Hairspray chipping question

General Discussions
1

I am building a Hasegawa Ki-84 as a late war home defense/ B-29 interceptor and as such want to do some chipping. Nothing crazy, but some around the wing root, leading edges, etc.

I have done hair spray chipping before but never on anything this scale (usually just a small tool or exhaust stack). I had a question regarding timing, and how long I can wait and still activate the hair spray with water. I had two strategies planned out

  1. hair spray the lower surfaces, paint the lower base coat, chip, then seal with with future to prevent further chipping. Repeat on top sides

  2. hairspray everything, paint bottom and top side base coats, chip everything, seal.

Approach 2 is probably easier, but, I will likely only have time to paint one side per night. Meaning the whole process will likely take 2-3 nights. I worry that if I leave the bottom side paint to cure too long, chipping will be tough. Is one approach better than the other?

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2

I don’t have any good numbers on how long as things like how heavy the top coat is will be more of an impact then the time. I used Tamiya paint when I tried it years ago. I have was heavy/thick with the top layer so it took more work. Option 2 can work depending on the amount of water used on the other side. Too much it can impact the other side. I would test your paint and method on a sheet of styrene to see what works for you.

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3

You have to accomplish all your chipping within 24 hours of applying the hairspray or you’re really screwed. Adjust your application accordingly.

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4

Cheers! Looks like it’ll be a weekend project then!

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Personally I use method #2. The most I’ve gone from top coat to chipping is two days though. Anymore and like Tom says, “…you’re really screwed…”

:beer: :cowboy_hat_face: