Valspar paint

[luke strawwalker]

I will admit, the paint is a bit on the thick side. The original coat had come out well, and then when I touched up a spot on the back of the fin I oversprayed the body tube. I noticed the overspray the next day and ended up doing a high grit wet sand until is was REALLY smooth, and then resprayed the red. I wonder if it was so smooth it didn't bond well..... Or just the added thickness didn't let it cure. By the following day I noticed it was still getting fingerprints when I did a "test touch" on the edge of a fin. I left it out in direct sunlight for a few hours - this has always worked great with Krylon to "bake it out" a bit. It didn't help, it was still gooey after I brought it in and it sat overnight in the garage. Meanwhile, the blue rocket was doing ok and the paint hardened pretty well - not as well as Krylon, though.

As far as brands go, it was Valspar paint and Valspar clear, so compatibility shouldn't have been a problem. The only difference in technique between the blue and red rockets (besides the color) was the red rocket was wet sanded and recoated. They both got the Future/Simple Green treatment after a week. Both color cans were WELL shaken and left in the sun for a bit to heat up. It was a very hot humid day in Florida when they were painted.

I might go back and give lacquer another chance. Maybe. I know the one time I used lacquer in the past it was very brittle, but it might have been cheap paint. I'll think about trying some Dupli-Color lacquer, they sell it at the local auto parts store.

Painting sucks..... :-(

Yeah, I think you just found your problem... that fine wet sanding and then recoat of a "not fully cured" undercoat... that'd be my best call anyway...

Some paints do dry "harder" than others... and sometimes it's just the conditions it's sprayed under and cures under... one of those things...

The problem with lacquer, other than the brittleness issues, is that usually orange peel/dry spray is a lot bigger concern... the hotter solvents are SO hot that part of the solvent evaporates from the smaller droplets before they actually hit the wet painted surface and have a chance to "flow out" onto the surface with the surrounding droplets and layer of wet paint from previous droplets that have hit the surface and spread out ahead of them... it requires a little different technique to working with lacquer than enamels...

The problem with enamels nowdays is that basically there are SO many different formulations, and so many differences in the formulations and how they behave, that it's virtually impossible to say how paint "X" is going to react going over undercoat "Y" or how well it will work with clearcoat "Z"... because basically even if someone comes back and says "oh yeah, you can shoot "X" over "Y" and then give it 3 days and clearcoat with "Z" and it'll be gorgeous..." not ten minutes later someone will come back and say "don't do it! I sprayed X over Y and then cleared with Z and the whole thing alligatored and cracked or turned milky or fisheyed or whatever..." The paints are SO different nowdays that just the difference in CONDITIONS can make all the difference... maybe the first guy was shooting that paint in SE TX at 100 degrees at just above sea level and 60% humidity, and the second guy was shooting the same stuff at 78 degrees at 5,000 feet in Denver at 72% humidity ahead of a cool front... who's to say how that affects the final results??? Maybe the first guy shoots his coats thin and the second shoots thick coats, or whatever... technique plays a HUGE part in painting after all...

That said, whatever you use, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! Painting is a skill like any other, and as such requires PRACTICE to perfect! You'll get better with time... look at each build as a learning experience... "what can I do different/better next time??" "What did I learn from this experience??" Helps make the foul ups or problems more productive anyway, even if they're not enjoyable...

The other thing is, frankly, finding a paint you enjoy working with and can get consistent results out of, with your techniques and in your prevailing local conditions... Some guys SWEAR by Krylon-- nothing wrong with that; I figure they don't make COMPLETE crap or they'd be out of business... so the stuff at least works well for painting lawn furniture or whatever... for rockets, some swear by it... and some SWEAR AT IT!!! There's enough "bad experiences" posted here and elsewhere, and I've had enough "near misses" with it that I'm not particularly fond of the stuff myself... but hey, if it works for YOU, go for it! Duplicolor is a good brand as well. I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I've read a lot of good stuff about it, and I know that paints made for cars are usually pretty darn good... they just about HAVE to be or else folks would hit the ceiling! Read lots of good stuff about Rusto-- some bad but mostly good... same thing with Valspar... but if it doesn't work well for YOU, well, try something else til you find something that DOES work well for your conditions and techniques... Personally I wish they made EVERY color in "Wal Mart Colorplace" 99 cent a can stuff... that's my #1 paint of choice... it just works so darn good! Unfortunately it comes in about six basic colors... as it so happens, I'm in a scaler/semiscaler kick right now and most of what I'm painting is flat white or flat black, and it just does a gorgeous job on it... when I need other colors not available in WM Colorplace, I usually do either 1) Valspar, 2) Rusto, or if I simply have NO other choice for that particular color, Krylon... I don't do Krylon if I can POSSIBLY help it... Krylon's "Bauhaus Gold" is virtually identical to the color of slightly aged shuttle tank foam, and so I DO have to use that, and I've had pretty good luck with it... no real complaints other than their stupid nozzles... (which the new Valspar twist lock nozzles are ALMOST as bad!)

Anyway, that's the best advice I can give you on painting... experiment a little, see what works for you, and go with it...

Good luck! OL JR