Well, I should have followed the directions and masked off a gluing strip down the inside of the SRB tubes before painting. Here's one way to remove the paint down to the bare body tube.
Set down a 1/8" wide strip of masking tape down the tube. Note the end doesn't go all the way to the top of the tube, this is the length of the glue line to the main body.
Trace around the edge of the tape with your knife, lightly cutting into just the paint coat.
When you lift the tape, you might see some of the paint lifting inside the scribed line.
Scrape away the long rectangle of white paint. If you are careful, you will only scrape off the paint inside the scribed line.
Before gluing the nose cone in place - The final small sticker goes on the inside surface of the nose cone. Not gluing the nose cone allows you to perfectly slide around and center the sticker.
I marked the inside center line at the top of the tube and nose cone lip.
The small sticker was placed visually towards the top of the nose cone.
The nose cone molding seam was noticeable towards the top.
I did my standard bead of medium CA glue and allowed it to fully dry. Do one side at a time and set the nose cone on its side so the glue won't run as it dries.
Sanding with 220 then 400 followed before spray paint.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI was at the Auto store the other day and bought a can of the Duplicolor FP101 primer that you use. Sprays on pretty nice, not too heavy. I did discover it sands super easy if I let it dry overnight, otherwise it gums up the sanding paper. After letting it dry overnight, it sanded with no issues and did not gum up the paper. How long do you wait for it to dry before sanding....Remember, I live in nice dry warm S. Calif. Also if painting a rocket yellow, red or orange....Do you spray those colors directly over the sanded grey primer or do you spray gloss white first even though there is no white on the finished rocket?
Hi Scigs,
ReplyDeleteI usually let the FP101 primer dry overnight and sand the next day. It does seem to dry faster than other filler/primers I've used.
Regarding white undercoats - I always do white undercoats over the gray primer before spraying any color. Most colors are somewhat transparent and the white brightens things up. White undercoats aren't needed when I spray black.
Thank you very much. I will say, if allowed to dry overnight, FP101 is the best sanding primer I have ever used when it comes to ease of sanding. I have a stash of Centuri Kits that come with red plastic nose cones, even though the final paint color is supposed to be white. I will try the grey primer over the red plastic and see if the red still bleeds through.
DeleteScigs,
DeleteI'm glad you like the Duplicolor F/P. I've been recommending it for a few years but I doubt few have tried it. It is so much better than the gummy Rustoleum F/P. The difference in price and the convenience of buying at a hardware store keep some from looking for it.
Sandpaper might load up a bit, but brush off the gunk under water with a soft wire brush and your sandpaper will seem to last forever.
Scigs,
DeleteI've had colored plastic nose cones show a little after color coats dry. The nose cones in my Fighter Jet kits I get from Apogee show a little yellow unless primer and white undercoats are used.
I think that is because a lot of people only want to use white primer. I have tried white primer, and it takes a lot to achieve good coverage. The FP101 is a filler primer, I thought it would go on thick, and it did not. I was happy how fast it covered without adding much weight.
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