Saving Old Seagulls

Hi guy,s what,s the best paint and primmer and laquer for brass tank,s cheer,s

Brass is one of those difficult metals, as you may realise. Paint tends to fall off it. Including the paint on Seagull fuel tanks.

You will need to thoroughly clean off and de-grease with solvent. Use an etch primer. The trick is getting a good bond with the primer. Any grease or oil will act as a resist and prevent this from happening. Be thorough with the de-grease. You don't want the primer to bridge as it will fall off if its later rubbed or knocked.

Once the primer's on and dry, it'll take compatible paints. You'll want something hard and durable thats going to give you a decent finish; I suggest automotive paint for the fuel tank. I'd go Taxi Black. Once the primer's dry, its like painting any other primed metal.

Watch out if you use a spray like WD40 in the workshop - silicone contamination can cause a cratering effect with auto paint, spoils the finish.

It sounds corny i know but i've said this before about the 6 P's

Perfect Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Presentation

but it's true!

Preparation is everything. (but most of all, take your time and dont rush)

Automotive paints these days are generally very good. (i spent a few years working alongside a master painter and panel beater in a vauxhall dealership whilst i was a young apprentice many years ago and it's kind of rubbed off on me what he taught)

I've had good results using a "specialist primer" for brass tanks using a product from Hammerite called "special metals primer". Unfortunately it is a brush on paint so when it's dried you will see brush marks. (i've yet to find some in spray form).
2 or 3 coats of this stuff will be a good base to work from.Rub away any brush marks from the primer with wet and dry 600 grit paper.
Then start building up the layers of black paint on top of the primer. (typically i'll end up putting on anything between 8 to 10 coats of paint in total for a typical sized seagull fuel tank, slightly less if it's a smaller tank)
That's the easier parts of refurbing a tank.
The really difficult part comes when you have to apply the decal to your freshly painted tank.
These are incredibly delicate things and will rip and tear as soon as you look at them. Caution is the best way forward with a VERY GENTLE TOUCH.
If you've ever made airfix models in the past you'll know what i'm talking about here.

When you've finally got your decal in place, leave everything to dry for a good couple of days in a warm place. (the airing cupboard is good for this) What you need to acheive is to dry out any tiny air bubbles that will get trapped underneath the decal. Dont worry too much as you can always "prick out" any bubbles with a pin before you apply any lacquer over the top of the decal.
3 to 4 coats of lacquer (it's all about building up the layers of paint) and it should be good.

Practice on a "rubbishy" tank first to get the hang of it.

Remember the 6 P's...


jon

Doons wrote:silicone contamination can cause a cratering effect with auto paint,

Oh yeah.....

Many thank.s for the info guys airfield model's I did not never had the pacience to busy smashing up my brothers cheers

Anyone tried powder coating? Can it be done in gloss black?
Donald A

I've had a load of motorbike part powder coated recently. It would be a good finish for seagull tanks, in gloss black, you can also have a gloss clear coat added. The thing to remember with powder coat is that it is baked on in an oven at quite a high temperature, so the item be coated needs to be metal, no filler etc. If a decal was applied and the clear powder added I suspect the decal would crinkle in the oven.

I Have a steel tank I was thinking of getting done to fit to a FPC. the decal could be added to the powder coat and then sprayed with clear out of a scary can to the decal only to seal it in.

Sounds a bit risky Adrian doing it that way.
Id get the tank powder coated first, then apply the decal and cover with lacquer afterwards.
I have a nice looking steel tank with just about all of its powder coating intact, and looking at the decal it would appear that's how things were done back then.

Probably a bit too much temperature for a delicate waterslide transfer to cope with..

But you're right of course,powder coating is a good tough protective finish for a lot of different materials.

jon

Er yes that is what I said! powder coat first then add the decal and spray clear over the decal only with the rest masked.