Rust-oleum paint

[TracerB]

Hello all,

I was wondering if any of you have had any issues with Rust-oleum Painters Touch 2X Ultra cover? This evening I painted the hood of Moebius Ford F-250 snow plow truck. I put it in my Micro Mark drying oven for about an hour. When I removed it, not only was it still VERY tacky, it had glossy and dull areas on the exterior. It was dull over the areas that were stamped on the bottom to simulate the insulation. I've never had much luck with Rust-oleum spray bombs. They never seem to dry completely. I live in the Cincinnati area and I've been to local hardware stores and even the big box stores and no one seems to have Krylon anymore. Did they go out of business?

Any help will be much appreciated!

Tracer

[Straightliner59]

All I can tell you is that I bought a couple of cans, several years ago, and have used any of it, once! I experienced the same things you did. Lowe's carries Krylon. Hobby Lobby does, too--at least in this area. I've been using Krylon for 50 years. It's never failed me. I've accidentally put it on too heavily, but I have never had an issue with their paint. Krylon=Good. Rustoleum=Not So Good!

[Dave G.]

I decant the 2X paints, add a bit of lacquer thinner and airbrush them. And cook them for a couple of hours. That makes it handl-able but full cure takes longer ( 6-8 hours in the dehydrator,or a few days room air dried). Works for me, super smooth gloss. But that's if to use enamel, I've gone more and more to acrylics.

Cincinnati tends to run humid so that will further the dry times of most paints, I'm sure.

As to Rustoleum from the can, it helps to heat the can up in hot water just so after shaking it's still warm to the touch but not hot, you get more pressure,better atomization and thinner coats that flow out more evenly. Thinner coats make for a little faster flash time to the touch. I did a 40 Ford hood that way and it came out like glass in one coat. If it goes on unheated it's too thick, you get the blochiness, thick here, thinner there, orange peel over there, smooth in that spot etc.. Just heat the can up you don't get that or less of it. But that's why I decant and physically thin it a bit extra, plus the airbrush has better control and I do about 4 coats. Out of the can you get one shot at it in my experience.

I used to use Krylon years ago, it's harder to find here these days and when you do find it there are a bunch of missing slots. I mostly used the primer colors in model railroading though. The only gloss I stocked was at work, red, white and black and semigloss black. It was used on the old metal heater boxes and such things in 1/1 heavy trucks.

[Zippi]

I use Rust-Oleum 2X paint a lot but just for small parts and sometimes the flat black primer on chassis.  This paint sprays out very thick so you have to be careful with it.  What primer did you use and did you let the paint flash before putting it in your paint dryer?  One hour in a dryer is not going to do much.  When I use my Dehydrator to dry paint I set the temp at 104° and let it dry for a few hours and over night for laquer and enamel paint.  Wait until the humidity is below 60%.  Your going to get a lot of different anwsers on this.  

Edited May 1, 2023 by Zippi

[yh70]

i use Rust-oleum Painters Touch 2X all the time. never had any problem with it until i sprayed the Moebius Ford F-250 snow plow truck hood and had the same problem as you did. my problem was i just did not prime the hood well enough..once i Easy Off the pant off and re primed (white. always) no problem with the paint. so you may not had a thick enough coat of primmer on the hood..

[ctruss53]

There is a simple solution to this.

Use quality paints designed for scale modeling like Tamiya, or Mr Hobby.  You will get great results, consistently. And you won't need a drying oven.

[Muncie]

Sorry, not much help here... Had to get a Krylon spray can last week for a different project (not a model car).  I tried to match an old can of Fusion 2328 Pepper Red.  Krylon was bought by Sherwin Williams a few years ago but the local S/W store had only a small selection.  The local big farm and home improvement stores that I tried didn't have Krylon and were completely changed over to Rust-oleum products.  A big box store had a few cans - it looked like they were closing out spray cans altogether.  They used to have a 60 foot row of spray paint. O'Riley's and NAPA had only a small selection of Krylon.  After checking ten places, NAPA had Pepper Red but with a new number.  I'm hoping it is close enough.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Rustoleum is only good for painting lawn furniture. 

