What sort of paint?

[drdr]

I am building a ‘Red Arrow’ sit in plane for my young grandson. It is made of plywood. I have painted it with 2 coats of acrylic undercoat and then a bright red Dulux oil based topcoat. It takes a long time to dry. I desperately want to get a super fine finish.
I now want to paint a complex sunburst pattern in white over the red background. I plan to do this using masking tape. I have done some experiments using normal oil based white gloss and the result looks lumpy and does not cover the red well.
Could I use a spray paint using cellulose or acrylic to give a good result, not cause any reaction with the red beneath and hopefully dry a bit quicker?
Suggestions are appreciated.

 

[dcdec]

Red gloss really needs a grey undercoat.
To help with the white covering over the red you could apply a light grey u/c first. Apply multiple thin coats and wet abrade in between. An acrylic will not achieve the finish you want and do not take well over OB coats. You could also consider aerosol paint for the flame effect. Be sure to use a masking tape that won't allow the paint to bleed through underneath it, there are a few on the market available.

You could add driers to your paint but do it very sparingly as it can make the paint brittle, a bit of research should give you the right mixture.

http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/t/TEREBINE_DRIERS/

After each coat try and protect the plane from dust settling on the surface.

 

[drdr]

Thanks for you reply dcdec.
The undercoat and red topcoat is complete and it looks great, having matched the Red Arrows colour, in oil based paint.
All I need do now is the white sunburst which will be not much more than a series of stripes. Have uploaded an image to DRDR library for the type of design.
I thought spray acrylic would be ok (and quick to dry so could do multiple coats) but you thought it unsuitable. So perhaps I should use multiple aerosol cellulose coats? Will that be ok on top of oil based paint?
You also mentioned the masking tape. I had already painted in red a spare piece of ply and then masked off a section and painted it with an oil based gloss white. Just as you said - it bled underneath the tape, the result was awful. It was just the normal B&Q masking tape. Are you suggesting a brand?

 

[dcdec]

I don't really ever have a need for these types of tape but with a bit of googling i think you should find some, try decorating direct, trade first and 3m.
We don't really use cellulose paints, but the rule i always follow is oil on oil or oil on water, that said though we are adapting a bit with one thing and another. I do feel you run the risk of problems if you put a WB coating on top of an uncured oil based coating, but a cellulose i THINK would be ok, perhaps experiment on an off cut if you have the time, aerosol spraying would be a good idea, have you looked at any model making forums?

 

[emilybronte]

Masking tape - try yellow Frog Tape - it is very low tack, doesn't damage the surface it is put on, but doesn't allow bleeding either.

 

[drdr]

Thanks for the responses, sorry for the delay, the job has taken a long time. I was unable to find the masking tape mentioned but bought a different sort from screwfix. If anything it was a higher tack than what I had.
I sprayed the stripes with cellulose, there was no reaction. When I removed the masking tape I first carefully cut down the edge of the tape with a scalpel and generally got perfect edges, where there was a slight imperfection I touched it up with enamel paint (using a brush). It looks brilliant.
Thanks for the answer

 

[footprints]

Sounds cool, can we have a picture please?

 

[drdr]

OK, have uploaded a couple of images, hope you can see them as I dont really know how all this works.
If you can see them you might notice that it is not really
a Red Arrow at all, the propeller is a bit of a give away, however my 1yr old grandson will not know, providing you don't tell him!
Regards

 

[footprints]

Thanks for sharing the pics with us. I like the triangular fuselage keeps the weight down and maybe stronger than square shaped. Just hope he is not a budding stunt pilot it would be a pity if your nice paint job got trashed on his first flight!

Did you design it from scratch or are there plans around for that sort of thing?

Toys that need a bit of imagination are way better than the off the shelf motorised Ferraris and Quad bikes, that kids who can’t control or appreciate them, get given these days.

My kids got loads of fun out of toys like homemade dolls houses, a rocking horse and see-saw.

Regards,
footprints

 

[drdr]

Hi Footprints,

I am under no illusions, although only 1 he is quite boisterous and I made some modifications because of that.

No I did not design it, it was in a diy magazine and I liked it so much I kept the pages; that must have been 30 years or more ago. I don’t know who designed it nor the name or date of the magazine (it does look very dated). I gave a copy to my brother in law and he built one a long time ago and he said it was very successful. I always wanted to build it but my other grandchildren were all girls and I am sure that they would not have wanted it.

Like you, I love the old fashion (traditional!) toys that leave things to the child’s imagination rather than these plastic efforts with colour music and flashing lights all the time. I put it down to my age!

Regards

 

[D4N1EL]

Hi,
sorry i can't give any advice on the questions you ask, but, your plane looks fantastic! Well done! Any chance of a photo copy of the instructions?

 

[drdr]

OK D4n1el, hope I'm not breaking any copyright rules
will add the pages, here are some comments about the building

Have added details from article, you can print them out on A4, hope it will be readable.

Will add a few notes on what I did.

1. Diagrams of each part I enlarged to A4 to make it easier to plot full size. Note I only did half wing and tailplane.
2. Plotted each part to quality lining paper, after plotting one inch grid lines. I only did one fuselage side as I used it for both sides.
3. Cut out pattern from above, note that lining paper was folded for wing and tail, fold was on centreline, so when cut out I had pattern for complete wing and tail, which were perfectly symmetrical.
4. Mostly built from 6mm ply. I wondered if it would be strong enough, but did accept it, my brother in law said it was ok. Article said 4ft by 4ft 6 would be enough but I chose to cut out to give best grain strength and used much of an 8 x 4.
5. Before you cut slots for tailplane and wing try it all together, due to the angles you can easily get it wrong or misaligned, don’t trust the plan.
6. I decided to strengthen the wing root section by laminating a piece of ply to the wing underside which you cannot see. I had visions of my grandson falling on it and breaking a wing first time! This obviously changed the size of the slot for the wing in the fuselage.
7. I had to make the round parts from 2x2 softwood (for prop and wheel spacers)
8. Also had a problem finding wheels, in the end used stabilisers for child’s bike.
9. Exhaust I made from blue foam which I covered with paper. Much stronger and more rigid than plastic cups but still light.
10. Painting, I used 2 coats water based undercoat, sanding between coats. It gave a good surface but I think the moisture prevented the 3 coats gloss oil based topcoat from fully drying in my very cold garage. It is ok now but I wish I had used oil based undercoat, I am sure it would have been quicker and better. The sprayed stripes in cellulose worked fine, but great care is needed
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