Fair Project Painting Emergency

[Pippen]

Fair projects check in Tuesday evening and I have 8 kids finished or near finished and one with a painting emergency. Yesterday he sanded off a small drip and gave a second coat to the whole rocket. It looked great outside but after it sat to dry on the dowel rod he wound up with two big drips and some other paint in that area shifting downward around the area. :y: I'm sorry to say that I probably contributed by suggesting he hit it again after the first coat didn't cover over that area well. (Actually I suggested he just leave the first little drip given the short time frame...but a builder's gotta do what a builder's gotta do.)

He is using Rustoleum Bright Silver and while it gives a great silver finish, the paint is responding differently than what we're used to. It's almost as if it didn't grab to the sanded off area.

So here it is Saturday morning and I'm looking for suggestions on how to rescue it. It just checked and those drips are still really soft to the touch. I'm inclined to have him scrape off the big drips and then put it in a small room with a space heater (use a hairdryer?) to hurry the drying but I thought I'd best check with the experts first. He had one other problem late in the game some years back that required scraping a fin bare but that was on balsa and this is all body tube.

If it's not rescuable, I told him one option was to sand off as best as he could and use Monokote trim to design a light panel to cover it. His plan was for it to be all sleek silver looking so that would be way off the planbook, but it would get him through the fair and then he could do it right when he has time afterwards.

Thanks for any help with this. It wouldn't be fair season without at least one late-breaking rocket emergency. And of course this is the kid who starts band camp Monday so his time is limited. :cyclops:

 

[chanstevens]

Since you've still got a couple of days, it's not that big a deal. I'd let the drips cure out for a good 18-24 hours, then if they're thick gobs scrape off with a razor blade (note--flat blade, not actually in a razor). Shoot the affected area with a very thin coat of primer and let that dry overnight, then sand that down a little bit with something around 240-400 grit. That should give you a decent base to hit with 2-3 LIGHT/THIN coats of finish paint, allowing something like 30 minutes apiece between coats (check the can label). As I'm sure the kid knows by now, no time is saved by trying to combine coats. I'd take 3-4 thin coats over 1-2 heavy any time...

 

[JRThro]

Chan, that almost sounds like the voice of last-minute-painting experience!

Almost.

 

[chanstevens]

Chan, that almost sounds like the voice of last-minute-painting experience!

Almost.

Yeah, I'm usually painting at the hotel at NARAM the afternoon before turn in. Back in 2007 when the hotel was being renovated and there were entire hallways being gutted, I was in Heaven--climate controlled indoor paint rooms, with the hotel's consent.

Of course, I am not at all sure about the razor blade/scraping trick, as I rarely get gobs or runs.

 

[Pippen]

Yeah, I'm usually painting at the hotel at NARAM the afternoon before turn in. Back in 2007 when the hotel was being renovated and there were entire hallways being gutted, I was in Heaven--climate controlled indoor paint rooms, with the hotel's consent.

LOL.

Thanks for the help, Chan. He scraped away the drips and because it felt soft he let it dry for a few days because painting it all silver was still his preference. Even then it was still soft in areas so he had to decide whether to risk painting over that because it would leave him no time at all to repair if it crackled. He wound up using a bit of dryish wood filler and when that was dry gave it a quick spray of primer. Then he fashioned some black and silver decal work to cover the damages --which I think wound up looking like it was part of the design if you didn't know better.

Last I heard he was planning on removing the Monokote, letting it really dry out well, sanding and repainting. I'm not so sure now because (to his surprise) he took home the Best of Show ribbon today.

Another rocket emergency averted. Thanks again.