MikeyDSlagle
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
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Finally getting the time and weather decent enough to finish up my level one build. I fly it next weekend, hopefully. Yes I am cutting it close. I live in Louisiana... 100% humidity and not raining. 90 degrees with a heat index of 118. And it must've rained everyday in August. I have had only a few days where I could actually work on the thing.
The clearcoat being used is Rustoleum Automotive Clearcoat and Rustoleum Acrylic Enamel Clear. Both Gloss, both rattlecans. I bought the Acrylic Enamel because I couldn't find the other one locally. I assumed maybe it changed. Doesn't matter. They are not going over one another.
Please no "Future floor wax" or "Pledge with Future" comments. I have a bottle, tried it on my 2.6" V2. That rocket is now down to primer and was the only one I have ever flown "naked" because the stuff is junk. Anything that can be stripped by using more of it... I don't need it. Anything that comes off while wet sanding, I don't need it. So I say again, don't mention the floor wax. I'm not attempting to fly my kitchen floor.
My last build, I polished it and then put on Stickershock vinyl. It turned out great. But this new build, I wanted to clearcoat it. It is mostly black and my experience with black is it shows scratches easily, hence the reason for clearcoat. I already have it painted and wet sanded to 2500. My payload section I applied the vinyl then shot it with three coats of clear. I wanted to see how it turns out before continuing onto the rest of the rocket. The can says wait a week before polishing. So... I can't wait a week, then polish to see how it looks. Then do the booster section. I simply don't have time before the launch. Sure I can fly it unfinished, but that is not my style. Other than the V2 mentioned above, thanks to the floor shine crap.
My nose cone is already polished. I am gonna fly it like that and see how the finish holds up. I can always un-polish it, clear coat, then re-polish. It doesn't have decals.
So the questions:
How much more...tedious or complicated is it to wet sand clearcoat OVER the vinyl? It seems to me it would complicate wet sanding a bit because the vinyl is, of course, slightly thicker than the tube, and that thickness would cause the vinyl to sand more than the surrounding areas. Maybe to the point the clear coat is gone at which point I would defeat the purpose of clearcoating over the vinyl;
Have I sanded too far? Should I have stopped at 600 or 1000 before clearcoat? I can go back up if I need to, just rather not. A friend who works at an auto body shop told me I can clearcoat after sanding to 2500, but he wouldn't recommend doing it after polishing, which is what I was thinking;
Am I just over-complicating things? Just go ahead and do the booster the same as the payload and just be careful when wet sanding so as not to get into the vinyl? This is what I am leaning toward. At least the thing will be consistent, even it I don't get that perfect finish.
The can says a week before polishing and before 1 hour but after 48 hours to recoat. At what point can I wet sand? Other times I've used clearcoat, the results were horrible. Wait a week to play it safe? I intend to do all my polishing and waxing on the 16th, the day before launch. So I would like to have it sanded beforehand.
I have seen some gorgeous rockets on here so maybe some of you experts can give some advice. All 2 cents is welcome of course. (as long as it doesn't involve floor polish).
Thanks folks.
Mikey D
The clearcoat being used is Rustoleum Automotive Clearcoat and Rustoleum Acrylic Enamel Clear. Both Gloss, both rattlecans. I bought the Acrylic Enamel because I couldn't find the other one locally. I assumed maybe it changed. Doesn't matter. They are not going over one another.
Please no "Future floor wax" or "Pledge with Future" comments. I have a bottle, tried it on my 2.6" V2. That rocket is now down to primer and was the only one I have ever flown "naked" because the stuff is junk. Anything that can be stripped by using more of it... I don't need it. Anything that comes off while wet sanding, I don't need it. So I say again, don't mention the floor wax. I'm not attempting to fly my kitchen floor.
My last build, I polished it and then put on Stickershock vinyl. It turned out great. But this new build, I wanted to clearcoat it. It is mostly black and my experience with black is it shows scratches easily, hence the reason for clearcoat. I already have it painted and wet sanded to 2500. My payload section I applied the vinyl then shot it with three coats of clear. I wanted to see how it turns out before continuing onto the rest of the rocket. The can says wait a week before polishing. So... I can't wait a week, then polish to see how it looks. Then do the booster section. I simply don't have time before the launch. Sure I can fly it unfinished, but that is not my style. Other than the V2 mentioned above, thanks to the floor shine crap.
My nose cone is already polished. I am gonna fly it like that and see how the finish holds up. I can always un-polish it, clear coat, then re-polish. It doesn't have decals.
So the questions:
How much more...tedious or complicated is it to wet sand clearcoat OVER the vinyl? It seems to me it would complicate wet sanding a bit because the vinyl is, of course, slightly thicker than the tube, and that thickness would cause the vinyl to sand more than the surrounding areas. Maybe to the point the clear coat is gone at which point I would defeat the purpose of clearcoating over the vinyl;
Have I sanded too far? Should I have stopped at 600 or 1000 before clearcoat? I can go back up if I need to, just rather not. A friend who works at an auto body shop told me I can clearcoat after sanding to 2500, but he wouldn't recommend doing it after polishing, which is what I was thinking;
Am I just over-complicating things? Just go ahead and do the booster the same as the payload and just be careful when wet sanding so as not to get into the vinyl? This is what I am leaning toward. At least the thing will be consistent, even it I don't get that perfect finish.
The can says a week before polishing and before 1 hour but after 48 hours to recoat. At what point can I wet sand? Other times I've used clearcoat, the results were horrible. Wait a week to play it safe? I intend to do all my polishing and waxing on the 16th, the day before launch. So I would like to have it sanded beforehand.
I have seen some gorgeous rockets on here so maybe some of you experts can give some advice. All 2 cents is welcome of course. (as long as it doesn't involve floor polish).
Thanks folks.
Mikey D