Users of Montana Spray Paint: I Have a Few Questions

[mh9162013]

Most of the fun I get from model rocketry comes from designing and building my rockets. However, I'm getting to a point where I actually care about how my rocket looks in terms of finishing and painting. Put another way, I'm thinking about whether it's worth moving on from the Rustoleum 2X stuff I currently buy from Walmart. I'm thinking about trying Montana spray paints, in particular the Black or Gold lines. But before I invest in this paint, here are my questions (some are specific to individuals, but anyone can answer them):

1. @tjkopena talked about an eggshell finish. Is this a common characteristic of Montana spray paints? If so, is it exclusive to Black or Gold lines?

2. @hobie1dog You mentioned trying out Montana spray paints a few months ago. What are you thoughts?

3. @rellis2 You mentioned how you had to spray really close to the surface of your model. Were you using Black or Gold?

4. My understanding is that the Gold line is lower pressure than the Black line. All else being equal, we'd prefer to use the Gold line, right? I assume a lower pressure paint would be easier to control, manage and handle.

5. For those who swear by Montana spray paints, what clear coats and primers do you recommend? I'd like to have a matte and gloss (or semi-gloss) option for my clear coat and a sandable option for my primer, as I use sandable primer to fill in the tiny tube spirals of BT-20 tubing.

6. Is is true that the coverage of Montana spray paints is far superior to cheaper brands, like Rustoleum 2X or Krylon? I've realized that the primer+paint 2X Rustoleum stuff is cheap, but it doesn't have great coverage, so I have to use more "paint" to get opacity. But this ends up negating the affordability of this paint and makes it easier to have runs in my paint (yuck).

EDITED: to fix my misnumbering

 

[Hobie1dog]

well I can't lie to you as I have not yet tried the Montana cans yet as I have switched over and have a hairbrush and a miniature HVLP gun and I've been spraying things with water-based airbrush paints in the 2 oz bottle size. I'm just trying to get away from using rattle cans in general.

 

[watheyak]

I've used the gold. The surface finish was definitely eggshell. I used Spraymax 2K gloss clear spray can for the clear coat and it worked great. It did not hold up to Mach 2.7, however.

 

[Bill S]

I found that the Black line had a rough texture, maybe suitable for grafitti use, but not smooth enough for a rocket.

 

[DarthMuffin]

Great questions! I'm also trying out the Montana gold paints. I have done a test part with fluorescent pink over over Rustoleum Sandable Primer (white) and it worked well, they are definitely compatible. It's a satin finish for this color. I am going to try a 2k clear gloss eventually--but it's expensive and doesn't keep so probably won't be until I'm ready to use it when weather cooperates fully this spring.

 

[Banzai88]

I've used the gold. The surface finish was definitely eggshell. I used Spraymax 2K gloss clear spray can for the clear coat and it worked great. It did not hold up to Mach 2.7, however.

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This.

 

[Banzai88]

Most of the fun I get from model rocketry comes from designing and building my rockets. However, I'm getting to a point where I actually care about how my rocket looks in terms of finishing and painting. Put another way, I'm thinking about whether it's worth moving on from the Rustoleum 2X stuff I currently buy from Walmart. I'm thinking about trying Montana spray paints, in particular the Black or Gold lines. But before I invest in this paint, here are my questions (some are specific to individuals, but anyone can answer them):

1. @tjkopena talked about an eggshell finish. Is this a common characteristic of Montana spray paints? If so, is it exclusive to Black or Gold lines?

2. @hobie1dog You mentioned trying out Montana spray paints a few months ago. What are you thoughts?

3. @rellis2 You mentioned how you had to spray really close to the surface of your model. Were you using Black or Gold?

4. My understanding is that the Gold line is lower pressure than the Black line. All else being equal, we'd prefer to use the Gold line, right? I assume a lower pressure paint would be easier to control, manage and handle.

6. For those who swear by Montana spray paints, what clear coats and primers do you recommend? I'd like to have a matte and gloss (or semi-gloss) option for my clear coat and a sandable option for my primer, as I use sandable primer to fill in the tiny tube spirals of BT-20 tubing.

7. Is is true that the coverage of Montana spray paints is far superior to cheaper brands, like Rustoleum 2X or Krylon? I've realized that the primer+paint 2X Rustoleum stuff is cheap, but it doesn't have great coverage, so I have to use more "paint" to get opacity. But this ends up negating the affordability of this paint and makes it easier to have runs in my paint (yuck).

