Painting Foam Airplanes

[doctormike]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

What better thing to do while lying awake at 2 am? I'm a bulldog when it comes to problem solving. Now...if I could just get it right every time. Valspar plastic primer is in a spray can and can be found in spray paints at Home Depot. It supposedly makes spray paint stick to plastic better. By the way, repositionable glue stick residue can be wiped off with a damp paper towel. Also...even vinyl tape lifted the paint up on my Tiger Moth. That's what led me to the glue stick idea. Doc

[farmflyer]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

What better thing to do while lying awake at 2 am? I'm a bulldog when it comes to problem solving. Now...if I could just get it right every time. Valspar plastic primer is in a spray can and can be found in spray paints at Home Depot. It supposedly makes spray paint stick to plastic better. By the way, repositionable glue stick residue can be wiped off with a damp paper towel. Also...even vinyl tape lifted the paint up on my Tiger Moth. That's what led me to the glue stick idea. Doc

I wonder if the large backing sheets from the factory stickers would work in place of spraying the plastic primer on paper. Assuming you have used ones lying around your work station.

[farmflyer]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

What better thing to do while lying awake at 2 am? I'm a bulldog when it comes to problem solving. Now...if I could just get it right every time. Valspar plastic primer is in a spray can and can be found in spray paints at Home Depot. It supposedly makes spray paint stick to plastic better. By the way, repositionable glue stick residue can be wiped off with a damp paper towel. Also...even vinyl tape lifted the paint up on my Tiger Moth. That's what led me to the glue stick idea. Doc

I wonder if the large backing sheets from the factory stickers would work instead of the plastic primed paper. Assuming you had them lying around your work station. The could be cut to shape or used as straight edges glued with the glue stick and maybe tough enough to reuse if needed.

[doctormike]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

What better thing to do while lying awake at 2 am? I'm a bulldog when it comes to problem solving. Now...if I could just get it right every time. Valspar plastic primer is in a spray can and can be found in spray paints at Home Depot. It supposedly makes spray paint stick to plastic better. By the way, repositionable glue stick residue can be wiped off with a damp paper towel. Also...even vinyl tape lifted the paint up on my Tiger Moth. That's what led me to the glue stick idea. Doc

I wonder if the large backing sheets from the factory stickers would work instead of the plastic primed paper. Assuming you had them lying around your work station. The could be cut to shape or used as straight edges glued with the glue stick and maybe tough enough to reuse if needed.

Sounds good to me, but it might be too stiff for some applications. I want to find something very flexible for places that have something like an air vent protruding. Plastic food wrap is too light and difficult to work with. Ideas? Doc

[debrartin]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

I use acrylic paint from artist supply source as primary paint for foam. Here is the link from where I got it. It gives good finish. I like it because it’s easy to paint, less poisonous, dry quickly and easier to clean.

[mrflyboy]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

I've had trouble trying to add stripes or other markings over existing paint. I'm using blue painters tape stuck to my jeans etc. it still pulls some small paint chips up. Any advice would be appreciated.

Recommend Frog Tape Delicate surface painters tape,has less adhesive pull away.

[Pheonix]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

I use Parafilm "M" to seal off surfaces I want to paint.  It takes some getting use to at first; however, it is the best stuff around and will not peel painted surfaces.  I usually take it out before using and let it set in a warm area.  Take a small piece, about one-half the area and stretch it to the size you need.  The heat from your hands will activate the film and make it stick to the surface.  Take a small piece an practice with it to get a feel as to how it works.  
I hope this helps.

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

If you missed it, I had the challenge of painting a stripe in the nose cone of my 'Old Crow" which I converted from a Freewing Iron Ass.  After trying different methods of taping, all to no avail, I came up with this...


By using two elastic bands and lining them up from the side and from the top, I was able to create a great even stripe around the nose, I just taped off the rest, from the top of the rubber band down to the base of the cone.

Grossman56

[Alpha]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Grossman, that is an excellent idea to mask the nose cone! I'll have to try that the next time. I got lazy and just turned the motor on at low rpm and held the paintbrush up against the spinning spinner. Yours looks much better!

[Pheonix]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

If you missed it, I had the challenge of painting a stripe in the nose cone of my 'Old Crow" which I converted from a Freewing Iron Ass.  After trying different methods of taping, all to no avail, I came up with this...


By using two elastic bands and lining them up from the side and from the top, I was able to create a great even stripe around the nose, I just taped off the rest, from the top of the rubber band down to the base of the cone.

Grossman56

What a great idea.  Any more jewels like this one?  If so, Please pass them on.  I have trying to figure out how to this for a long time.

