kilz primer

[Billy boy]

im looking for some advise about priming new slots and gains. i have heard that a coat of solvent type prime{kilz} works great then use water based lane color paint. anyone have any experiance with this combo? ive seen so many beautiful tracks here at HRW, what did you use to paint the gains? im also worried that the braid wont stick well to the latex coated kilz.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Kilz is intended to hide imperfections in walls and ceilings because it fills in little dips and bumps. If you are using a gloss paint, like the 1960s tracks, then after a light sanding, you can use it under the track paint, then follow with a very tacky glue for the braid, like the double-sided tape, or old fashioned contact cement. I will say that if you someday pull up the braid to re-use on another track, having used a primer on the raw wood will hamper saving the braid without damaging the wood underneath. Kilz has a hell of a grip.

[War Eagle River]

Waay, he’s asking about a wood track, not slot cars,lol.
Billy, not sure about the Kilz as a MDF sealer. I used this, and then painted with Latex Enamel.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Hey Auburn, you caught that within 3 seconds of my edit. In fact, I was probably re-writing it while you wrote.

[slothead]

My plans to build a new oval using MDF are moving forward. It's going to be routed at a CNC shop then put together and tried out downstairs in the barn before being moved up to the loft to become the new Shepherd Speedway.

If good options exist I'd like to use a spray on primer to cover top, bottom, and sides before assembly. Anyone with suggestions?

[Billy boy]

thanks for the varathane tip war eagle,im going to look into that.im useing SCC pre-taped braid and want to make sure it sticks. i did use cheap craft paint for the slots the first time.

[War Eagle River]

Waaytoomchintothis, FYI, Auburn has zilch to do with our track name. We have a farm in the Ozark’s overlooking the War Eagle River, hence the moniker.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

LOL! Never crossed my mind! I lived many years in Memphis and floated a lot of Arkansas rivers over the years. I remember War Eagle Creek, off the White River. The White River was tough, and a lot more effort and adventure than the Spring, my favorite, from Mammoth all the way to Hardy, lazy fishing, cigars and beer- with trout! The reason I went for Auburn was that I am an inveterate LSU man.

[War Eagle River]

Our farm is up river about a mile from where the White and War Eagle converge to form Beaver lake.

[Pappy]

Here's a thread on Slotblog by Steve Ogilvie on how to build a slot car track. Steve has built over 400 tracks and is considered one of the best track builders ever. On page 11 he tells what he uses as a primer and paint.

http://slotblog.net/topic/67798-how-...tracks/page-11

[RichD]

Our tracks were mostly painted with common latex house paint after the slots and gains were done. No special paint was used on the gains. If there is any chance that water might get on the track the slots should be painted and some people prefer to color the slots, rather than having stripes on the track surface. Most of our tracks use the 3M double sided tape and we have had no problems with the braid coming unstuck.
Since you are getting your braiding supplies from Slot Car Corner you should take a look at this: http://www.ovalracingworld.com/Build...0Speedway.html

[mattb]

I second what Rich said. I've never primed any wood track I built from any kind of wood. Clean it really good, tack it to get all dust off. Vac the slots super clean. I painted the slots and gains with latex for lane color, taped that off then brush painted the track with latex semi gloss. I brushed with the direction the cars run and I think that gives you better traction than a rolled coat of paint. A smoother spray surface would probable be better. I 've never bothered to paint the underside, either. I've never had a track really exposed to conditions that required a sealing of the bottom. I did haul some scraps of MDF in the back of my truck for 3-4 weeks and several rain storms and it didn't hurt the MDF. I think it a little more water resistant today then it was a few years ago. maybe they use a better glue today. I wouldn't consider contact cement anymore, pre-taped from SCC is the ONLY way to go. Make it easy on your self.

The current track is now 3 years old and paint is still in great shape.

[Fathead59]

With talking about Kilz paint , I thought it was a primer/sealer . So why can't you use a different color/paint onto of it ?

[Billy boy]

yup, a 500 foot roll of pre taped braid from scc.i never had a problem with the paint i used on the surface,it was the slot that swelled up.trying to avoid that this time.ill go to a craft store and get some good paint for the slots.

[RichD]

One of our tracks had a water line that went to a refrigerator going over it, that sprung a leak that flooded one end of the track and caused the MDF to swell. The owner had to patch the track with Bondo and re-route the slots. That track had copper tape rather than braid. The undisturbed surface of MDF will repel water to a certain extent, once you cut slots and gains in it the MDF will be more vulnerable. If you paint everything it would be extra work, but not as much work as having to do a major repair or even to have to build another track.

[stumbley]

It was suggested to me when I routed my track to seal all sides by painting the MDF, so I did. The track was originally outside on a covered veranda, but we lived near the ocean and had lots of wind-blown rain. I covered the track with a tarp, but water got on the track anyway. I had water spots, but no swelling, so painting the MDF was a good idea. I did like mattb and painted the inside of the slots with latex for the lane color. The track was painted with UMA (urethane modified acrylic: https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...ogy-uma-white/). The white base was tinted grey.

[mattb]

Oval track build and racing. I'll give some un-wanted advice you might consider. If I ever build another track, I will have a run-off area outside of each corner. It will be dropped an inch or two so cars can go off and stop in the gutter and not be on track in the way of other drivers. Or there will be no fence to keep cars from bouncing back on the track and there will be a spacious run off area.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

While I am getting straight with War Eagle, I should mention what I did on the tracks I have built over the years. All my tracks preceded the marvelous double depth router bit that is out there now, that cuts the gains and slot in one pass. I mention it because the second pass I always had to make for the gains left a surface a bit rougher than I liked because the first route (slot) heated up the MDF and left the area a bit looser bound than one would like. I used a similar product to the Varathane sealer that War Eagle recommended for the slot and gains, then lightly sanded the gains before painting the slot and gains with four colors of enamel paint, which gave each lane its own color and served to make a good surface for the glue I used for the braid to grip. The enamel took a long time to cure, but was solid as hell, and I never had a "lift" from the braid. I assume that the pretaped braid works the same way for grip. Since I am talking about building tracks in dinosaur days, I should say that if these products were available in those days, I would have bought the pretaped braid in an instant rather than go to all the trouble I did for the same effect.