I've been using Montana Gold for my MP and HP builds for over 5 years now, never disappointed. I put it over top of just about any sandable primer that I've ever been able to get ahold of at Wal Mart. Has stuck like glue, no issues at all.

1. Yeah, characteristic of the high solids of Montana paints. They're essentially artist paints for 'grafiti' style artists, so it's not formulated to lay super smooth on smooth tubes and fins like we have because that's not it's usual surface nor are we the target market for it's use.

2. I've used it for over 5 years, my standard go to paint these days. Dries fast (a characteristic of lacquers), and you can mask over it in a matter of a few hours or less if doing multiple colors or a pattern. You will get some ghosting through blue/green/yellow tape, but it's no big deal if you're clear coating. Really, this stuff is super stupid easy to work with!

3. Gold. Always the gold. 5-10 inches is not uncommon, BUT....it depends on the conditions of the day (temp, humidity, surface prep, etc), so there really is no 1 answer. Test on scrap that's like your final work!

4. Gold. Always the gold. The Black line is at much higher pressure (primarily for cold weather use, which would make conventional cans just spit. In hot weather like we prefer to paint in, its HIGH pressure), and I've always been much happier with the Gold. Gold has a teeny tiny (but noticeable) lower pressure than conventional krylon/rusto while black has a LOT higher pressure than krylon/rusto.

5. (I think you missed 5?)

6. Any primer cheap rattle can sandable primer that you like, never found something that Montana didn't like. As to clear, simple to use Montana clear. For super gloss, I use Max2K for the large projects and Montana clear varnish for the smaller ones. The varnish comes in gloss, semi, and matte

7. Covers in 1 easy medium coat. Period. End of discussion. I've painted 6 foot tall 3" diameter fiberglass rockets with about 1/2 (yes, HALF) of a can of Montana. Best value going! The metallics, though, are a different thing, though, and take a little more paint, typically 2 coats, but still way way easier to work with than wal mart rattle can roulette.

Another thing to note about Montana....it's lacquer. It's soft and does NOT have the durability of enamels like Krylon/Rusto UNLESS you hit it with Max2K. If you've never used 2K, read, read, read.....and go buy some PPE. Also, 2K is ~$24 a can, 1 coat is more than enough, and it's catalyzed, so make sure you have lots and lots to paint that day!

But for tiny-to-small rockets (to me that's just about anything LP), I find the best finish comes from using an airbrush and water based acrylics topped with rattle can clear.

 

[mh9162013]

I've been using Montana Gold for my MP and HP builds for over 5 years now, never disappointed. I put it over top of just about any sandable primer that I've ever been able to get ahold of at Wal Mart. Has stuck like glue, no issues at all.

1. Yeah, characteristic of the high solids of Montana paints. They're essentially artist paints for 'grafiti' style artists, so it's not formulated to lay super smooth on smooth tubes and fins like we have because that's not it's usual surface nor are we the target market for it's use.

2. I've used it for over 5 years, my standard go to paint these days. Dries fast (a characteristic of lacquers), and you can mask over it in a matter of a few hours or less if doing multiple colors or a pattern. You will get some ghosting through blue/green/yellow tape, but it's no big deal if you're clear coating. Really, this stuff is super stupid easy to work with!

3. Gold. Always the gold. 5-10 inches is not uncommon, BUT....it depends on the conditions of the day (temp, humidity, surface prep, etc), so there really is no 1 answer. Test on scrap that's like your final work!

4. Gold. Always the gold. The Black line is at much higher pressure (primarily for cold weather use, which would make conventional cans just spit. In hot weather like we prefer to paint in, its HIGH pressure), and I've always been much happier with the Gold. Gold has a teeny tiny (but noticeable) lower pressure than conventional krylon/rusto while black has a LOT higher pressure than krylon/rusto.

5. (I think you missed 5?)

6. Any primer cheap rattle can sandable primer that you like, never found something that Montana didn't like. As to clear, simple to use Montana clear. For super gloss, I use Max2K for the large projects and Montana clear varnish for the smaller ones. The varnish comes in gloss, semi, and matte

7. Covers in 1 easy medium coat. Period. End of discussion. I've painted 6 foot tall 3" diameter fiberglass rockets with about 1/2 (yes, HALF) of a can of Montana. Best value going! The metallics, though, are a different thing, though, and take a little more paint, typically 2 coats, but still way way easier to work with than wal mart rattle can roulette.

