I've heard it's not good to paint in cold weather, but this winter I've painted 4 rockets outside in 45 deg temps. They turned out great (with one caveat, see below).
I realize rattle can painting is all about technique, and I basically have none that work well. I struggle greatly in the summer, with paint either 1) going on very rough, like sandpaper, or 2) with considerable orange peel, or 3) runs and sags. The sandpaper texture appears to be paint drying as it hits the surface and not blending in. The other 2 faults are probably from too much paint. But if I don't use too much paint, it goes on like sandpaper. Arghh....
So with some naked rockets laying around waiting for a decent day, I gave up and just painted anyway. I've gotten in the habit of placing the cans in a sous vide bath at 90 degF, as they seem to mix better. Then outside they go, spraying in mid 40's temps. I get a great glossy finish with just one coat. The paint seems to dry much slower, so any sandpaper like texture that may be initially apparent just melts into the surface after a while. I don't apply super thick, and just rotate the rocket for a couple of minutes before standing upright to dry. Which takes a while...... After a few hours, the fumes are usually still quite strong, so I move it to the garage overnight. Anyway, I've had no rough finish, no orange peel, no runs or sags. I've used Duplicolor Gloss Black, Gloss White, and Gloss Red, Rustoleum 2X Orange, and regular Rustoleum Yellow. They have all worked well.
The one caveat: On very humid days, like slight fog, I get some "bloom" on the gloss black. This is a foggy appearance that looks like when you fog a mirror. At least that's what we called when I used to work around an auto body shop. But no worry. After it dries for a few days, I just polish with Meguiar's 105, then with 205. Nice and shiny. Only takes a total of 5 minutes to polish out a 3" diameter nose cone, if that. I just use paper towels to polish with.
So now it looks like I fly naked in the summer, and do my finish work in the winter.
Hans.
I realize rattle can painting is all about technique, and I basically have none that work well. I struggle greatly in the summer, with paint either 1) going on very rough, like sandpaper, or 2) with considerable orange peel, or 3) runs and sags. The sandpaper texture appears to be paint drying as it hits the surface and not blending in. The other 2 faults are probably from too much paint. But if I don't use too much paint, it goes on like sandpaper. Arghh....
So with some naked rockets laying around waiting for a decent day, I gave up and just painted anyway. I've gotten in the habit of placing the cans in a sous vide bath at 90 degF, as they seem to mix better. Then outside they go, spraying in mid 40's temps. I get a great glossy finish with just one coat. The paint seems to dry much slower, so any sandpaper like texture that may be initially apparent just melts into the surface after a while. I don't apply super thick, and just rotate the rocket for a couple of minutes before standing upright to dry. Which takes a while...... After a few hours, the fumes are usually still quite strong, so I move it to the garage overnight. Anyway, I've had no rough finish, no orange peel, no runs or sags. I've used Duplicolor Gloss Black, Gloss White, and Gloss Red, Rustoleum 2X Orange, and regular Rustoleum Yellow. They have all worked well.
The one caveat: On very humid days, like slight fog, I get some "bloom" on the gloss black. This is a foggy appearance that looks like when you fog a mirror. At least that's what we called when I used to work around an auto body shop. But no worry. After it dries for a few days, I just polish with Meguiar's 105, then with 205. Nice and shiny. Only takes a total of 5 minutes to polish out a 3" diameter nose cone, if that. I just use paper towels to polish with.
So now it looks like I fly naked in the summer, and do my finish work in the winter.
Hans.