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-   -   Aero Gloss "Fuel Proofer" formula question (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=16270)

ghrocketman 10-12-2016 08:20 PM

Aero Gloss "Fuel Proofer" formula question
 
Does anyone happen to know what the formula/solvent package was in the old Aero Gloss "Fuel Proofer" ?
I'm not talking about their regular Color Dopes, Clear, Sanding Sealer, or Balsa Fillercoat.
They had a product in the Pactra Aero Gloss Dope paint system that was simply called "Fuel Proofer" that can topcoat other non-fuel-proof finishes to "Fuel Proof" them.
I have a few jars of this one and a 1/2pt can as well. It definitely is far different than their Clear Dope. It is much thinner and smells far different. It is truly clear in color, not light amber like their clear dope.
It has a solvent package consisting of something that has a unique aroma that I cannot put my finger on and the ingredients do not list anything other than "A Lacquer Product".
It CAN be thinned with regular dope thinner.
If anyone knows the actual solvent package they used in this one, I am most interested.
I can also say it does NOT smell at all like "Pactra Prep" or "Formula U" which both used straight MEK for thinner.

turbofireball 10-12-2016 09:00 PM

I have a few friends that still fly old school u-control and free flight. I probably won't see them for a few weeks, but when I do I will ask what they know or remember. I once visited the Pactra plant (before they were owned by Testors) and I vaguely remember them saying something about it being an acrylic (not water based but oil based) clear varnish. You might want to look at and ask the people at this link.. http://www.nelsonhobby.com/hobby_paint.php

ghrocketman 10-13-2016 07:10 AM

It does have an "Alkane-like" aroma similar to some old-tyme varnishes that I remember. It has a very strange almost 'industrial cleaner-like' scent.
Any info you get would be welcomed.
A 'Google' search has turned up nothing.

turbofireball 10-19-2016 05:56 PM

So I had a chance to meet up with the only guy I know who still builds and flys stick & tissue plane kits, and has been doing so for over 40 years. He was also a hobby shop owner for about 30 years. He told me that Pactra had their own chemists and that they were always very silent about telling what was actually in Aerogloss paint. What he knew was that the Aerogloss dope was a hybrid mix of butyrate, nitrate, and acrylic compounds. The fuel proofer was a hybrid of urethane and acrylic compounds. The exact composition was never divulged, and to make things worse, he told me that the Aerogloss products were reformulated multiple times as regulations changed, and that sometimes the new formulas would not be usable over the old ones. Also he said that as the fuel proofer aged after painted on a model, it would form into a skin which could be peeled off. That's all I was able to get from him in terms of info.

ghrocketman 10-19-2016 06:50 PM

Thanks for trying.
Nowadays chemical companies have to reveal at least all the ingredients in order of decreasing content in a MSDS sheet if not the actual percentages. A very DIM VIEW is taken by regulatory agencies when chemical compnies try to pull the "Trade Secret" arguement now. They never get away with that garbage any longer.
Too bad that was not the case back then.
Original Aero Gloss Dope listed only Toluol and Tricresyl Phosphate as ingredients on the can.
I know the first reformulation and every one after that did not have the Tricresyl Phosphate in the mix. The original with that ingredient can be immediately identified by the aroma over the newer versions.
The latest versions of Aero Gloss thinner in cans listed Toluol, MEK, MIBK, and Acetone in the formula. Not sure how much the thinner changed.
One other purpose for Dope Thinner is that it makes a pretty good Liquid Plastic Cement in a pinch. It is a bit slower drying as a cement than all brands but current Testor's liquid cement which is just pure MEK in a relabeled bottle.


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