[pigjamelectric]

My niece has asked me to help her with her high school science project: a baloon air propelled car. The car will be made out of copper pipe and wood.



This is a good opportunity to teach her how to paint. (She's pretty keen on this project , almost as much as me ) We want to give it a killer shiny red paint job. I've got all I need to shoot automotive paint. (etching primer, grey primer).

-How should we prep the wood to accept automotive paint? I'm worried the paint might sink.
-Also, will etching primer stick to copper?
-If yes, should we mask off the wood from overspray before the etch and grey primer?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. We're starting "the build" this Saturday.

Paul.

[willys36@aol.com]

I have made wooden car models (5 Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild entries in the early 60s) and got killer paint jobs pretty much like I do with steel cars. First seal the wood with a coat of white shellac. This is alcohol bases and will dry very quickly. Once dry, it will have raised the grain slightly so polish it off with some 320 paper. Now hit it with a couple coats of filler primer, sand it to perfection then finish it like you would steel. Etching primer should work on copper. Etching over-spray on wood will be no problem.

[pigjamelectric]

Perfect timing. Thanks so much for your help and for the quick reply. I'll post a photo of it when it's done