Help re-painting 500 size fuselage...

[Cthulu]

hi,
Ive recently acquired a 500 size UH1N fuselage that is painted in the Rescue red and white colours. My plan was hopefully to sell this and another fuselage to get enough to buy the UH1N Iroquois, which is a kind of military grey. Anyway, it hasn't sold, so Im thinking about attempting to respray the 1 I have. Ive built a couple of 450 scale builds, but Ive never painted one, let alone re-spray it.
Im hoping some of you fine folks might be able to help me with figuring out just what I have to do.

I know I will need to do some wet sanding with fine grit (1000?) before I apply any primer, but Im unsure what happens after that? more sanding of the primer, or onto my first coat of desired colour? when first sanding, am I attempting to remove the previous paint or just prepare the surface for the next coat?

Im pretty daunted by all this, but Im also fairly certain this is what I want to do. Ive spent a fair bit of shekel getting the heli and fuse etc, so Id prefer it to be in the colour scheme I wanted.

Ive linked to the sale thread just so you can see what the fuselage currently looks like.

http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/sale/7...av-lights.html


Also, If anybody knows of anyone that offers a respray service that wont break the bank, Id maybe be interested in going down that route.

Thanks in advance for any pointers or help!

[Boggy]

I would avoid wet sanding altogether and use fine (grey) scotchbrite.Wet sanding will take away gel coat and finer details if your too agresive, nip along to your local car body shop I wouldn't mind betting you could scrounge some for free, if you take the fuse along and show them what your planning.Maybe even suggest an apprentice would like some practice painting you never know

[Cthulu]

I would avoid wet sanding altogether and use fine (grey) scotchbrite.Wet sanding will take away gel coat and finer details if your too agresive, nip along to your local car body shop I wouldn't mind betting you could scrounge some for free, if you take the fuse along and show them what your planning.Maybe even suggest an apprentice would like some practice painting you never know

Just googled them. So with those, all I would have to do is a once over with them, then primer, then desired colour? Ive read before about people saying that wet sanding could remove finer details. Is there any particular reason why Grey? Does it designate the grit of the pad? 1 last thing. this is what im mostly confused on. When finished using these, will I have had to remove all the paint so the previous colour is gone, or is it just to remove the sheen to allow the new paint to stick? sorry for all the questions... bit of a noob at this side of things!


Thanks for you help Boggy,
cheers,
L

[Boggy]

just removing the sheen is the aim. however covering red can be a problem as it has a tend to "bleed" through primer and lighter colours.If it does this you may need a coat of brown or black to seal it,which can be a pain as the thicker the coat build up the more of the finer detail you lose anyway!

sorry yes grey is the finest grade IIrc

[Cthulu]

thanks for the quick replies. All things going well (no bleeding etc), can you tell me what primer (colour?) you would use if wanting to have a matt military grey finish?

Ive been thinking that if there is likely to be a problem with bleeding, then I might consider just doing it in a matt black and maybe do it up like the US 160th Nightstalkers. I dont even know if they fly UH1's but it'd look sweet anyway!
If I was to go Black, what would be the best way to go about it?

Thanks again for the taking the time to help me on this,
atb,
Liam

[Boggy]

go with a grey primer ,white will almost certainly bleed. Matt black as a colour scheme would look extremely cool but i think it would be an absolute bugger to fly,you will constantly loose orientation even in bright sunlight.

look at the top left and bottom right of these the longer you look the more they seem to change between flying towards or away from you!

[Cthulu]

LoL. I see your point!
Maybe I wont do that then!

Out of interest, Is there a correct answer for the above 4 pics? my perspective definitely changes, but I keep settling more 1 way.

Thanks again for the info. Do you recommend any particular kind of spray paints?

cheers,
L

[Boggy]

Go to your local automotive paint supplier and try and get water soluble 2pac. If you can Avoid cellulose based paints the solvents are aggressive and tend to pickle existing paints,(like a paint stripper does)


i have no idea on what the answer is on the silouettes

[Cthulu]

cheers boggy,
much appreciated.

I may be back......

[dan-eboy]

Boggy seems to have it covered, i work in a bodyshop and i'd go grey scotch, primer, then flat with 800 wet or dry then colour (you might not need to flat the primer down if it's clean) . With primer and grey colours you should't have any problem with bleeding, id try and use a grey primer so the colour covers better.

[Cthulu]

Boggy seems to have it covered, i work in a bodyshop and i'd go grey scotch, primer, then flat with 800 wet or dry then colour (you might not need to flat the primer down if it's clean) . With primer and grey colours you should't have any problem with bleeding, id try and use a grey primer so the colour covers better.

Good stuff. Think i'll be starting this over next week.
! other thing that ive been told to watch. Some of the windows are already installed. I plan on taping them up, but I've heard it can run under. I reckon that'd be a real pain, so is there any surefire way to stop any running under the tape?

thanks for your help dan,

cheers,
L

[Cthulu]

Ive just been looking into the 2 Pac paint. Im not sure if I have the skill or the tools to do it this way. From what I understand, its extremely poisonous and should be done in a booth with extractor etc. Im also assuming its used in a large compressor airbrush system? I dont have access to anything like that. I was hoping there would be a way to do it with Spray Cans, but Im beginning to think thats maybe a no go....

[Boggy]

If you want to use spray cans most automotive paint suppliers can make them up for you in the colours of your choice.

For masking the windows buy a roll of 5mm lining tape and do the edges with this then use the masking tape overlapped onto it.

[Cthulu]

If you want to use spray cans most automotive paint suppliers can make them up for you in the colours of your choice.

For masking the windows buy a roll of 5mm lining tape and do the edges with this then use the masking tape overlapped onto it.

Ah. I didnt know that. So would I just ask for 2 Pac water soluble paint in spray cans, and they'd know what im looking for? I'll need to look into where my nearest Automotive paint supplier is. That sounds ideal. Also, do I need to use a specific type of primer if painting with 2Pac?

Thanks for the masking info as well. Would be a nightmare to get paint over the windshield and side windows!

Cheers boggy,
your a credit to this forum,
atb,
L

[Boggy]

sorry Liam that was a tad misleading. I think the made up aerosols are acrylic. The 2 pack i meant was water based paint as a base coat and laquer.(two packs) I did type 2pac but as you say this is for industrial use in booths with correct breathing equipment,this paint i believe is not used so often now.(its over twenty years since i picked up a gun! so my memory is a little fuzzy. ) if your going to use aerosols just a good hi build primer from halfords even, would do you.