Rustoleum Aircraft Paint remover

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Walldiver7

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Has anyone been brave enough to use this on fiberglass? The directions state NOT to use it on fiberglass, but... I was wondering if you were reasonably quick to flush it from G10/12 airframe fiberglass if it would harm it... ??
 
I think I would be more inclined to get a stripper that can be used on fiberglass.
 
My experience with the Rusto Aircraft Paint Remover is it penetrates the paint very quickly, might be hard to get it off the FG before its damaged.
 
If that brand tells you NOT FOR USE ON FIBERGLASS...then don't test fate and be a dumbass by using it.
What ever the labels tell you....believe it!

Any good normal paint stripper will work fine for 6-9 bucks a quart.

Use good ole "Strip-ezze" ...."Kleanstrip" Homer Formbee.... all work great. I have stripped many a bird with whatever one I had on hand. Matter of fact just finished cleaning off the burned paint/mach rash from my 3 in. carbon project a few weeks ago. I've stripped PML phenolic also.

How to:

Use a metal paint roller tray. Good for up to 6 in rocket. Get a throw-away wood handled chip brush [.79-1.50 2in to 3in wide depending on project size.]

Do this outside in the shade...shade is extremely important. In sun and remover will dry to fast.

Pour some stripper into roller pan-paint well. Do not fill, just add more as you use it up. You must wipe out tray as you go, due to gooey paint falling off rocket. Do not waste stripper by having too much in pan getting dirty.

Stand rocket fins, at bottom on angled dry side of pan. Work on aprox. 2 ft. section at a time. I do all fins at once. As fast as possible brush stripper on area being worked on. Do at least 2-3 coats at a time.
Do 1.... wait just long enough it starts to act on paint, then do 1 -2 more. Let sit. DO NOT SCREW with it. Let stripper do the work. I use a plastic bondo spreader to remove gooey paint and wet stripper into another container.
Only takes 5-7 minutes in 70-90 temps to work. After I get fins and tube about 1 ft above fins done ,I flip rocket over and stand on other end. This way gunk from cleaning does not fall on fins.

Just stand payload and NC in tray and do same. Once you figure out how long to leave stripper on before scraping off, it gets very, very easy. Keep plenty of old newspapers on ground to wipe off your paint from spreader.

If you have some tough areas to get to, use the green 3m scrubber pads dipped in stripper to get in fillet area if simple rags don't work. Paint usually just starts to fall off when you keep paint nice and wet with stripper.

when bulk of paint removed, dip rag in stripper to wipe off residue. Finish cleaning with denatured Alcohol or lacquer thinner. Rinse with water when finished.

Needless to say wear nitrile gloves and glasses, you splash this in your eye and it burns like hell!

It doesn't harm tubes, gel coat or epoxy fillets. You only leave it on 10-15 minutes total to get job done.


Edit PS Aircraft paint is 2-part urethane such as Awl-Grip or Imron ...? heck I can't remember...... problem is once cured normal stripper won't dent it. It must cut through bonds similar to the epoxy your tube are made of. This type stripper is for Metal based materials that won't melt do to "HOT" strippers.

Way back in the day, we used to strip these type finishes off boat hulls by spraying M.E.K. type hot solvents on gallons at a a time. To do a 80-100 ft hull..... Hundreds of gallons pumped out of 55 gal drums...and pressure washed paint & stripper...ready for this. RIGHT DOWN THE FLOOR DRAINS!!!! That was before EPA got around to stopping all that . You should have seen how they used to strip huge jets.....basically the same
 
Last edited:
Way back in the day, we used to strip these type finishes off boat hulls by spraying M.E.K. type hot solvents on gallons at a a time.
Have for years been people using that to glue plastic models, and plastic signs, together. Never tried it personally.
 
Thanks for the detail on your stripping process. I will give this a try. Today, I found an old cato'ed fg rocket (what's left of it) and sprayed it with Rust-o aircraft paint remover. It did soften the paint so that it could be scrapped, but did nothing to the FG. I even went back and sprayed this stuff on bare FG and let it sit 20 minutes. Either I got a bad can of this stuff, or it's not as "hot" a remover as the directions lead me to believe. I cannot tell that it did anything to the fg.

If that brand tells you NOT FOR USE ON FIBERGLASS...then don't test fate and be a dumbass by using it.
What ever the labels tell you....believe it!

Any good normal paint stripper will work fine for 6-9 bucks a quart.

Use good ole "Strip-ezze" ...."Kleanstrip" Homer Formbee.... all work great. I have stripped many a bird with whatever one I had on hand. Matter of fact just finished cleaning off the burned paint/mach rash from my 3 in. carbon project a few weeks ago. I've stripped PML phenolic also.

How to:

Use a metal paint roller tray. Good for up to 6 in rocket. Get a throw-away wood handled chip brush [.79-1.50 2in to 3in wide depending on project size.]

Do this outside in the shade...shade is extremely important. In sun and remover will dry to fast.

Pour some stripper into roller pan-paint well. Do not fill, just add more as you use it up. You must wipe out tray as you go, due to gooey paint falling off rocket. Do not waste stripper by having too much in pan getting dirty.

Stand rocket fins, at bottom on angled dry side of pan. Work on aprox. 2 ft. section at a time. I do all fins at once. As fast as possible brush stripper on area being worked on. Do at least 2-3 coats at a time.
Do 1.... wait just long enough it starts to act on paint, then do 1 -2 more. Let sit. DO NOT SCREW with it. Let stripper do the work. I use a plastic bondo spreader to remove gooey paint and wet stripper into another container.
Only takes 5-7 minutes in 70-90 temps to work. After I get fins and tube about 1 ft above fins done ,I flip rocket over and stand on other end. This way gunk from cleaning does not fall on fins.

Just stand payload and NC in tray and do same. Once you figure out how long to leave stripper on before scraping off, it gets very, very easy. Keep plenty of old newspapers on ground to wipe off your paint from spreader.

If you have some tough areas to get to, use the green 3m scrubber pads dipped in stripper to get in fillet area if simple rags don't work. Paint usually just starts to fall off when you keep paint nice and wet with stripper.

when bulk of paint removed, dip rag in stripper to wipe off residue. Finish cleaning with denatured Alcohol or lacquer thinner. Rinse with water when finished.

Needless to say wear nitrile gloves and glasses, you splash this in your eye and it burns like hell!

It doesn't harm tubes, gel coat or epoxy fillets. You only leave it on 10-15 minutes total to get job done.


Edit PS Aircraft paint is 2-part urethane such as Awl-Grip or Imron ...? heck I can't remember...... problem is once cured normal stripper won't dent it. It must cut through bonds similar to the epoxy your tube are made of. This type stripper is for Metal based materials that won't melt do to "HOT" strippers.

Way back in the day, we used to strip these type finishes off boat hulls by spraying M.E.K. type hot solvents on gallons at a a time. To do a 80-100 ft hull..... Hundreds of gallons pumped out of 55 gal drums...and pressure washed paint & stripper...ready for this. RIGHT DOWN THE FLOOR DRAINS!!!! That was before EPA got around to stopping all that . You should have seen how they used to strip huge jets.....basically the same
 
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