Official FlightLine F4U-1A Corsair 1600mm (63") Wingspan

[jetfool]

Picked up my salmon paint at the hobby shop today. They had several E-Flite Trojans set up on display. A nice looking airplane. Not as nice as my Corsair ! Rex

[f4u ausie]

Was not trying to take any shine,,,, just the facts,, sorry guys ,, anyway the vids r awsome,, again just the facts.. b good b safe go the corsair..... mine still flies great

[jetfool]

Slowly working on mine. Today I put the first clear coat of min-wax on the bottom fus. and wing. Cold weather so I will let it dry overnight and spray the top tomorrow. Planning on 3 clear coats before I put the colors on. Does this sound about right? I thinned it about 50/50 with washer fluid and it went on well with my cheap Harber Freight touch up gun. Any advice is appreciated
Best Regards, Rex.

[davegee]

Slowly working on mine. Today I put the first clear coat of min-wax on the bottom fus. and wing. Cold weather so I will let it dry overnight and spray the top tomorrow. Planning on 3 clear coats before I put the colors on. Does this sound about right? I thinned it about 50/50 with washer fluid and it went on well with my cheap Harber Freight touch up gun. Any advice is appreciated
Best Regards, Rex.

That sounds pretty good, Rex. Probably good to let it all dry well before adding the next coat.

Cheers

Davegee

[Aros]

Saw someone's Corsair in Model Aviation...Mentioned Elbee's .STL files, Hobby Squawk...Pretty cool, and beautiful job!

[Elbee]

Ah shucks, Aros, I was hopin' no one noticed................Like heck I was. THNAKS FOR NOTICING!! Best, LB

[Grossman56]

Hmm, Minwax is so thin I don't understand the reasoning behind thinning it out even more, but each to their own. I usually use a hair dryer to set mine up, I've coated so many airplanes with Minwax that I can tell just by looking at it, when its at the point where it's set. Give it an hour or so, warm the surface up a bit with the hair dryer and apply a second coat. Then let it sit overnight. Spray gun will give you the dullest result, a brush will give you a slightly shinier result. Are you using the 'matte' finish?

Grossman56

[jetfool]

Grossman56,
I am using the satin clear. your right I will spray next coat straight from the can. I had a few runs and had to sand them out. Thought by thinning would help, guess noy. Ill try the hair dryer also.
Thanks for your comments. Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Hmm, Minwax is so thin I don't understand the reasoning behind thinning it out even more, but each to their own. I usually use a hair dryer to set mine up, I've coated so many airplanes with Minwax that I can tell just by looking at it, when its at the point where it's set. Give it an hour or so, warm the surface up a bit with the hair dryer and apply a second coat. Then let it sit overnight. Spray gun will give you the dullest result, a brush will give you a slightly shinier result. Are you using the 'matte' finish?

Grossman56

Hey guys, I guess I've never been "educated" on using minwax. I think I used it but one time a long time ago. What are the advantages of putting the minwax on before or after painting the surfaces? Maybe I'll try that on my next airplane! Apply before, or after decals, etc..,?

Cheers

davegee

[Elbee]

davegee, The Minwax provides a good solid barrier.

If you have noticed when you pull a bit of the OEM finish away, it is hard and brittle.

The foam directly beneath it is super soft.

The way I understand it, the EPO foam (all foam?) skins when it cures. Removing the OEM paint pulls that 'skin' away.

The Minwax becomes that new skin coat.

I completely stripped all the OEM finish off my first foamie, a FreeWing A-10. I sanded all the injections marks and seams and added 4-5 coats of Minwax (foam brush).

I allowed that to dry for 2-3 days and came and wet sanded the finish.

I hand painted exterior latex mixed with Floetrol and H2O. The finish is great and hard.

Make sense? Best, LB

[davegee]

davegee, The Minwax provides a good solid barrier.

If you have noticed when you pull a bit of the OEM finish away, it is hard and brittle.

The foam directly beneath it is super soft.

The way I understand it, the EPO foam (all foam?) skins when it cures. Removing the OEM paint pulls that 'skin' away.

The Minwax becomes that new skin coat.

I completely stripped all the OEM finish off my first foamie, a FreeWing A-10. I sanded all the injections marks and seams and added 4-5 coats of Minwax (foam brush).

I allowed that to dry for 2-3 days and came and wet sanded the finish.

I hand painted exterior latex mixed with Floetrol and H2O. The finish is great and hard.

Make sense? Best, LB

Totally! I'll do that in the future, as almost all of my planes are repainted and new markings applied.

Appreciate the "education" on Minwax!

Cheers

davegee

[jetfool]

Is the foam brush technique better than spraying for the clear coats? My first spray coat has given a harder shell. Going to sand then apply some more. Rex

[Elbee]

Is the foam brush technique better than spraying for the clear coats? My first spray coat has given a harder shell. Going to sand then apply some more. Rex

JF,

I do not know for sure. A detail gun would be my choice if I were going to spray it on, though.

Foam brush leaves some streaking, but I wet sand anyway so I don't worry too much about those.

I would think thinning the polycrylic would change its' properties, but I am not a Chemist nor do I play one on daytime TV.

I use a 1" foam brush and work in 6" square or so sections trying, read trying, to work fast enough to keep a wet edge.

Not even sure if that's important but it's the way I was taught to paint .

