Boat Painting

[mschaffer66]

I've read through a few of the builds where you guys are painting the hulls. What kind of technique are you using? I've painted my fair share of RC car bodies, but thats just a rattle can. Do you use automotive style sprayers? Airbrush? What kind of paints would you recommend, lacquer, enamel, acrylic?

I want to paint this supercat up fairly nice...just want to make sure I'm starting out the right way.

Thanks

[egneg]

You would be better off getting someone with experience using automotive paints. There is a large learning curve with both the airbrush and detail guns. The pros you see on youtube have years of experience and make it look easy. To get a decent looking paint job will take at least 2 years of practice in order for you to understand and deal with problems as they arise. This is why a good paint job will cost you anywhere from $200.00 for base coat/clear coat up to $500.00/foot depending on detail and the reputation of the painter. I have been doing this sort of thing for 5 years now and still run into problems where I need help. Here is a sample of my work.

[mschaffer66]

I kinda like doing stuff myself, right or wrong, good or bad :) That way I can learn.

I will probably have someone paint the supercat, not because I have a crazy idea for it, I just want one base color with some flames in another color. But I want it to look really smooth and what not. I think I'll leave my experimenting with the smaller knock around boats :)

I have a Volan that I kinda hopped up a bit that I'm testing my hand at painting. So far it doesn't look too bad.

[dana]

I use automotive paint..why? because i paint cars for a living, so i have access to a spraybooth and any color paint i want. spraycans do ok...(limited color choices) then automotive clear over that looks great. spraycan it yourself then have someone clearcoat man. be cheaper....

[dana]

You would be better off getting someone with experience using automotive paints. There is a large learning curve with both the airbrush and detail guns. The pros you see on youtube have years of experience and make it look easy. To get a decent looking paint job will take at least 2 years of practice in order for you to understand and deal with problems as they arise. This is why a good paint job will cost you anywhere from $200.00 for base coat/clear coat up to $500.00/inch depending on detail and the reputation of the painter. I have been doing this sort of thing for 5 years now and still run into problems where I need help. Here is a sample of my work.

That's flat man..i see no orange peel... you musta sanded and buffed? if so then you must now know what a pain it is to buff a round surface haha cheers!

[Skunk Works]

just take your time with painting. Airbrushing works best for me with light coats and use a quality automotive clear.....There are some in aerosol cans for use on auto rocker panels and door sills.

The key is light coats. Paintiing is a process and take a lot of time to do correctly.

I use autoaire paints and hok on my jobs. Give it a shot. Painting is a learning experience and some work out better than others, need to keep in mind that there will always be another project to do.

Scotty - Skunk Works -

[mschaffer66]

I love some of the House Of Kolor colors, but how do you order them? Seems like there are so many different types of paint on their website. Some of them sound like they are part of a few step process.

Thanks for all the input :) I figure I'll keep painting and painting and some day I'll be good lol

[Skunk Works]

Here is the best source for all of the paint and color needs

TCPGLOBAL

Good people, great products and great service.

All the best

Scotty - Skunk Works -

[dana]

house of color is a multi step process. start simplier, basecoat/ clearcoat. start by finding youre local automotive paint supplier...they'll be able to get you goin as far as what you need...and can make you any colors you like

[egneg]

That's flat man..i see no orange peel... you musta sanded and buffed? if so then you must now know what a pain it is to buff a round surface haha cheers!

I used HOK UC-35 and there was no need to wet sand or buff. But I have had to buff out a boat before and that's a real pain.

[mschaffer66]

I just finished up color on my Volan(don't laugh). I still have to clear it, but it turned out pretty good for the most part. Some bleeding on the mask, blemishes here and there, but hell it was just an experiment and its an ABS hull.




Haven't decided if I'm going to do the bottom or not...

[dana]

looks awesome!! if you paint the bottom will you continue the flames underneath? looks like some intricate work and time consuming i'm sure

[mschaffer66]

Thanks! :) I'm really not sure about the flames on the bottom. This thing sits really low in the water so you wouldn't see much of anything other than on the stand.

I think I'm going to run it for a bit and see how it goes.

Until last week this boat was just going to collect dust or sell off, but I got bored one day and started working on its insides and for being a brushed boat it was pretty quick. On 4S it was running as quick as the BL Blackjack 26 on NIMH. It has twin drives with brushed 600's and an old school Tekin 432M(?) esc. It was shredding those little Proboat plastic props so my buddy gave me a set of much larger 3 blade props to try out. Its a cool little boat, but I'm not sure how much I'll play with it after I get the supercat done...

[crabstick]

im no painter by any means, but I do my own to try to get better at it, I use only automotive paints and primer, use lacquer as its light and drys quick and my mate who is a carpainter tells me its the easiest to use.
rule number one is dont mix different types of paint, ie lacquer and enamel..
I am doing a hatch at the moment and actually found using a paintbrush to prime it allows you to get a much thicker coat than you can shoot with a spraygun. Then I wetsand it with 320, then 800, then 1200.

The other thing that makes the paintjob is sanding. get a cork sanding block and sand sand sand.. the more prep and nicer sanding that goes into it the better the result. I personally hate sanding so thats where my paintjobs normally fall down, that and masking :P

Dont be fooled by the term "masking tape" the paper stuff WILL bleed at the edges and annoy the hell out of you, make sure you use plastic masking tape for edges and areas that will get heavy overspray, i use a norton brand one and it doesn't really bleed you generally get sharp edges

The other hard part is coming up with a scheme before you paint.. doing it on the fly ends up looking like it was done on the fly.. well for me anyway

[egneg]

The nice thing about lacquer is there are no windows for additional coats. With Uros you have to watch your times or wait and add scratch before the next coat.