I'm looking for textured spray paint to apply on my RC model to ensure turbulent flow on a few of the smaller aero surfaces.
Does anyone have any experience doing this and have any recommendations on specific spray paints I could use? Also open to any other coatings as well
Thanks
Instead of paint, I would suggest you get some anti slip tape and apply that to the surfaces. The main benefit of the tape is that you can easily modify the area according to results you get from testing.
There are many options availlable, but I think they are all pretty similar in grit, maybe P40 to P80.
I'm not aware of textured spray paint that would do what you are looking for. While some leave an uneven or crackled surface, they still are pretty smooth and glossy, and the texture will not be coarse enough to effectively separate the flow.
Do this. It's how large no-skid walking zones are made on airplanes, boats, etc:
Mask off the area you want textured.
Apply a coat of regular spray enamel paint. Whatever you have lying around, or a specific colour to make the modified area stick out.
While the paint is wet, sprinkle clean sand into the wet paint. Try a salt shaker to get an even distribution of the sand particles. For different surface roughness levels, just use different size sand particles, and apply more or less density. Experiment on a scrap piece of material to get the effect you want.
Apply another coat or two of paint over the sand.
If you don't like the result, just remove the whole coating with some Varsol before it fully dries, and try again.
