42 replies to this topic

[Pablo]

1. What is a better choice for masking the inside of a can before it goes it the oven, with respect to fire safety?

I've used styrofoam popcorn, but worry about it melting. Anybody tried rolling up a wad of alum foil? 

 

2. Has anybody experimented with acrylic paints on cans? When I neglect cleaning the paint cup on my airbrush, acrylics sure seem to stick like crazy. Why wouldn't it stick the same way on a can?

 

Thanks,

Pablo

[Bill from NH]

When I painted C-cans, I made a mandrel out of 1/2" balsa that got baked with the painted cans. I paint my cans before adding bushings/bearings or magnets.

 

I never tried acrylics to paint motor cans. If used, you'd have to like flat colors on your cans. Personally. I like wrinkle paint, but that's tough to find locally now. I have a can of the "hammered look" to try & a can of the stuff they sell for painting the insides of car trunks. Try some of your acrylics & see how you like it. It might work okay.

[Pablo]

I guess I'd have to shoot a gloss coat after. Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten that 

[Pablo]

I got a bottle of Model Master acrylic gloss clearcoat and at some point will try a can painting experiment.

If acrylics stick to a can as well as a cheap airbrush cup, it may work well LOL 

[gshdralph]

https://www.mcmaster...r-coating-tape/

[Pablo]

I got a bottle of Model Master acrylic gloss clearcoat and at some point will try a can painting experiment.

If acrylics stick to a can as well as a cheap airbrush cup, it may work well LOL 

I'm ready to try this. Thanks to Bill for his input - spraying acrylic on a can needs a gloss coat. First step is preparation. Can stripped of 55 years of paint and blind bushing. Somebody soldered this one in, and it took lots of persuasion to remove it LOL

 

[HarV Wallbanger III]

I used Seymour 316l stainless steel paint on my cans for several years with good results but I painted with mags installed and just used a ear plug material in the can to stop from painting the inside of mags. This stainless IS magnetic and that's what I wanted. If I wanted to paint before mags then the balsa wood idea should work great.

 

In the old days I just used lacquer paint because I did not want to insulate the heat in the can. Lacquer paint is thin and other types are thicker and not allow the heat to get out as well.

Good luck

 

http://www.seymourpa...tainless-steel/

[HarV Wallbanger III]

BTW guys

This paint is great for painting items that are used outside! I have a set of steps I painted for our car trailer when we went hunting in Montana in 2008. It was painted in this 316Lstainless steel paint and still after all these years looks great. It has been outside in the heat of So. Cal and the winter snow here in the Sierras

[Pablo]

Hi Barney!    Down here in the high humidity and extreme temp changes of Mississippi, waiting for lacquer weather could take weeks. If my experiment works, I could paint cans in my apartment 

 

Before paint, I need to install a new Slick 7 bushing. I used my 5mm BIT/drill bit tool to punch the hole out, then fine tuned it with a round chainsaw file

 

 

Here's a tip if you want to ensure your Mabuchi can is true. Most modern "D" can BITs are too big to enter the Mab blind bearing cans. But a JDS BIT fits perfect

 

 

Bushing soldered home - I used a new Champion endbell to ensure perfect alignment. I passes the "fall through" test

 

 

The Champion EB fits this can so well, I may even make a complete motor out of this. If the paint job works, anyway 

 

[Isaac S.]

I like that Champion endbell.  I also like those flanged bushings, I am used to the champion ones without flanges and they are hard to get soldered in. 

[Pablo]

Grasshopper, Champion bushings without flanges are designed to be press-fit into endbells, not soldered to cans 

 

Several mist coats of Model Master acrylic 4680 primer applied to the can, blow dried each time. Covered up the scratches real nice

 

 

If this works, no more oven baking for me ........

[Bill from NH]

Isaac, what diameter bushings are you using? 5MM or 6MM? There should be plenty of flanged 5MM oilites around, maybe some 6MM ones by Parma or Mura. Finding Slick 7 bronze bushings like Pablo used is getting to be as difficult as picking a hen's teeth. They once were plentiful, so if you see some NOS, grab them.

