I did a test panel, using a slab of iron balsa. I covered it with Doculam, cleaned the doculam with acetone, and then painted it with Testors spray gloss silver paint.

After it dried a few days, I made a mask from frisket film, cutting it into a meaningless pattern (watch, somebody'll see what I did and read some deep philosophical meaning into it ). After that, I put the mask on and FIRMLY rubbed it onto the silver, then sprayed on flat black (Krylon).

Net result: A small amount of the silver was lifted, but not enough to show wood through. This is with my pressing the frisket paper onto the silver as hard as I could. I believe that, in normal use, the frisket paper would make almost no mark onto the base coat.

Bill B.

Bill,
I had pretty much the exact same results. I did my test on an open covered balsa frame. First test I just cleaned the surface with Denatured Alcohol and sprayed white Krylon. Then used automotive quality masking tape. Did ok on the first mask job. My second paint layer was Testors orange color. It went over the Krylon fine and the auto tape came off with no problem. Then I taped over the orange and tried to paint a blue line to join the orange to the white. When I removed the tape this time, it lifted the paint from the Doculam all the way down to the clear sheet.

Second test was with the Doculam buffed with steel wool and used Rustolium spray white instead of the Krylon. Instead of the automotive mask I used both Frisket and blue low tack painters tape. Results were much improved from the peeling problem but the edge bleed is unacceptable. There are a few trick around this but still, painting isn’t as easy as it sounds. I’ve decided to still use Doculam for its other great qualities. Just need a little strategy in the covering. I think use of vinyl trim sheets will solve my multilayer problems.

What I have found for masking the enamel spray cans that I used is to first make sure the paint has cured well by first waiting at least 24 hours between colors. I then use plain ol masking tape after having stuck to my clothes first to take some of the adhesive off. It worked realy well on my 109.

Jim

Originally Posted by JIMA

What I have found for masking the enamel spray cans that I used is to first make sure the paint has cured well by first waiting at least 24 hours between colors. I then use plain ol masking tape after having stuck to my clothes first to take some of the adhesive off. It worked realy well on my 109.

Jim

Jim, that’s exactly what I did. I think the problem may have been the chemical bond between the Rustolium enamel base and the Testors acrylic coat on top. Perhaps using the same brand of paint would help. I’ll try another test before I get to the real thing.

Thanks,
Palmetto

I use the blue masking tape, and rub the edge down firmly with a fingernail or credit card. When spraying, I first mist on a light coat to seal the edge of the tape and then let it dry a bit (doesn't take long with Krylon), then proceed as normal. This seems to work ok, I haven't had much trouble with bleeding or lifting...

ericm

Originally Posted by Adrian Britton

Still can't find any of this stuff around here. Maybe someone would send me a few feet for Christmas in exchange for a few feet of one of my plans
Ade

You have mail - check your PM.

Tom

Originally Posted by ericm

I use the blue masking tape, and rub the edge down firmly with a fingernail or credit card. When spraying, I first mist on a light coat to seal the edge of the tape and then let it dry a bit (doesn't take long with Krylon), then proceed as normal. This seems to work ok, I haven't had much trouble with bleeding or lifting...

ericm

Another way to seal the edges and prevent any bleed under the tape is to seal the edge with a very fine mist coat of clear. Than overspray that with the next color. If the clear bleeds a bit, so what?

I use the less tacky masking tape sold by 3M in the photo/scrapbook section of the local craft store. It does not work well on compound surfaces. Might try vinyl as a mask on those pesky surfaces as ti sticks well and can work aroun complex curves. Don't know if it will lift paint tho. I also found that waiting at least 24 hrs for a good cure is essential.

My prep is to rub down with vinegar (acetic acid), then with alcohol, then paint. Best results were with house acrylic latex for all the coats.

charlie

Thanks for the masking tips. I've started another test piece. Yesterday I recovered my test rectangle shape frame with Doculam. Buffed it again with steel wool. No one else has mentioned this but it doesn't hurt and can only give the paint something better to grip to. Sprayed a coat of white Krylon from a new can. Now I'm waiting until Monday for the next layer with some color.

Thanks for the good suggestions.
Palmetto

Got a test flight on my Altair 400. The tissue stayed on the Doculam just fine, despite our sand and gravel runway. I will make the plans for the Altair 400 available shortly (but I'll post the notice in the Sport forum!).

Bill B.

I mentioned earlier that I'd had a hard time looking for a reasonable supplier for the film here.

Tom Jacoby found this one which is in Weston-Super-Mare

http://www.muro.co.uk/laminate/rollLamFilm.html

Thanks Tom!!

Now this fine gentleman let me have a little of his, so you might be seeing a little sister design coming out to play with "Altair", Bill Bowne!

Ade

Adrian, you are most welcome. A bit of Doculam is slim thanks for the wealth of great designs that you turn out.

Tom
www.warbirdkits.com

Hey Doculam Fans -
I've been using this stuff on my Bellanca Columbia and absolutely loving it - I think it goes on way easier than I was expecting, and shinks even more than I was expecting also. I was reading somewhere on here where Glenn was talking about creating a "tarp" with his fingers when covering the tail feathers - I took that idea one step further and devoloped an utterly foolproof method for covering tail feathers, and most wings. I think you guys will agree, this is a pretty cool trick, and it's quite a time saver as well. On with the show:

1. I layed out all my tail feathers (really you can do this with any pieces that are of equal thickness) on my table, and covered them with a generous piece of Doculam.

2. Then I taped the four corners of the Doculam - got them pretty tight. Then I started taping at even intervals between the corners. I did this until the entire sheet was pretty tight, and there were no wrinkles at all over my parts:

Then I simply ran my iron over all my parts - I have a 21st Century iron that has the temp gauge - I set it to between 250 and 300 degrees F. The Doculam goes clear and tacks onto the parts really well.