Question on the spraying of Mr. Surfacer 1000....

[bdthoresen]

Hello All. I am in the process of priming my Macchi 202 Folgore and fixing scribing areas, when I ran out of automotive primer. Now, I have been using Mr. Surfacer for a long time out of the jar, and was recently told that I had to use Mr. Color Thinner to thin it for spraying. I mixed it up to my normal consistency, and started spraying. The areas I laid down came out with a beautiful eggshell finish that dried in a matter of minutes, but, I noticed that a small amount of overspray I have had seems to "cobweb" up, and kinda make a mess. I have been airbrushing in modelling and my profession for a combined 20 years- and I have never seen anything like this. Is it a problem with too much pressure? I have not been back at the bench for a couple of weeks, and I have yet to try and have another go at it. So, am I using too much pressure when spraying? Is the thinner the problem? Is there a suitable alternative for thinner that I can find here more readily, as opposed to mail ordering the Mr. Color Thinner? What is the best pressure to spray this stuff at? Thanks for any help here!

 

 

THOR

[Greg Springer]

Hi Thor,

 

The problem is not enough thinner. Lacquers are fast drying and if not thinned enough, droplets of spray will catch on the edges of protruding surfaces and draw out into threads. Sometime the threads will be thin and brittle and can be easily cleaned away by brushing with a stiff-bristled brush. Sometimes they are thicker and have to be knocked away with a toothpick. I use common lacquer thinner to thin my Mr. S. I prefer the 500 to the 1000 as I find that the 1000 takes a long time (months) to dry and that it shrinks. Mr. Surfacer for resin MUST be thinned with the Gunze thinner. In the future, test by spraying on a scrap part that has protruding portions. If you see threads, add more thinner.

 

Cheers!

 

Greg

[bdthoresen]

Thanks Greg, I will give it a go!

 

 

THOR