Hi everyone

Im wondering if any one can give some advice on how i can paint a rod blank.
for example i have an old rod that is yellow in colour and i wish to stripp the rod down and paint it black.

Can i Paint it with hi gloss black spray paint? do i have to then coat it with rod gloss and if i do how would i apply the rod gloss? do i apply with finger?(tried it but didnt work to good), do i apply with paint brush (tried this whilst rod was turning and got a spiral affect), or do i use a sponge?

Im very confused.

G'day Atif,

I've just been through this experience with the first two rods I've built so I'll see if I can help. I can at least let you know what worked for me.

For both the rods I painted I used Tamiya PS model spray. This stuff is designed for polycarbonate remote controlled car bodies so it adheres well to rods and is flexible. There are other brands available such a Testors Pactra, but I haven't used them. The Tamiya was very easily available where I am so I used that.

I did my first rod in Metallic Red. Worked out OK but I didn't give it enough coats. The second rod was metalic blue and I did 4 coats which gave much better colour depth and looks a lot better.

I then coated the rods in Permagloss. Do a search and you'll find lots of info on doing this. I used a small peice of foam to apply it. Just wet the foam, swipe it down one side of the blank, turn over and repeat. Then an hour later do the same again. You only need two thin coats. Don't mess around with it once it is on the rod blank as the solvent in the Permagloss will attack the paint and remove it if you wipe it around too much. This is another reason for doing 4 coats of paint. I only did two on the red rod and it now looks a bit thin as the PG has removed some paint when I applied it.

The other thnig to watch out for is that the paint is properly dry. On the red rod I applied the PG the next day (me being impatient) and the PG removed a lot of red paint. The blue rod was given about two weeks for the paint to dry and there was a big difference with the amount of paint removed by the PG i.e. a lot less, and the result is much better.

I am very pleased with my painting results. The blanks look brand new and should be able to be refurbished into nice rods.

Regards

Jason

PS I installed the new grips and reel seat on the blanks first, then masked them off and only painted the exposed section of blank. I wouldn't paint right under the reel seat and grips.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2007 08:12PM by Jason Groombridge.

Thanks for the good advice Jason. ill give it ago and let you know how i went.

I use a Badger 250 Airbrush, a cheap compressor, and airbrush the paint onto my rods. Better coverage with lighter coats. Avoids drips, and/or too thick a coat of paint. I find that multiple very light coats with very slight wet sanding with 1500 grit and cleaning between coats gives a nice uniform finish.

LOTS of opinions in the archives on this website as well.



Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work