Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Playgrounds of Life

I bought this old model airplane to use as a test bed for learning to spray paint.

This spray painting is a complex process that requires many different things to be operating together for the results to be acceptable. Like most of the things I learn, I learn by doing and in recent years find that U-Tube provides many good instructional videos. The problem with these is that they eat up the monthly allotment of gigs provided by my network provider, who slows me down when I reach my allotted threshold.

I can read much more and it doesn't take up as much gigs, if I read hardcopy instead of watching U-tube, however, there is much truth in the adage that a picture (motion) is worth a thousand words.

The hard part for me to learn is how to get the air/paint mixture correct. My compressor provides me about fifty pounds of tank pressure. There is a gage at the inlet to the gun that shows input pressure. I can set this to forty. Then, I need to control the flow of material (Paint) through the gun. This is done with the trigger. If you pull the trigger a little you get a flow of air pressure through the nozzle. The more you pull the trigger back the more material begins to flow through the nozzle.

My compressor is one of those pancake types that operates a nailer or stapler. With this piece of equipment I also run the risk of outrunning the air pressure the compressor can provide. Further if I don't manage everything correctly, given my lack of experience and poor technique, I get goops, blotches and runs instead of a nice application of spray paint.

In addition I have an air supply I wear, when breathing inside, that brings fresh air in from outdoors. The straps that hold my mask on are incredibly difficult to adjust and I wind up holding the sprayer with one hand and the mask on with the other.

Most of the instructions on the net are provided by experienced users who have forgotten how to explain the basics and use terms like you have to "practice" and "fiddle around" with the process until you figure out how it works.

I find this type of advice and instruction common to all aspects of the RC model hobby, particularly when it comes to flying. I'm not blaming those who try and explain things but rather point out that experts tend to be the worst at explaining and a novice is often better off, listening to those who have newly acquired their technical skills. The newly initiated tend to remember much more clearly what a novice learner needs to know.

What this means is that I often write my own instructions even after I have learned something to reinforce the learning process and refer back to my notes as I gain experience and begin to "institutionalize" the learning that slowly sinks into my brain.

For many, I know this makes absolutely no sense, but to me it is abundantly clear. The process for learning is not the same for everyone as I learned so painfully in school and on the playgrounds of life.