 

Pablo, is this Model Master paint you're using a water-based acrylic or a hybrid like some of the Tamiya & Vallejo? I'm asking because I've never used Model Master before, & I think I have some Italian Red. The first acrylic paint I bought in 2005 was Kyosho RC paint. I quickly found out it was not water-based.

[Isaac S.]

Pablo, they aren't the ones you are thinking of. You are thinking of the ones in the that went into the Cycolac endbells from 517's and 617's. I was using the fairly rare and unique ones that go on the cans and (Celcon) endbells of 507's, they are the same. They are also the same size as the 507 can ball bearings. Better as they aren't so sloppy though. 

 

Bill, I had 3 NOS ones but sold a can that had one I soldered in traded another can with one and the other NOS one at the swap meet a few weeks ago so I don't have any more. But I measured a champion ball bearing that is the exact same size and it was about 6.5MM. 

[Isaac S.]

Also, they eventually switched from the 507 specific oilite I talked about above to the 517 flanged bushing. 

[Isaac S.]

I found a picture! 

[Pablo]

Pablo, is this Model Master paint you're using a water-based acrylic or a hybrid like some of the Tamiya & Vallejo? 

It is water based. Nothing on the label says "Flammable". Eye irritant only. Bunky says "make sure the airbrush is pointed at the work, not your face" LOL

 

Primer turned out great

 

[Pablo]

Model Master "Arctic Blue Metallic" worked real nice

 

 

Next step is the gloss coat. But I have to remind myself, the purpose of the experiment is finding out if acrylics are a good choice for motor cans. If the paint starts chipping or smudging as I build a motor around it, it's a fail.

 

We shall see ........

 

 

[Bill from NH]

The primer & color coats you applied both appear real smooth. I wonder if baking the completed can at a low temperature would harden the paint any? You could also spray a piece of scrap metal & bake it. Then do a scratch test to see if adhesion is affected.

[HarV Wallbanger III]

Wow looks ..Purddy!

[Pablo]

The primer & color coats you applied both appear real smooth. I wonder if baking the completed can at a low temperature would harden the paint any? You could also spray a piece of scrap metal & bake it. Then do a scratch test to see if adhesion is affected.

 

I could bake it, but that is outside the intent of the experiment. The whole purpose here is to see if I can shoot an indoor paint and blow dry like a body. Without waiting for good outdoor weather, without waiting days for paint to dry, or baking.

 

Everything worked great until the gloss coat - it ruined a good paint job

 

 

I don't know what happened. It beaded up and didn't add any "gloss" whatsoever. Matter of fact it made it less glossy. Wish I had just stopped after the blue paint - it looked fine as a "semi-gloss". Lesson learned. The gloss will now be removed.

[Bill from NH]

Have you used this gloss before, with other paints? You used all Model Master paints,  there shouldn't have been any incompatibilities.

[Pablo]

I concur. This is the first time I've used it. The bottle was brand new, I didn't thin it - the consistency was good right out of the bottle. I can't figure what could have gone wrong. Maybe it was a bad or old batch. Water under the bridge. I don't really want my cans to be "high gloss" anyway.

 

Back to square one. This next time, a couple light coats of primer to fill the scratches, then a couple light coats of blue

 

[Bill from NH]

If you ever want gloss blue for something, add some gloss clear to the blue & spray them together.

 

On a YouTube Createx video I saw today, the person painting  on it said he often airbrushes with some 19 year old acrylics. And I was thinking of dumping my stuff that's 10 yrs. old. Guess I'll hang onto it a while longer. 

[LindsayB]

I didnt paint many C cans mainly cobalt magnet stuff. Here is what I did, always after magnets are installed. Clean can to bare metal insert a mandrel inside the can to stop paint on magnets. pre-solder where you solder the can to the chassis clean can again to remove flux used in soldering process. Then I used a paint used on automotive engines, normal crinkle paint and baked in oven for time spec'd on paint can - generally much less heat than the glue holding the magnets in.

[Pablo]

If you ever want gloss blue for something, add some gloss clear to the blue & spray them together.

No way. There isn't enough time left in my life to experiment with products that fail. I'll re-prime and paint the can, sans gloss. Looked in my armature "box of horrors" and found a Havlicek 26 that fits the setup perfect. What started as a paint experiment is morphing into a full blown blueprinted motor