Hobby paints are the most drama free. Automotive paints work great also.

Don't mix brands or types of paint.

The money saved by trying use the wrong paint is not reliable or worth the aggravation 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by bobthehobbyguy

[Lunajammer]

While doing a Nerf gun sci fi blaster conversion, I wanted a REALLY flat black, so I used Rustoleum 2X ULTRA MATT. It was ultra-not-very-matt at all. Semi gloss at best.

 

In this case everything worked out fine, but buyer beware.

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

7 hours ago, ctruss53 said:

There is a simple solution to this.

Use quality paints designed for scale modeling like Tamiya, or Mr Hobby.  You will get great results, consistently. And you won't need a drying oven.

Exactly.

Go cheap on other parts of the build.

I use MCW and Scale Finishes lacquers for bodies, and you couldn’t pay me to go back to using some of these “bargain” paints.

 

 

Steve

[peteski]

23 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Go cheap on other parts of the build.

I would take this to the next level:  Don't be cheap on your hobby which you really enjoy (and which makes you forget about the grind and craziness of your daily life), and it is not much fun when your model is ruined by some cheap paints.  Last thing you want is for your hobby becoming frustrating.  Be thrifty on other things unrelated to the hobby.  Get your priorities straight. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 minutes ago, peteski said:

I would take this to the next level:  Don't be cheap on your hobby which you really enjoy (and which makes you forget about the grind and craziness of your daily life), and it is not much fun when your model is ruined by some cheap paints.  Last thing you want is for your hobby becoming frustrating.  Be thrifty on other things unrelated to the hobby.  Get your priorities straight. 

I agree.

I will confess that I do use Rustoleum paint for other aspects of my projects, but there are so many much better paints available for bodies that I wouldn’t consider using hardware store paints for that.

I mostly use the Rustoleum paint that you can buy in the small cans and thin it for airbrush for basic chassis work because I’m used to enamels, and the stuff in the cans is pretty much identical to what you get in the small Testors bottles at a much more economical price.

Besides, when you’re doing stuff like this to your chassis, there’s really no need for high end paint. 😊

 

 

 

Steve

[yh70]

On 5/1/2023 at 9:26 AM, bobthehobbyguy said:

Rustoleum is only good for painting lawn furniture. 

Hobby paints are the most drama free. Automotive paints work great also.

Don't mix brands or types of paint.

The money saved by trying use the wrong paint is not reliable or worth the aggravation 

 

I strongly disagree. I been using Rustoleum paints & primers on models for many years. with no problems like running like water..lol..that's the biggest joke i ever heard. he just got tired of shaking the big can of paint. you cant shake the big cans of paint like you do the small ones. they require after they been sating at the least 3 minuets on the clock. then while you using them depending on how long you sat them down 1 to 2 minuets.. Hobby paints are not all what they suppose to be ether..

 

[StevenGuthmiller]

My biggest issue with Rustoleum paint is just the inconsistency and the awful spray cans.

I’ve found that it’s usually too thick to spray nicely, and the spray cans are nothing but trouble.

They would almost inevitably plug up on me after one use, which probably has something to do with the thick paint as well.

I don’t really care much what people use, but it’s undeniable that there are WAY better paints available to us than Rustoleum.

Especially if you graduate away from rattle cans to an airbrush.

Opens up a whole new world.

 

 

 

Steve

[bluenote]

Myself, I just use Tamiya rattle cans.  I know exactly what to expect, they are perfect every time.  Quick and easy. They are pricey, but I only build a few kits per year.  I use scalefinishes for cars that I need a unique colour for.

[Jim B]

My experience with Rust-Oleum is usually hit or miss.  Come to think of it, most of my painting is usually hit or miss. 🤔

Edited May 2, 2023 by Jim B

[atomicholiday]

36 minutes ago, Jim B said:

My experience with Rust-Oleum is usually hit or miss.  Come to think of it, most of my painting is usually hit or miss. 🤔

Same here.  And it doesn’t seem to matter what paint I’m shooting.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Decades ago, Rustoleum was a reliably high-quality product that I used for a wide variety of non-model and occasionally modeling projects.

