Color staining ply fins

[JonathanOtt]

Well, here's my first attempt at color staining plywood fins.

This is for my 4" LOC Goblin.

Using Anita's All Purpose Acrylic and DecoArt Staining/Antiquing Medium.

Looks pretty good, but I was hoping the grain would be a little more prominent. It's still damp. We'll see how it looks when its dry in a day or so. I just hope it doesn't warp the fin. It shouldn't, cause it's not soaked through.

Mix the acrylic and the staining medium 1:1, paint on with the grain, let sit for a minute, wipe off. These pics are three coats.

I'm planning on having the Goblin graphics laser engraved on each of the three yellow fins, then clear coat.

 

[BABAR]

I am impressed with the vibrancy of the yellow. It really pops out more than I expected a stain would. In this case if you were trying to accentuate the wood grain it may be working against you.

Should make a great background for your etching.

How will you manage to color or hide the fin fillets?

 

[JonathanOtt]

Okay, it actually dried pretty quick. It did raise the grain a touch, and when I hit it with a 320 grit sanding sponge, it tended to take the color off right were the bevel curves from the flat of the fin. The flat of the bevel stayed stained, the fin stayed stained, where it rounds, the color came off.

Anyway, I slopped on one more layer, let it sit for about 3 minutes. I also tried it on a scrap and slopped it on thick and let it set for about 10 minutes. Good color saturation, but around the edge of the stain blob, it dried and left a definite darker line.

Still working on what to do with fillets.

 

[GlueckAuf]

A carpenter I once knew used to carefully and quickly wave the broad flame of a propane torch over plywood panels used as wall coverings prior to staining and shellacking them to darken up the light grains a bit by singeing them. The trick was doing it evenly and sparingly, similar to how this guy does it. Might be a technique you'd experiment with to see if it achieves the desired look. Sanding would undo most of it, I'd think, so maybe the flaming would be the final step. In any case, the look will be certainly be unique. Best of luck!
Good skies,
GlueckAuf

 

[JonathanOtt]

GlueckAuf, that's pretty cool.

For the fillets, I'm thinking about getting some Testors paint that comes a close match to the Ultracote Cub Yellow I'm planning on covering the airframe with.

A few drops of the yellow enamel in the epoxy will tint it to a close match between the yellow fins and the Ultracote.

I'll do the fillets like Eric did in this post: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/loc-goblin-thread.145083/page-2#post-1773359.

 

[BABAR]

A carpenter I once knew used to carefully and quickly wave the broad flame of a propane torch over plywood panels used as wall coverings prior to staining and shellacking them to darken up the light grains a bit by singeing them. The trick was doing it evenly and sparingly, similar to how this guy does it. Might be a technique you'd experiment with to see if it achieves the desired look. Sanding would undo most of it, I'd think, so maybe the flaming would be the final step. In any case, the look will be certainly be unique. Best of luck!
Good skies,
GlueckAuf

Sounds cool. I am thinking maybe if accentuating the grain is the goal, maybe a regular wood stain (oak, cherry, maple) might be the trick.

Of course, you may want to change the name of the rocket.

Maybe your next bird will be “The Lumberjack!”

You could use the same stain on a balsa cone.

 

[Banzai88]

Ummmmm, enamel paint in an epoxy is going to disappoint you. They make pigments just for epoxies that actually cure with the epoxy, don't compromise strength (when used properly), and work really well.

 

[JonathanOtt]

Ummmmm, enamel paint in an epoxy is going to disappoint you. They make pigments just for epoxies that actually cure with the epoxy, don't compromise strength (when used properly), and work really well.

Good to know. From what I've read of other's builds, the exterior fin fillet is more cosmetic than structural.

 

[heada]

Aniline dye in alcohol. It'll dry in minutes, wont raise the grain and gives vibrant colors.