It Aint Pretty, but it Is Effective

Article by TMY Editorial Staff. Photos by John Stoudt.

This article was published in The Model Yacht, Vol 23 No 1, Winter 2022

Fig. 1. The corner of the drop cloth tied to the anchor line.

Fig. 2. The drop cloth in place like an inverted tent.
Note the knots in the middle to take up the sag.

Painting your model yacht can be messy. Spray paint overspray will drift all over your workspace when you spray the hull.

Here is an effective way to control the overspray that you always have when spray painting.

  1. Place an inexpensive plastic “drop cloth” on your work surface. Arrange it so that it drapes evenly over the sides of your work surface.
  2. Set up your masked hull on top of the drop cloth.
  3. You may need to support the hull while upside down. Use a couple of rolled-up hand towels, one placed towards the bow, and one placed towards the stern. All this will be covered with the masking you do to protect what you do not want to paint.
  4. Place anchor points on the ceiling/joists of your work area.
  5. Pull up on each corner of the drop cloth and tie the corner to the anchor line (Fig.1).
  6. You will notice that the straight edges of the drop cloth sag. Go to the middle of each edge, pull out the sag, and tie a knot (Fig.2). This pulls up the sag and helps contain the overspray.
  7. Note that the spray accumulates on the drop cloth. The overspray is a liquid and therefore heavier than air. The paint droplets that do not hit the hull will drop fairly quickly, thus the residue on the drop cloth (Fig.3).  Very little if any droplets get by the drop cloth mostly because the entire cloth, not under the boat, is angled up, like an inverted tent.
  8. Cleanup is easy with this set up. You can unhook the ends of the drop cloth and carefully roll it in on itself, being careful not to get it on your freshly painted hull.

NOTE: If you have a window in your work space, consider placing a small fan in it blowing out. This will
help greatly removing the fumes from the spray painting. A face mask for particulates is also recommended.

Fig. 3. The overspray laying on the drop cloth where it fell.