Automobile lacquer??

[Guest]

Hi guys I'm new to the forum and need to ask some advice if I may?

I've built a few gliders etc and have been using tissue to cover them, once covered I normally use dope to finish it off.

I've only got a small amount of dope and no thinners left and as this is probably my last build I don't really want to pay out for more. I do have a spray tin of clear lacquer.

Can I use that or am I being a bit optimistic?

From what I know about the stuff the two are quite similar so just wondered if I could get away with using that rather than buying a load more dope and thinners that I wont use.

Thanks in advance for your help :-)

[Guest]

What type of lacquer is it enamel or cellulose dope is cellulose based so that should be okay not sure on enamel lacquer though.

[eddiesolo]

Instead of dope, which you know is nasty and smelly, you can do it this way: Use glue sticks to attach the tissue to the frame of the model, once dried you can shrink it to fit by using rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, if the tissue wrinkles and the glue is drying reactivate the glue by using a cotton bud dipped in alcohol, work gently to get the tissue right. After 20 mins or so the glue will have hardened so you can then use the rubbing alcohol mixed in in a 50/50 ratio with water-add this to clean squirty bottle and set to a fine mist. You can use water to shrink the tissue but the alcohol just stops things from warping-as you are used to building gliders etc and working in this field you will know what to do. Once all done you can use a clear acyclic lacquer to protect the surface.

All this can be done on the cheap, maybe £10 or so the lot. Rubbing alcohol can be bought at Pharmacies, or even on Ebay, hobby shops etc. You could try car lacquer-I use it on plastic models etc but never used it on tissue so don't know how it will work, it should work okay but don't take my word for it.

Si

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply and for the other method, I'll make a little square and cover it then try the spray tin and seee how that goes, if it all goes wrong I'll invest in some alcohol and give your method a try

Thank you for you help

Dave :-)

[Guest]

Just a quick update, I put some tissue over a bucket, shrunk it and I tried the spray tin lacquer and altho it looks like it was doped the surface still feels really weak so I wont be doing that on the plane. I've ordered some thinners and going to do it the old fassioned way....

[eddiesolo]

Just a quick update, I put some tissue over a bucket, shrunk it and I tried the spray tin lacquer and altho it looks like it was doped the surface still feels really weak so I wont be doing that on the plane. I've ordered some thinners and going to do it the old fassioned way....

Shame it didn't work properly Dave, I think you are doing the right thing. No point in scrimping if at the end of the day you have a weak finish and are re-patching all the time.

Si