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Grossman, that is an excellent idea to mask the nose cone! I'll have to try that the next time. I got lazy and just turned the motor on at low rpm and held the paintbrush up against the spinning spinner. Yours looks much better!

Yeah, I seriously thought of that too, or at least scribing it, but what a mess if you don't get it right the first time!  I would suggest getting the wide flat elastic bands. getting the lowest one on first and putting the cone together, then supporting it with a paint brush handle or something that will fit through the motor shaft hole.  Then you can spin it and fine tune it .  Then do the same with the top one.  It also helps to look straight down on it as you can see in the picture.  I was just sitting on the couch playing with tape, with no success when the light went on.

Grossman56

[Alpha]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Did you hand brush it or airbrush? Do the rubberbands leak paint through with the hand brush?

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Actually, I airbrushed it, thin layers at a time. maybe three or four if I remember right.  What you can do if you're worried about paint bleeding through is to coat the area with a clear coat first to help seal the area.  I found that with the air brush, I didn't need to.  The biggest problem I ran across was pulling paint off when I removed the masking tape, even after sticking it to my shirt a few times.  Frog Tape has a delicate version that seemed to help a lot.  When I did the Red White and blue on the Pandora. (First pics of her when the painting was done, has been modified and cleaned up since then, I replaced the gear and left it white, I like it better)

I just masked the white out. When I did the second color, I used tape and waxed paper to drape the areas I didn't what paint on ( which was the the red and white) the only problem I had was when I went to remove the tape that divided the blue from the red stripes on the wing, it pulled the paint off the first wing.  I got wise on the second and left a small unpainted strip  between the blue and the red which was where I attached a sheet of wax paper with a small amount of tape hanging over the edge, just enough to divide the blue from the red.  Then I got tricky and used some blue scotch tape (Walmart colored electrical tape) and laid that over the bare strip, worked great!

Grossman56

[Pheonix]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

What a fantastic job. I am so envious of you and your skills at painting.

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Thanks Pheonix, but believe it or not, the Pandora was my first experience ever with an airbrush.  I went on You Tube and found a few tutorial videos and took it from there.  Its a lot of fun when you get into it.  The second was Shangrila which I decided to age and weather, the difference was amazing.  I've had people comment that she must be pretty old and shocked when I told them (at the time) that she was less than a year and had never been in the air!

With her, I went to Ace and got them to color match the grey and the green.  Then airbrushed all the body lines with black paint (light coats!) then played around with the paint color, adding some white to give it the faded look, and maybe some yellow here and there because green will fade to yellow.  For the grey, same thing but stuck to adding white,  then in the end, if it wasn't faded enough, I'd go straight white, but really thinned out, it looked too much at first, but when it dried it was perfect.  If in doubt, grab a piece of card board or an old wing or other spare part and try it out.  I was extremely hesitant at first, and getting the consistence of the paint right was a challenge (like milk is where I started) Ace or Walmart both have small tubes of Acrylic craft paint and they're great but you can't beat the deal you get if you get a sample matched to your color.  One time, they were on sale and the girl mixed it up and charged me a buck!

Grossman56

[Pheonix]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Many thanks for the ideas and taking the time to give so much details. It is appreciated. Happy flying. No flying for me today. Hands will not cooperate.

[doctormike]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

The new foam that they are using accepts spray paint very well. I just finished the paint job on my Tiger Moth using Krylon. It came out beautifully. I use, very lightly, 400 grit wet/dry paper first to give the paint a good grip. Always test a small spot first. I spray paint onto a small stick and dab it on in an inconspicuous place. After painting the plane, I give it a coat of Varathane water base poly. It adheres to the paint very well. BEAUTIFUL!!! Doc

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Hey Doc, I'm going to try the polyurethane when I can find it, might be a trip to Billings.   400 grit W/D eh, I'll have to try that.  Sanding is always a tricky process for me.

Grossman56

[doctormike]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Hi, Grossman. 3M has a new product (sand paper) that I'm trying. It's actually wet/dry but it's on a very flexible plastic backing. They don't exactly give it away, but it lasts forever. Very useful for contours. I painted my Multiplex Funjet with Krylon sun yellow yesterday. I'm detailing it today and found that even spray paint will pull up, so, you'd better get it right the first time. I guess that's an inherent problem with painted foam. Anyway, this thing does something in the neigborhood of 200mph, at full throttle, so I really want it to be visible. Sheeze... I only have to drive 20 miles to Santa Fe to shop. Doc

[Grossman56]

RE: Painting Foam Airplanes

Yeah, I hear you Doc, a 20 mile trip is almost a walk for us, its a 2 hour drive to Billings, so we make a day out of it.  They have a Hobby shop there as well as a Cabelas, in others words, guy heaven!!

Grossman56