is latex indoor and outdoor house paint suitable to go on a gas powered aircraft?
or will it blist or get orange peel type effect after a few drops of gas mixed with oil get spilled on the finish?
would you have to put anything over the latex paint , like a clear poly to protect it?

Latex is to heavy and better left for your house even thinned out, I would not cut corners on my planes finish. Go to your local hobby shop or if you don't have one order online fuel proof paint.

Latex is an excellent finish for gas powered planes. It can be applied by a (small) roller, brush (foam brush works well, no loss of bristles) or sprayed on. The best part is you can get any color match you can think of with the facilities any typical paint store has available. Do some research, there is a ton of info available on the subject.

I have had best success with satin or semi gloss, stay away from the gloss. If you are modeling some thing that calls for a gloss finish, you get a better result with a final gloss clear coat over the latex.

thanks for the info gentlemen, and what i am looking for in a finish is a semi gloss finish like satin. which i plan to get some hard to find colors to paint a albitros d3 which is a ww1 bipe. and yes the wt is a factor, but i can not seem to locate hobby paints that are satin or in the colors i am looking for. plus price is also an important part like having to pay $25 a half pint is to costly. and would that paint be much lighter in wt.

Latex is my paint of choice now. My last 3 giant scales have been painted using this method and then top coated to protect the finish. Choice of topcoat is the tough part. I use acrylic latex enamels from the craft store, Michaels.

Latex may be suitable for our models, but keep in mind that interior colors may not be colorfast.

If I were to use latex, I would only use exterior grades of paint.

My club sponsors "Warbirds over Delaware".. In 2011 49 aircraft used latex ext paint. Latex goes on 'heavy',but the carriers evaporate and leave a finish so fine that the fabric weave always shows through.
In the case of replicating a 'metal'finish,it does not cover up details.(There's no fillet from a screw head to the surface.)
The solids are so pure,they cover in one coat.
They dry a different shade,so check a dry sample against your documentation.
21 fellows used a semi-flat clear over coat to bring the overall finish to the same sheen.,compared to decals,markings,etc.
Touch ups are a little difficult as the paint doesn't "feather edge" very well.-Call it battle damage,and enjoy your day.

Latex is to heavy and better left for your house even thinned out, I would not cut corners on my planes finish. Go to your local hobby shop or if you don't have one order online fuel proof paint.

And the funny part is that a properly applied latex paint job is actually lighter when finished than one using the "proper" hobby shop paints/dopes.

A number of fella's that I know use latex paints, and then a thin coat of clear water based polyurethane over the latex to protect it from the oils and fuels. Still lighter than a whole bunch of coats of dope and can be made glow fuel proof with proper application of the polyurethane..

Originally Posted by stardustertoo

A number of fella's that I know use latex paints, and then a thin coat of clear water based polyurethane over the latex to protect it from the oils and fuels. Still lighter than a whole bunch of coats of dope and can be made glow fuel proof with proper application of the polyurethane..

Interesting statements, here.

I have not heard of a waterbased polyurethane. I thought polyurethane was an oil based product.

Waterborne polycryllics, in my testing, have not proved to be fuel proof.

Polyurethanes, have shown a resitance to fuel.

I haven't spent any time learning about the "thanes and 'crylics yet. Still use the old rule of thumb of 'tryin' it.
Did the same thing with rustoleum.and latex..

I even tried Butyrate OVER Nitrate,even though they said you can't....you can't.
and now.......we know.

Who's been successful and with what did you fuel proof latex?
Also....Can we consider our aircraft "interior"since they're seldom wet?and do we think the Interior paints may not be fuel proof?

I have not heard of a waterbased polyurethane. I thought polyurethane was an oil based product.

Waterborne polycryllics, in my testing, have not proved to be fuel proof.

Polyurethanes, have shown a resitance to fuel.

Hi Tom, here is one popular brand that the guys around here use. I have had good luck with it to seal floats on a Kadet Seniorita. Comes in a pint, quart, or in an aerosol spray can ( I do not know how the propellant in the aerosol will affect the latex paint though).

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=70

Here is one other brand just for interest

http://www.cabotstain.com/products/p...yurethane.html

Wow, I'll have to give latex another try, I tried painting a GWS foam plane with latex and it came out heavy. I'll have to check my technique after reading these replies.

When I was in the paint manufacturing business, polyurethanes were a 2 part moisture set product, hardly condusive to being waterborne.

I'm wondering if the term "waterborne polyurethane" is being used as a marketing tool.

I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as the stuff is fuel proof.

When I was in the paint manufacturing business, polyurethanes were a 2 part moisture set product, hardly condusive to being waterborne.

I'm wondering if the term "waterborne polyurethane" is being used as a marketing tool.

I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as the stuff is fuel proof.

Hi Tom, well I can't say as though I know too much about how the stuff is made. I will say though, that the water based stuff I am used to doesn't smell as bad as the oil based, uses water as thinner, and is syrofoam safe. The floats I have for the Seniorita are just cut from a syrofoam block, and then strips of paper were "glued" on to them using the Varathane brand water based polyurethane. The end result is a set of floats that is nice and light, and the paper/urethane skin is resistant to glow fuel, and hard enough to withstand small twigs, weeds, and other crap in our pond

Now, back to the original subject of latex paints.......Roy Vaillencourt has been using latex on his scale contest models for years. He has a really nice write up on how to use latex on his website. It is just under the list of plans he has, under the "Articles" heading on the left side of his homepage.

http://www.vaillyaviation.com/Intro.html

That was informative! Nicely done.