I never had any issues with the stuff, and their fish-oil based "Rusty Metal Primer" was about as close to magic for protecting steel stored outside as I've ever seen.

Now, as with so many other products plagued by "offshore" production and only spotty quality control, you never know from can to can if you'll get anything that's even usable.

I still have acceptable and very predictable results from most Duplicolor products (though they seem to be constantly tinkering with and renaming their primers), and Tamiya made-for-modeling paints are the best currently-available rattlecan materials, period.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[Dave G.]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

My biggest issue with Rustoleum paint is just the inconsistency and the awful spray cans.

I’ve found that it’s usually too thick to spray nicely, and the spray cans are nothing but trouble.

They would almost inevitably plug up on me after one use, which probably has something to do with the thick paint as well.

I don’t really care much what people use, but it’s undeniable that there are WAY better paints available to us than Rustoleum.

Especially if you graduate away from rattle cans to an airbrush.

Opens up a whole new world.

 

 

 

Steve

That's true but the airbrush goes a long ways to level the playing field with 2X as well. Decant ( now you can mix colors), a bit of lacquer thinner and the stuff flows great. I'd say as good as Model Master enamels did.  You can't do everything with them but great for pastels and solid colors. Get into 60's metallics and that's another story.

These days I shoot more acrylic base coats though.

[SfanGoch]

From what I get from this, and other related threads, there seems to be some kind of apprehension/fear of investing in a reasonably priced airbrush and compressor. You'll obtain far better results with much less paint waste compared to using rattlecans. Not to mention, there are more airbrushable auto and specialty colors available than if you only depend on Tamiya and the like. For the cost of a dozen or so Tamiya rattlecans, you can get a decent airbrush and compressor.

[SfanGoch]

16 minutes ago, Dave G. said:

That's true but the airbrush goes a long ways to level the playing field with 2X as well. Decant ( now you can mix colors), a bit of lacquer thinner and the stuff flows great. I'd say as good as Model Master enamels did.  You can't do everything with them but great for pastels and solid colors. Get into 60's metallics and that's another story.

These days I shoot more acrylic base coats though.

Get Badger Stynylrez primers. Excellent coverage, dries rock hard and doesn't obliterate fine details. Comes in 18 colors to suit every situation. The flat black dries to a dead flat finish and the gloss black dries to a more semigloss look. You can reduce them with acrylic thinners or 70% IPA to improve paint flow while airbrushing.

[Dave G.]

45 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Get Badger Stynylrez primers. Excellent coverage, dries rock hard and doesn't obliterate fine details. Comes in 18 colors to suit every situation. The flat black dries to a dead flat finish and the gloss black dries to a more semigloss look. You can reduce them with acrylic thinners or 70% IPA to improve paint flow while airbrushing.

I use Stynylrez and have been for about 7 years now. It's smooth right from the bottle and thinning as you've mention all work. Here's one for you though, baby bottom smooth, egg shell sheen finishes thinning with Lacquer thinner. I know, I know, I didn't believe it either. A guy in the FSM forums put me on that idea a couple of years ago. I will say I generally only thin it when using finer needles though. It's great primer ! I use it for both acrylics and enamels. I will say I got a little sand scratch swell when using it with hot lacquers but then I'm not much of a fan of hot lacquers anyway. And a quick scuffing and one or two more light coats and the scratches were gone so it wasn't very severe.

[oldcarfan]

It seems to me that Rustoleum's quality control is shoddy at best. I bought several cans of a particular color for a large project and one can was fine and three were really bad. About the only difference I could see was the lot number was different on the good can. Krylon is almost impossible in my area but it is always a better product when you can find it.

[slusher]

I myself use Krylon  short cuts at Hobby Lobby the flat black is a nice satin and i use satin in Krylon all the time..

[kurth]

I am curious why the finish is different on the areas with under hood detail. Did you paint both the top and bottom of the hood?

Is this paint so hot that it is softening the plastic or something? 

I am firmly in the camp of using an Airbrush and quality paints, but The chemistry and physics of what is happening with this paint is interesting.