Quote Originally Posted by 109JB View Post
My Understanding is that it holds up pretty well as long as any spills are wiped up promptly. I gathered this information from a few sources. It seems that nowadays the model airplane crowd is also using latex paint on large size models powered by gasoline engines. I used to be into RC airplanes pretty heavily about an eon ago, but never used latex. The consensus there is that latex is gasoline proof except for the possibility of staining if gas is left on the painted surface. This is also what I have gathered from research about latex on full size airplanes too.

On my Sonerai it was covered with polyfiber and topcoated with polytone. I found that with that airplane and also my Yellow Kitfox I sold last year that the polytone stains horribly. Both of those airplanes had what stains from bird droppings that I could not get out. The Yellow Kitfox also had gas stains due to bad gaskets on the fuel caps. The Sonerai, I wound up cleaning and then scuffing with scotchbrite, then putting an additional topcoat of gloss white latex. It came out great and has not stained. After painting with the latex, my mother passed and the airplane wound up in the hangar for another couple years and got covered with dirt, grime, and bird droppings again. When I finally brought it home to get flying again last year, I simply washed it with a hose and mild detergent and it looks as good as the day I sprayed it on. I will say though that where the latex is on the Sonerai it does not get fuel on it, but the bottom does get some oil and exhaust smut and that has cleaned up fine.

Oratex will also stain, as some of us have found out. I think that a polyurethane paint is probably one of the few types that are very resistant to fuel and most other things. The PPG Durathane that I used on my first homebuilt was extremely "durable" and it really looked just as good after 28 years (and I expect it still does) as it did when I applied it. The latex intrigues me... I think I'd try it if I ever build again. Do you think that it is going to be heavier than the typical Poly-Tone job, for instance?