Thursday, October 13, 2022

Estes Solar Sailer II, Kit # 2044, Step 8, Overall White Paint






The model is ready for an overall spray of gloss white.


That first coat shows all the little things that need to be cleaned up.
At the forward tip of the lower fins, the fillets had a pinhole. This was filled with more yellow glue applied with a toothpick. Excess glue was wiped off with a Q-tip. 


A line of pinhole pockets were along some of the truss fillets. More filling with yellow glue.






The exposed face of the centering rings was smooth, but there was a gap around the inner edge of the BT-50.

I used some thinned wood filler followed by 400 grit sanding.

2 comments:

  1. Looking great. How many coats of paint?

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    1. Hi Bill,
      It depends on which brand of paint is being used. Right now I'm using Ace Premium Enamel, gloss white here. It took three coats to fully and evenly cover the gray primer and brown body tube. I lightly sand the rough spots and small leftover glue blobs between the first two lighter coats. The third coat is always a heavier spray, but not enough to cause drips. A heavier final coat gives the best paint gloss. I never use a clear coat unless it is just a little bit applied with a Q-tip on edges exposed to the airstream where a decal could peel.
      I don't use Rustoleum 2X anymore unless it is a color I cant' find anywhere else. The Rusto 2X Gloss White shoots out a rough pigment half the time. The Rusto reds and blacks spatter. The Rusto 2x Metallics are still very good.
      It's too bad about the Rusto 2X - You do get a more opaque finish with much easier coverage. But - I got tired of too many bad cans of paint nearly ruining my builds.

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