Painting the Estes Little Joe II

[KILTED COWBOY]

Had an idea I wanted to run by y’all.
The upper body tube will be getting the Accur8 vinyl wrap, so the instructions state to paint gloss white before applying skin. Ok will just mask off the bottom and paint the top. Easy.
I was wondering if it would be feasible to spray paint the plastic OE wrap silver before adhering to the tube while it is flat?
Do y’all think the paint will crack as it is wrapped around the tube?
Seems like it would be simple to do. Then I would not have to mask off the top wrap to paint the bottom.
Opinions?

 

[Edmiller]

I used Alclad Chrome with a Alclad Aqua Clear coat. Looks like polished aluminum. Painted mine after the wrap was on.

 

[afadeev]

The upper body tube will be getting the Accur8 vinyl wrap, so the instructions state to paint gloss white before applying skin. Ok will just mask off the bottom and paint the top. Easy.

Good call on going with accur8 wrap - it comes out looking great!

I was wondering if it would be feasible to spray paint the plastic OE wrap silver before adhering to the tube while it is flat?
Do y’all think the paint will crack as it is wrapped around the tube?

Depending on the paint, and how thick of a layer you apply, but my guess is that yes, it is liable to crack.
Also, you will end up palming the wrap a LOT while you glue it, press it to the body tube, realize that it's a bit too loose and try to stretch it a little more to fit, press the skin more into the tube to work out the bubbles, etc, etc. All of those actions may either mar the painted surface, or stress the paint layer and cause it to crack.

I'm thinking you would be way better off painting after you've glued the wrap on, and are happy with the results.
Furthermore, if there are any seams or gaps that you don't like, you can cover them up with bondo or thick CA. Then paint over that fillers.

Seems like it would be simple to do. Then I would not have to mask off the top wrap to paint the bottom. Opinions?

What worked for me is gluing the wrap on, painting the entire airframe surface silver (wrapped and exposed), then applying the skin on top of the silver painted tube.

YMMV,
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