Painting Help/Advice?

[Jedi-Elf]

As some of you may know from other posts I have made, I am in the process of building my second MHS saber, and I have most of the parts I need, but there are still a couple things I need to order from Tim and obtain elsewhere. So, I thought it would be a good idea to get my parts painted and ready for assembly so I have one less thing to do when I get those last few odds and ends. I went to the local Wal-mart and the guy there was pretty helpful and he even pointed me towards a primer that he swears is great for aluminum. So, I'm asking you all for your opinions and advice on what I have and if it should work. Here is the list of what I bought.

Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer (the guy said this should eliminate the need for sanding)

Krylon Indoor/Outdoor(for Metal, wood, wicker and more) Satin finish Black

Rust-Oleum Indoor/Outdoor Metallic Gold

Krylon Crystal Clear Satin finish Indoor/Outdoor clearcoat.

Of course I also got some painter's tape to mask off the sections I don't want painted. So will these work? And do you have any advice about how many coats to use or other application techniques?

[ARKM]

I haven't tried many primers but the one I use on sabers works incredibly well. That would be Krylon black primer. However I have only found black primer in that one name brand and only in one store. Rare stuff where I live.

As far as regular spray paints go, if it sticks well to the primer, it's good enough for me.

Primer dries extremely fast but satin, semi-gloss and gloss paints do not.

After I am done painting a saber, I bake the painted parts in a standard electric oven for 4 hours at 200 degrees fahrenheit. However clear paint may need much more time and might not ever lose at least a tiny amount of tackiness. That may depend on the brand of clear paint. Perhaps some clear paints cure fully, easily. I don't know. The brand I tried did not fully cure, even after 12 hours in the oven.

It also helps to have a lathe to sand off excess paint in areas where you did not want it. but if you mask carefully enough, you should be fine without one.

I hope that helps.

[Caine Drathul]

Instead of painter's tape, use electrical. It's better at forming to all the curves and crevices of parts.

[equinox13]

Instead of painter's tape, use electrical. It's better at forming to all the curves and crevices of parts.

isn't there a threat of that leaving gunk behind? especially if you use it on threads?

[Caine Drathul]

isn't there a threat of that leaving gunk behind? especially if you use it on threads?

Nope.

[Ari-Jaq Xulden]

I have personally found that I prefer no primer. Primer(especially for metal) is thick. The acrylic sticks well to the aluminum already. Also If you bake it on, you wont have to worry about it coming off.

[Crystal Chambers]

Make sure your primer/paint is REALLY dry before using another paint type overtop. Rusto and Krylon are very different and I could see some bubbling occurring if the primer isn't fully cured. Same goes for taping. Even though the surface may appear dry tape can rip paint down to bare metal if it's not fully dried.

I used a tremclad primer that had aluminum labeled as it's main usage. It worked VERY well but took some time to dry fully. And krylon over top worked great.

[ElbE121]

For masking off areas for paint I use an autobody painters tape. It comes in a lot of different widths, even down to 1/16th for pinstriping purposes. Its great and can form patterns and angles with ease.

[ARKM]

I have personally found that I prefer no primer. Primer(especially for metal) is thick. The acrylic sticks well to the aluminum already. Also If you bake it on, you wont have to worry about it coming off.

Krylon black primer is not thick at all. In fact it goes on in extremely thin coats and dries fully in about 10 seconds. I find that I have to use 4 to 6 coats of it before I can switch to paint.

Also, I have done tests with just black primer on aluminum and with just black paint on aluminum (using several different black paints). The primer stuck quite well, the paint, not nearly as well. However those tests were conducted without baking the paint to fully cure it and without paint over primer. As such, I should run the tests again.

Anywho, before I started baking my painted saber parts, because the primer stuck a lot better, a lot of my older sabers just have black primer on them, no paint.

[Jedi-Elf]

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I'm not sure if I will be baking the parts after painting since the only ovens I have are the ones I cook food in and I doubt baking paint in them would be a good idea. As far as the primer goes, I am really curious to know if anyone has ever heard of or tried the self-etching primer which was recommended to me by the guy at Wal-mart. It was not in the main paint section, but in the automotive department and he said it is specifically for aluminum. Anyone know if this will work or will it ruin my saber?