Best, LB

[jetfool]

Elbee,

After sanding I used my detail instead of the touch up gun. Much better control and didn't put to much on unless I wanted to. Plane is starting to really get smooth. Hardly any thinner in my second coat. It seems after the coat is dry it isn't adding much weight. Will let this dry overnight and check tomorrow. Rex

[Elbee]

Elbee,

After sanding I used my detail instead of the touch up gun. Much better control and didn't put to much on unless I wanted to. Plane is starting to really get smooth. Hardly any thinner in my second coat. It seems after the coat is dry it isn't adding much weight. Will let this dry overnight and check tomorrow. Rex

Rex, Yeppers, not any weight build-up and if so it is negligible for the protection Minwax provides. If you are spraying, you could conceivably add 6 or more coats. I wet sand with 400 before priming. You might see some foam even after a couple primer coats, but once she's painted, should be invisible. Best, LB

[davegee]

Rex, Yeppers, not any weight build-up and if so it is negligible for the protection Minwax provides. If you are spraying, you could conceivably add 6 or more coats. I wet sand with 400 before priming. You might see some foam even after a couple primer coats, but once she's painted, should be invisible. Best, LB

Hi Elbee: just for future reference, you mentioned earlier that you remove the original finish on the airplane before starting with the minwax treatment. Does that mean you strip the plane completely down to bare white foam, or just sand off a lot of the original paint coating?

Thanks,

davegee

[Elbee]

davegee, I stripped the OEM acrylic paint off my Freewing A-10 using acetone. Kinda stinky but very effective. I have since switched to 90% IPA, but it takes more time and alcohol, but IPA is cheaper by volume so it is about a rub either way. IMHO, it is not necessary to do a whole airframe every time. I was disappointed I did not do the entire airframe of this Corsair, though as I had paint lifting on the empennage, but that's on me for not inspecting it more carefully. Hope that helps. Best, Steve

[Grossman56]

As I've said before, Minwax Spar Varathane (water based) has been my go to for a number of years. When I first started using Varathane, that was way back on my Pandoras. I found that when I applied it, it would bunch up because of the oil based mold release. This is typical of all airplanes that were not factory painted but are just bare foam and decals. What I started doing was applying Minwax, letting it bunch up, basically gathering the oil residue, then wiping it off with a clean rag. I'd repeat the process until it lay smoothly on the surface, then let it dry. If I was going to paint the airplane, this is when I'd apply my paint, then apply the Varathane over the paint, using as many coats as required to get a glossy coat (if that's what I was going for). The Spar Varathane has a UV protectant in it as well and many of my planes are still smooth even though , as in the case of my FMS P51D:

who is 10 years old (hard to believe!) and still looks great!
My rule of thumb is to use a brush ( I use some worn out oil painting brushes from my artist days) for the glossiest result and my spray gun for a duller finish. I also use the Varathane matte finish for planes like the Spitfire for that dull look. When applying gloss, I usually have 5 or 6 coats, some, like the Avanti and the P 40 have many more than that. It can also be used as a filler and helped rebuild the Avanti leading edges and eliminating the gatoring on the wings of the P 40. My F7F was flawless in regards to gatoring although there was some minor flight damage, but all you had to do was look and the inside of the cockpit to see whether the Minwax mad a difference, she was gatored pretty good in there! When they finally get some fuselages in and I rebuild her, that's one area that will get covered in Minwax as well.
BTW, after decals, Dave. It helps to seal them on. In the case of flat finishes, I'll use the gloss to seal everything then apply the matte finish over that.

Grossman56

[Elbee]

Grossman56 great technique, Sir. Thank you. Best, LB

[Aros]

Love that BBD!

[davegee]

As I've said before, Minwax Spar Varathane (water based) has been my go to for a number of years. When I first started using Varathane, that was way back on my Pandoras. I found that when I applied it, it would bunch up because of the oil based mold release. This is typical of all airplanes that were not factory painted but are just bare foam and decals. What I started doing was applying Minwax, letting it bunch up, basically gathering the oil residue, then wiping it off with a clean rag. I'd repeat the process until it lay smoothly on the surface, then let it dry. If I was going to paint the airplane, this is when I'd apply my paint, then apply the Varathane over the paint, using as many coats as required to get a glossy coat (if that's what I was going for). The Spar Varathane has a UV protectant in it as well and many of my planes are still smooth even though , as in the case of my FMS P51D:

who is 10 years old (hard to believe!) and still looks great!
My rule of thumb is to use a brush ( I use some worn out oil painting brushes from my artist days) for the glossiest result and my spray gun for a duller finish. I also use the Varathane matte finish for planes like the Spitfire for that dull look. When applying gloss, I usually have 5 or 6 coats, some, like the Avanti and the P 40 have many more than that. It can also be used as a filler and helped rebuild the Avanti leading edges and eliminating the gatoring on the wings of the P 40. My F7F was flawless in regards to gatoring although there was some minor flight damage, but all you had to do was look and the inside of the cockpit to see whether the Minwax mad a difference, she was gatored pretty good in there! When they finally get some fuselages in and I rebuild her, that's one area that will get covered in Minwax as well.
BTW, after decals, Dave. It helps to seal them on. In the case of flat finishes, I'll use the gloss to seal everything then apply the matte finish over that.

Grossman56

Thanks, Dan. Great info!

davegee