Another thing to note about Montana....it's lacquer. It's soft and does NOT have the durability of enamels like Krylon/Rusto UNLESS you hit it with Max2K. If you've never used 2K, read, read, read.....and go buy some PPE. Also, 2K is ~$24 a can, 1 coat is more than enough, and it's catalyzed, so make sure you have lots and lots to paint that day!

But for tiny-to-small rockets (to me that's just about anything LP), I find the best finish comes from using an airbrush and water based acrylics topped with rattle can clear.

Great info, thanks for sharing. Based on what you and others have said, I may want to stay away from the Montana stuff for model rockets and either stick with cheap crap or go back to the airbrush route (which I don't care to do).

Maybe I'll buy one can of Gold the next time I'm at Michael's...

 

[ShadowSpire48]

I use the Gold line exclusively. Do NOT use the Black line, I've had issues with it and it's a high pressure paint so it sprays a lot more at once. Don't use the stock caps on the cans either if you can get ahold of their other caps, I use soft skinny caps (they also have fat caps). Their caps change the way the paint sprays in terms of line thickness. I will never go back to Rustoleum other than the filler primer. I don't plan on winning beauty contests up close but it does go on smooth and it's VERY hard to get it to run. I painted a 5.5" LOC Phoenix in about 20 degree weather with 1 can (gives you an idea of how rich the pigment is). It is a nitro-acrylic lacquer so it dries quick and cures in like 8 hours. I will admit it's not for everyone and there is a learning curve BUT the amount of colors Montana has rivals airbrushing and even then, there's probably more. Look around your area for a Binders or Blick Art as well as they carry Montana. https://www.montana-cans.com/en/accessories/nozzles/montana-level-caps/
https://www.montana-cans.com/en/spray-cans/montana-spray-paint/gold-400ml-artist-paint/

 

[tjkopena]

Somewhat oddly I've never had a problem w/ Rustoleum's primers clogging, though every can of regular Rustoleum 2x I've tried for several years now clogged after the first use. So I do still use their primers. But I'm pretty sure I'm on my last Rustoleum cans even of the primers, because the past couple I've gotten only spray upside down, which is exceedingly strange and super annoying. That said, a common sub-recipe for me is a couple cycles of their gray sandable filler + sanding, then a layer of black or white depending on the color I'm going toward.

If the downsides to Montana rule it out, which is a totally reasonable conclusion, another premium spray can option is Tamiya. They are not cheap, and probably not what you want to do a large rocket with. But they're easy to work with, largely safe to combine w/ other paints, go on smooth, and their matte spray is the only clear coat spray I trust to come out matte. They can be harder to acquire though. I don't know if any of the big box craft stores carry Tamiya; I only really have a Michael's nearby and it does not. You can find it in traditional hobby shops though, anywhere that does a lot of scale modeling, RC, or Gundam. eRockets carries a big selection. I currently carry the metallics and clear coats.

 

[mh9162013]

another premium spray can option is Tamiya. They are not cheap, and probably not what you want to do a large rocket with. But they're easy to work with, largely safe to combine w/ other paints, go on smooth, and their matte spray is the only clear coat spray I trust to come out matte.

Oh, I'm aware of Tamiya...

I got spoiled by them, as I used their spray paints (and Testors) for my plastic modeling needs growing up. Tamiya paints always went on perfectly, with no issues. None of this caring about outside temps, humidity, surface prep, blah blah blah. "Priming and sanding before your color coat? What's the point in that?"

But when painting with airbrushes and other rattle cans...ugh...

As much as I'd love to use Tamiya, I can't justify their cost and the fact that I'd have to order them (no seller near me that I'm aware of).

 

[Bill S]

Best source of Tamiya spray paints, that I've used several times, is this:

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/

 

[DarthMuffin]

I painted a rocket today with Montana Gold (fluorescent pink). I don't think I'll be using it again. It spattered quite a lot. Sprayed at 70F, ~30% humidity, bottle shaken really well, started and stopped spray off the part. I think it will be OK after wet sanding, but I really shouldn't have to be doing this. Also the high solids got pink powder *everywhere*. It's dry and wipes off but I've never had to wipe off my shoes before after spray painting something. Use this in a dedicated paint booth or outdoors, and outdoors would have to be zero wind because of the high-solids low propellant formula.

On the good side, the color saturation is great and it would be very tough to get runs with this paint.

I will be going back to duplicolor or possibly getting some urethane single stage for my paint gun.