A+ Quality Finish

[Mailman]

Check out how nice the clear coat laid down on my decals.

 

[tim cubbedge]

Another reason not to use clear coat.

 

[base890]

[emoji26] face palm. I’ve been there, my thoughts exactly.

 

[neil_w]

Ouch, that is physically painful to look at.

Standard questions apply: what kind of paint, what kind of clear coat, how long did it dry before applying the clear?

 

[mbeels]

Wow. Well, it almost looks like snake skin, or some kind of gnarly reptile.

 

[Mailman]

It’s rusto auto primer , rusto 2x gloss white, and then good ole standard rusto clear. Let it cure for over a month before I got to the clear. Just wanted to protect the decals. Oh well, I kind of like it

 

[Andy Greene]

So my first thought is - I feel your pain , more than I can share.
Now that thats out of the way , IF it where me - I would fly it once to ensure the work in front of you is even worth it . (sad but true) and better to know NOW instead of redoing it all to find you hate the rocket / x3
Once you happy with the fact it flies well and you are invested in it, start sanding - and sanding and sanding - yes it sucks - but sand again.
It almost looks like you incompatible products , and thats very easy to do with rattle can. Its okay- you learned.
If thats not the case , it was a cure time issue- imho. between paint and clear. Clear is not bad , as suggested above- it just needs to be a LIKE product as your base coat and DONT RUSH letting the base color dry.
I personally have moved on to spraying with a gun , and wont look back.

Good luck, worst case - fly it like it is- it has a cool snake skin deal going. tell em you did it on purpose

 

[Andy Greene]

It’s rusto auto primer , rusto 2x gloss white, and then good ole standard rusto clear. Let it cure for over a month before I got to the clear. Just wanted to protect the decals. Oh well, I kind of like it

You replied while I wrote my novel -
That said - did you do anything to prep the surface of the painted rocket before you cleared it ?

 

[Mailman]

You replied while I wrote my novel -
That said - did you do anything to prep the surface of the painted rocket before you cleared it ?

Just a good wipe down with a microfiber.

Decals held strong! I’m going to keep going with it.

Let the clear cure, rub down with tack cloth and see what comes off, then apply another coat or two. It’ll be sweet when I’m done.

 

[neil_w]

By the way, I appreciate that you have enough of a sense of humor about this to have given this thread its title. I'd have been mighty tempted to just light the whole thing on fire and erase all evidence.

Can't imagine would could have caused such a thorough crinkling job after a month of curing. It does create a fairly convincing stucco effect though.

 

[mbeels]

That's wild. I literally just did the same combination of paints, Rustoleum grey primer, 2x Gloss White, and Rustoleum clear coat on the top, and it turned out fine. I only waited a week.

 

[PXR5]

That happened to me once, can't remember what I was painting for the life of me.

 

[Rob702Martinez]

Another reason not to use clear coat.

No problems here...not sure what clear y'all using.

 

[Andy Greene]

No problems here...not sure what clear y'all using.
View attachment 398382 View attachment 398383 View attachment 398384

Your not trying to shoot rattle can colors and clear either- hardly a fair comparison.
Pretty work tho

 

[jd2cylman]

You'll never see it at the high power pads... Fly that sucker!!

 

[Nytrunner]

My opinion: That scaly finish is fantastically appropriate for the Viper

 

[mbeels]

My opinion: That scaly finish is fantastically appropriate for the Viper

That was my first thought, it's positively reptilian. So auspicious.

 

[Nathan]

That's the worst case of wrinkled paint I've ever seen. Is it possible that there was some kind of residue on the surface before you sprayed the clear? Like did you clean it with something? Or had you ever applied wax or floor polish?

 

[rocketpunch]

I have had this happen to me once and it was the same combo of Rustoleum paints you were using. Never used Rusto again. I think the problem is that solvents in their clear coat are really hot, and if you lay down anything but real light coats you run this risk.

 

[Rocket501]

While not ideal when it comes to aerodynamics, I find the look to be pretty magnificent for a snake-themed rocket. That's one unique rocket and I like your perspective.

 

[OverTheTop]

Sad about the wrinkles, but for a snake-themed rocket I would probably live with it ..

 

[Charles_McG]

If you were -trying- for that effect, you’d never get it so even.
(I’ve tried

I blame poor first layer adhesion. When mine do this, I find I can scrape large areas off with a knife edge. I scrape until I’m into areas the paint does flake off.

 

[DeeRoc29]

I also appreciate your light hearted attitude here. I would not be so calm! It looks like it was going to be a beautiful rocket.

I've had that happen before with Rusto, too. Never figured out the cause. I moved to Duplicolor and have never looked back.

 

[rfjustin]

My opinion: That scaly finish is fantastically appropriate for the Viper

THIS

 

[tomsteve]

Just a good wipe down with a microfiber.

Decals held strong! I’m going to keep going with it.

Let the clear cure, rub down with tack cloth and see what comes off, then apply another coat or two. It’ll be sweet when I’m done.

i suggest wrapping some 800 grit around it and sand it down. then clear i did that on my acme spitfire and it gave it a wicked look.

 

[Duster45]

So sad, I feel for you.

 

[base890]

How’s the Viper turning out?

 

[tomsteve]

Let the clear cure, rub down with tack cloth and see what comes off, then apply another coat or two. It’ll be sweet when I’m done.

i had the finish on an acme spitfire do that. sanded the lizzard skin off with 600 grit then cleared again. made for a pretty wicked cool finish

 

[Mailman]

It’s been on hold. I got this far sanding by hand. Recently picked up a little ‘finger sanding pad’ for my multi-tool hopefully that’ll speed up the process.

 

[Speaknoevil]

Wow, I too am sorry for that result. For me that is a pour a bourbon and sip (the rest of the night) finish.