to deal with Rocket Herpes? Check out my tutorial...
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/d-d-rocket-herpes-heres-what-to-do-when-it-happens.168386/
Last edited:
Nothing cures a rocket better than launching it into the sky. Be sure the rocket understands that it deserves a clear coat only after it has been successfully recovered.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2019
- Messages
- 6,162
- Reaction score
- 4,353
I've had good luck with Createx waterborne acrylics. When it gets humid outside, I add their 4020 Automotive Reducer (it has acetone in it) to get a bit faster dry time with no haze.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2019
- Messages
- 1,357
- Reaction score
- 1,023
I use 2X almost exclusively (except on BIG birds, then I use my HVLP and Duplicolor). If you read the instructions on a 2X paint can, it says to apply the clear coat within an hour of the color coat. In other words, you apply the clear coat as you would another (light) layer of color. No need to wait N days for the top coat to dry.
Na, just don't use any paint that bad ; don't invest in their bad paint by buying it
You can apply anything as long as you stay within the 1 hour window. I frequently do primer and topcoat in one session, within the hour.
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2022
- Messages
- 1,751
- Reaction score
- 1,764
I'm planning a future rocket that won't be painted at all. It will be wrapped entirely in bumper stickers and other types of stickers. I'm thinking of calling it "Nascar".
Kframe
Well-Known Member
That is surprising, which means I also need to read the cans better. (Where is my magnifying glass?)
I’ll check this out and give it a try, thanks!
Kframe
Well-Known Member
The one caveat here is that a lot of us use clear coat as a way to seal and protect our decals, which obviously aren’t being applied within an hour of color.
My rule of thumb is to wait a week after color to apply decals and then to wait at LEAST another week to apply clear.
I use Rusto almost all the time. Only issue is 2x white gloss tends to run. Krylon comes out watery and doesn't give good coverage. I have used a whole can where with the 2x I use half a can. I don't clear coat. I had a rocket yellow over a couple of years. If I want the rocket to shine I use ceramic car wax. Maybe the reason I don't have paint problems has to do with humidity. It was 113*F with 17% humidity. Even in winter it doesn't get much over 40%. I also do all the coats in an hour. One coat every 15 to 20 minutes apart. Prime one day paint the next.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2020
- Messages
- 256
- Reaction score
- 1,012
My Rusto 2x builds turn out very good imo.
dakota196
Well-Known Member
I guess I need to read them also. Live and learn is to learn and live!
gldknght
Well-Known Member
I've always had horrible results using Rusto 2x. It seems to me that combining primer and paint in one can is problematic at best. I always just do the old school application of a coat or three of regular primer, plenty of cure time, sanding and then regular paint coats. With Rusto paints I give each coat 15 minutes of flash time. I also put the paint cans is a small bucket of warm water prior to painting. The warmth helps the paint atomize better. The first couple of coats are always dry dust coats. Then the final coat is wet, but not heavy, so I don't get sags, drips or runs.
I use Rustoleum 2X and commercial Rustoleum spray cans at work. I hit the parts with two coats of primer on the prepped surface about 15-20 minutes apart. Within an hour of the last coat of primer I start laying light to medium coats of paint. Usually 3 coats, 30-40 minutes apart. The parts are left to dry for about 3 days before handling or applying decals. If any more paint or clear is needed, it wont be sprayed on for 10 days or so.
Works well for rockets, too!
Someone already mentioned the "sniff test"... if it smells like paint it isn't dry enough.
Works well for rockets, too!
Someone already mentioned the "sniff test"... if it smells like paint it isn't dry enough.
This may work fine for you, and if it does - great. Some things work better for some folks than for others.
However, this it is worth noting that this is absolutely not in accordance with the instructions for the paint, which is to do *all* coats within one hour, and then wait. It sounds like you're doing several hours of painting before stopping to let it dry.
The clock starts running when the first drop of paint hits the rocket, and then after an hour (at most) you're done. In general you only need 5-10 minutes between coats, so you should be able to do, say, 5 coats within one session pretty comfortably, if so inclined. I don't think I've ever done more than 4. The more coats I do in a session, the longer I let it dry before painting again.
Again, some folks seem to have better luck with this sort of thing, and can stretch the rules without a problem, but I would definitely not recommend this sort of timing for someone starting out.
Similar threads
