[R-390] Paint and ID plate

[Cecil]

Robert,

My normal procedure is to very lightly dust the panel with a zinc chromate primer.  I let that fully cure for several days.  Then I spray the panel with a fully covering but thin coat of machine gray Rustoleum.  I let that fully cure for several days as well. When a fingernail pulled across it under reasonable pressure won't mess it up its up for re-lettering.  The primer and top coat has to be thick enough to cover but not so thick to fill in the stamped lettering.  It's a fine line.

Rustoleum is slow to cure but much more durable than Krylon.  Krylon cures quickly but chips easily and seems to me to be brittle once cured.  

The zinc chromate primer can be bought at a marine store or boat dealer in spray cans.  For aluminum it's the best choice.  

I user white lacquer sticks for filling the lettering.  Works great but is certainly not the only way to get the job done.

I glass bead blast my knobs, chromate them and spray them with the black paint of choice.  I like the "Tooth" the bead blasting leaves on the knobs. I think it adds durability to the finish which is important for something that gets handled a lot.

As far as the tag...I have striped them with paint stripper then painted them with a light coat of gloss black.  Once fully cured I'll take a sheet of 600 or 1000 grit paper and lay it on a piece of glass.  Wet it down with a mixture of water with a few drops of dish washing liquid mixed in.  Place the tag face down and slide it around in a figure 8 pattern until all the paint is removed from the high spots..which will be the lettering and the tag outer edges.  Comes out really nice.

Hope that helps provide a bit of insight.

My latest panel project I have stripped with a small soda blast machine...came out nice so far...I'll report once its finished.  I have a couple of SP-600 panels waiting and an R-389 once I'm satisfied with the stripping results.

Cecil Acuff
K5DL

Sent from my iPad

On Aug 18, 2013, at 9:04 PM, "Robert N. Newberry" <N1XBM at amsat.org> wrote:

> I have two questions, first one is I have the front panel stripped of
> paint. My plan was to go to an auto parts store to get a rattle can of
> paint for the gray and one rattle can of black for the knobs. My thought
> on this was that usually those colors are used on motors and
> transmissions and I thought it would be a good durable finish. I figured
> on using one of those white paint pens for the knobs and lettering.
> 
> Any ideas pro/cons on this?
> 
> My ID plate I am unsure what I should do. There are two problems that
> are connected the major problem is that something gouged it pretty bad
> and I'm worried it will look bad after all of this work and I'm
> wondering is there someone who re-manufactures these? The second problem
> is that it looks like MFP was applied to the data plate or this thing
> has one mean coat of nicotine, which my nose hasn't detected. I've
> noticed pics of peoples rebuilds and the data plate has a nice
> metallic/black look to them and mine is yellowy/black. I imagine
> cleaning it is easy, but if I could get another data plate pretty easy
> then I'd like to do that. If its going to be a problem I guess I will
> have to live with the gouge.
> 
> Thank you
> -- 
> Apparare Scientior
> Paratus Communicare
> -N1XBM
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