So, I'm early for a dentist appointment and stopped at the nearby Ace Hardware store. There was some spray paint on sale. I'd been looking for some light gray paint. I picked up the Ace brand and some Ace gloss white.
Rustoleum 2X is handy, you can find it at Home Depot stores. But the Rusto gloss white can spray in chunks. The Rusto gloss black and red can spatter giving you a textured or orange peel finish. That and the nozzles often clog!
So far . . .
My experience with the Ace brand Premium Paint and Primer has been very good! There are other Ace named products so look for this can.
Even though this can says "Paint and Primer" it's not a true "primer", it's paint.
Rusto 2X can take a while to dry, it can stay sticky for a few days. The Ace paint dries to the touch in 30 minutes in Florida humidity! I'd still wait another day before applying decals on the Ace paint.
EDIT: Plastic nose cones will still take longer to dry. Plastic doesn't "breathe" like balsa and Kraft body tubes.
Here's some notes:
The Ace GLOSS WHITE doesn't dry quite as shiny as the Rusto 2X.
The Ace LIGHT GRAY dries smooth and glossy.
The Ace GLOSS YELLOW dries smooth, not as shiny as the Rusto 2X
The Ace GLOSS BLACK dries very shiny and smooth. Much better finish than the Rusto 2X
The spray nozzle on the ACE Spray Paint is like the Duplicolor nozzle. You can rotate the white tip for different wide or narrow coverage. I tried the narrow path spray and went right back to the wider coverage.
I know - everybody has a paint preference. But - until I see some negative results using the Ace brand paint, I'm going to buy other colors! Rustoleum 2X seems to have changed their formulations a few times in the past ten years. You cross your fingers and press the nozzle button.
Funny you should end up with Ace brand paint - the only two real hardware stores left within reasonable driving distance to me are long time locally owned Ace stores. When I need some oddball bit or piece for one of my get it done projects they’re my choice. I’m out of black and low on white so I’ll give Ace a try and see if it works here up north too.
ReplyDeleteHi Openroad,
DeleteI was apprehensive trying the Ace brand paint. In the past I've had poor results using store (logo) brand, cheaper paints.
This Ace brand paint isn't cheaper than the Rusto 2X, but it seems to have great coverage and dries smooth and shiny.
I can make a great looking model rocket... until it gets painted. It has become really frustrating to not get a decent paint job on something that would look great otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI've been working with Krylon Fusion from Lowe's, it behaves similar to how you describe the Ace paint. But it takes a lot of coats to get a gloss finish, which means lots of chances for something to go wrong, humidity, bugs, runs etc.
But, hey it's just model rocket!
Cheers,
Philip
Hi Phillip,
DeleteKrylon does take too many coats to get an opaque coverage. That's one reason I liked Rusto 2X - initially. Then the spatters came!
All rockets seem to look great until you spray them and all the imperfections show. It comes down to initial surface prep and lightly sanding rough spots between coats.
Yes, learned that the hard way. Now I sand the white primer/base coat to 600 grit before final paint.
DeleteThe final paint is where the heartache comes. I would like to move the entire paint process indoors and start using a water based product like Mission Models. I've pretty much had enough of the nasty stuff.
Philip
Thanks for the observations, Chris. I just bought a new Rusto Black to continue painting my MMX WAC Corporal. I can get a smooth, shiny finish, but it takes thicker coats, and on an MMX model, that's not great. Too bad I didn't see this before using the Rusto. I am about to make a brown and black scheme Hawk missile. I think I'll head to Ace before using the Rusto
ReplyDeleteHi Steve,
DeleteThere is not a great selection of colors under the Ace brand. I've had to go back and forth between the Ace and Rusto 2X cans. You can easily see the difference in the dried finishes. The Ace is smooth, the Rusto shows slight orange peel.
Do you know if the Ace paint is compatible with the Rusto 2X? Can I apply either one over the other?
ReplyDeleteHi Neil,
DeleteI have sprayed the Rusto 2X over the Ace paint with no problems. I haven't yet had to spray the Ace over the Rusto.
Note I was just looking at the web page for the Ace paint and it says it is not UV-resistant, whereas the Rusto 2x is. Probably not important if clear-coated with Krylon UV-resistant clear, but otherwise could it be a problem?
ReplyDeleteBlack is probably not an issue either way, but I'd worry about white. What do you think?
Hi Neil,
DeleteYou could be right! I never think about color paint being UV resistant. I'm more concerned about UV resistance for clear acrylic over decals.
I think color paints are less resistant to yellowing. I can imagine everything will discolor over time. I see that in my house paint getting lighter and more washed out since it was repainted two years ago.
I really only see yellowing of white paint on rockets when they are 20 years old. Clear acrylic over decals can yellow up in only two years!