nato paint

I've just started to repaint my new 110 in finest nato green (brush and roller job).. first wing done and left for 24hrs to dry... But it still scratches really easily.. Anyone else gone down this route? And how did you deal with it?

Or is it just the weather/time.. ie will it harden up?

I know what you mean. I painted mine last year then accidentally peeled a big bit off 3 or 4 days later. It seemed dry but it just came right off. Now it's solid and doesn't even scratch. It will harden, it just takes ages, like a week. After 48 hours mine dried and I was driving it around again, you just have to be careful until it hardens.

Elefantman said:

I've just started to repaint my new 110 in finest nato green (brush and roller job).. first wing done and left for 24hrs to dry... But it still scratches really easily.. Anyone else gone down this route? And how did you deal with it?

Or is it just the weather/time.. ie will it harden up?

Click to expand...

Did ye paint over the old paint? If so, did ye key it and panel wipe it furst? Did ye use an etch primer on any bare metal bits?

it needs more stirring than you realise ,its lack of that makes it take time to harden,

Did you thin it with anything before use?

I gave all the panels a good key with an abrasive scrub, primed any areas of bare metal and gave the paint a really good stir... I'm guesing it's just a case of waiting for it to "go off".
thanks for the thoughts. J

Paints used on vehicles take ages to harden

Cellulose (if not hardened in a low bake oven) can easily take a week before you can use wet & dry paper on it, and even new vehicles paint can be soft (and therefore damage easily/be more susciptable to bird droppings) for months

Patience and care I'm afraid is the answer

I'm doing mine in July so I'm glad I read this ... thanks fellas.

if you use nato paint do stir really well otherwise it wont set quickly and will be more glossy than should be

No worries, I'll get the wife to do it, she's a good stirrer
I was originally going to use NATO gloss but not sure if silk would be easier to get a good finish. What have you used Elefantman?

Well.. I now have a half blue and half green landy.. and.. the paint seems to be hardening up nicely (no longer scratches with a finger nail). I think the temperature/humidity definatly had something to do with it still being very soft after the first 24hrs.

Thanks for the advice.. patience has never been one of my virtues!

paint I've used it matt finish... looks good. But.. it's taking ages to dry.. some areas are still really easy to scratch.
I'm off to the lakes for a week so hopefully by the time I get back it will have set properlly.

Mines been on for a week now and seems pretty tough.

Tbh all i did was wash the fooker before i rollered it on :lol:

update:.. she's now all green and the paint has finally hardened.

piccy of my baby:



just got to refit the snorkle, some more chequer plate and sort out some white paint for the roof (or find a nice clean/tidy smooth roof as mines got two holes in it where someone ran wires out).

Total spend to date still well under 1k (including the purchase price).. happy days

Nice one, happy days, looks well