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Started this in someone's build thread, but it's not really specific to that model, so posting in Techniques instead.
I'm sort of working on a program to try different painting procedures to minimize weight but still get the smoothness I want. Kind of waffle on how seriously to pursue it, though, because it's a ton of sanding, no matter what, and I hate sanding.
I think the next rocket I do, I'll follow @hcmbanjo's method the way I understand it. That is, before doing anything else, CWF or equivalent in the spirals, block it down flat, and then filler primer on the bare tube, blocked down until it's spotty into the glassine, roughly 50-50. Sand the filler primer off the bonding areas where you're going to glue and fillet fins. Similar on the fins: CWF and block flat, then filler primer and block back down flat before gluing. After gluing and fillets, sand the fillets, apply primer, and hopefully it's all smooth enough for paint.
Based on my experience so far, I pretty much expect to need another layer of filler primer at that point, at least in some areas to get them smooth, and then that means another layer of primer to make a consistent undercoat if using anything but dark colors. Which is where the weight builds up.
I did come up with today's Tips and Technique of the Day post: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-of-the-day-thread.177679/page-5#post-2442953
So far, I'm using Acryli-Quik, which goes on nicely, but I don't know how much weight it's adding vs. other paints with similar covering ability.
I have used Rusto filler primer with AQ white primer under all my colors. I find the color over the grey filler primer is noticeably different, even with medium-hue colors, so every time there's RFP added, I have to add some white primer. Splotches are no good and require additional color coat to hide. So it's kind of a wash, except that it's easier logistically to buy a lot of the primer that's used on everything and less of each color.
One thing I have found is that the AQ primer is really good at locking any fibers that are raised by sanding the cardboard. 400 grit dry and you have a smooth surface to work with. So far, this has been my procedure:
I'm not sure how much hcmbanjo's procedure will save. Maybe one layer of primer if the first layer post-assembly ends up being smooth enough. But I can totally see needing another layer of FP after that.
I'm also going to try eRockets sanding sealer to see if it lets me get this done with less total sanding of the wood parts.
Would love it if Chris would come in and explain how many and what layers he finds are usually required.
I'm sort of working on a program to try different painting procedures to minimize weight but still get the smoothness I want. Kind of waffle on how seriously to pursue it, though, because it's a ton of sanding, no matter what, and I hate sanding.
I think the next rocket I do, I'll follow @hcmbanjo's method the way I understand it. That is, before doing anything else, CWF or equivalent in the spirals, block it down flat, and then filler primer on the bare tube, blocked down until it's spotty into the glassine, roughly 50-50. Sand the filler primer off the bonding areas where you're going to glue and fillet fins. Similar on the fins: CWF and block flat, then filler primer and block back down flat before gluing. After gluing and fillets, sand the fillets, apply primer, and hopefully it's all smooth enough for paint.
Based on my experience so far, I pretty much expect to need another layer of filler primer at that point, at least in some areas to get them smooth, and then that means another layer of primer to make a consistent undercoat if using anything but dark colors. Which is where the weight builds up.
I did come up with today's Tips and Technique of the Day post: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...-of-the-day-thread.177679/page-5#post-2442953
So far, I'm using Acryli-Quik, which goes on nicely, but I don't know how much weight it's adding vs. other paints with similar covering ability.
I have used Rusto filler primer with AQ white primer under all my colors. I find the color over the grey filler primer is noticeably different, even with medium-hue colors, so every time there's RFP added, I have to add some white primer. Splotches are no good and require additional color coat to hide. So it's kind of a wash, except that it's easier logistically to buy a lot of the primer that's used on everything and less of each color.
One thing I have found is that the AQ primer is really good at locking any fibers that are raised by sanding the cardboard. 400 grit dry and you have a smooth surface to work with. So far, this has been my procedure:
- CWF or equivalent on spirals and grain
- white primer, dry sanding
- Rusto filler primer, and sand (dry, or wet if possible)
This is where I've made progress, going from just sanding the RFP to be smooth, to basically knocking it down until the white is starting to show through all over the place. I did find on a nose cone that if I kept sanding until I had mostly the AQ white primer showing, the spots that were RFP had gotten lower than the surrounding AQ primer and I had to go another round with the RFP to level everything up. So just far enough to know that I've gotten through most of the RFP thickness, but still mostly RFP on the surface, seems to be optimum.
- white primer
After this is where I used the brush-on RFP technique, and was able to knock those spots down waaaay faster than if I'd sprayed RFP over larger areas.
- white primer in patches to cover over RFP spots
- dry sand
- color
I'm not sure how much hcmbanjo's procedure will save. Maybe one layer of primer if the first layer post-assembly ends up being smooth enough. But I can totally see needing another layer of FP after that.
I'm also going to try eRockets sanding sealer to see if it lets me get this done with less total sanding of the wood parts.
Would love it if Chris would come in and explain how many and what layers he finds are usually required.