For better paint adhesion, lightly rough up the surface and use a primer before spray painting the final white coat. Otherwise, the paint will not stick well to the aluminite nose cone material.
The stages were joined and sprayed with gray primer. I tend to spray primer on a little thicker than most. I remove the bulk of the sprayed primer layer with 220 grit and smooth out that surface with 400 grit.
The picture at the right shows how a typical tube might look after sanding and before the white spray.
Look closely and you can see the masking tape in place where the transition shroud will sit. There is a thin line of masking tape over the centering ring that extends over the top of the T-60 lower stage tube.
Another wider line of tape covers about 3/16" below the separation joint between the two stages.
I had to mask the black centering ring and black rear stiffeners in the SRBs to protect from white over spray.
The picture to the left shows my patio door glass. Masking tape was stuck down and circle mask pieces were cut by tracing around BT-60 and BT20 tubes.
Here is the masked centering ring and rear SRBs ready for the white paint.
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