[R-390] R390 Front Panel Restored - Comments Wanted on color

Sun Jun 30 09:41:43 EDT 2019

I beg to differ about spray cans - conditionally.  First, the paint has to be of reasonable quality.  VHT and Rustoleum both make decent paints. After curing, which takes a lot longer than you think - they're mighty tough.   Secondly, the main issue with cans isn't the paint, it's the delivery system.  The spray nozzles are cheap and have a crummy spray pattern.  That's not to say you can't get a good finish with the stock nozzles, but the cards are stacked against you.  It takes a lot more control to get a nice finish with a can than it does with a gun.  My R390A was done with cans in gloss Dark Machinery Gray) using the nozzles they came with and it looks like an OEM automotive finish (pic attached).  I took the picture from the most unflattering angle to show the finish in its worst light and to exaggerate the orange peel.

All that aside, let me get back to my comments about the delivery system with a can.  Like I said, the nozzles are generally poor (although the nozzles on VHT cans are decent).  Rustoleum is the worst in terms of the nozzle.  High volume output and a small round spray pattern.  I figured I couldn't have been the only one to realize this and searched online for fan spray nozzle upgrades.  They exist!  Along with an adapter to adapt the male peg on the rustoleum cans to a standard male nozzle peg.  I bought some online and they work extremely well (pic of retrofitted can attached).  I got everything I needed off of Amazon but I also found that graffiti artist supply outfits have the same things too - in fact they have just about every spray pattern nozzle you can think of.  I certainly do not condone graffiti art and hate seeing it, but the suppliers to real artists have stuff we can use for our purposes.  I used the nozzle upgrade for the front panel of my R390 (not A) and was very pleased with the results.  Still not as easy to work with as a gun, but waaayy better than the nozzle the can came with.

Here's what I bought:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SKCWSWS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6V13Q9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're not inexpensive, but I've only used one set for 7 cans of paint, so they hold up well and are of course reusable.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net <r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Robert P. Meadows
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2019 11:35 PM
To: 'Tom Bridgers' <tarheel6 at msn.com>; 'Charles Steinmetz' <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
Cc: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] R390 Front Panel Restored - Comments Wanted on color

Folks,
Go to Sherwin Williams, an Industrial facility, not the homeowners paint store, and have them mix the fed std color you need in either Ordnance Polyurethane or one of their other quality Urethanes, 218 is good.  It is not cheap, but, will give a lasting and proper color/finish.  You cannot get a decent finish on any panel with a spray can.  I have found that Harbor Freight gravity feed spray guns work as well as my Binks or Devilbiss units, and they are cheap, normally as low as $9.99 when on sale.  Of course you will need a decent air compressor with good filtering.

Note that the Fed Std 26152 is a semigloss or low luster finish.  The 1000xxx series is high gloss and of course the 3000x series is Flat, no gloss.
R

-----Original Message-----
From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net <r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Tom Bridgers
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2019 9:31 PM
To: Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com>
Cc: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [R-390] R390 Front Panel Restored - Comments Wanted on color

I agree with Charles and Les.  Great paint job.  And yes, I’ve owned many R-390’s and R-390A’s and there is a wide variation in color.

Enjoy,
Tom KE4RHH 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 29, 2019, at 5:08 PM, Charles Steinmetz <csteinmetz at yandex.com> wrote:
> 
> John wrote:
> 
>> Pic attached.  I'm not thrilled with the color, I would have much 
>> preferred the FED-STD-26152 from Coronado but I was having so many 
>> problems with spraying it and getting it cure in a timely fashion - 
>> it cures slower than any other brand I've ever used.
> 
> You have a very handsome 390.  I have worked on dozens and dozens of them, and can say unequivocally that the color is WELL within the wide variation of original colors.  Regardless of what a spec sheet says, or a can of paint on Collins' shelf looked like, they were just NOT all one color -- and the variation is quite substantial.
> 
> Time to relax and use it in the intended manner.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Charles
> 
> 
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