I've painted three a/c either in a barn with one power pint or a field hangar. As has a friend with a mobile genny to power the spray gun.
I had old doped on linen, then ceconite from a recover and used Z Scheme dope & car thinners and non bloom thinners. Best done when not too cold. I was really happy and the 'plane at Jackrell's still looks uniquely attractive s few years down the line (onto PolyFibre) don't know which paint though.
In other words if you built it and want to save a fair bit, plus have the pleasure of DIY, [b]just do it.[/b]
mike.
Paint application
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mikehallam
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Adrian Hatton
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Graeme,
With regard to time taken, I wanted a near Sailplane type of finish.
Time spent on prep is proportional to quality of finish - you could probably apply a quick primer coat, not cut it back and finish with a topcoat straight over it in quite a bit less time than suggested but that would not permit the quality of finish that I wanted - Personal choice.
Google should help gain an understanding of compounding.
If you do have a go at the painting job yourself, it would be very interesting if you could post how long it really takes - but please log all the material sourcing time as well as the actual physical work (and cleaning up)...
Go on, have a go - as others have said, you built the actual aircraft so finally finishing it off yourself is a great feeling.
With regard to time taken, I wanted a near Sailplane type of finish.
Time spent on prep is proportional to quality of finish - you could probably apply a quick primer coat, not cut it back and finish with a topcoat straight over it in quite a bit less time than suggested but that would not permit the quality of finish that I wanted - Personal choice.
Google should help gain an understanding of compounding.
If you do have a go at the painting job yourself, it would be very interesting if you could post how long it really takes - but please log all the material sourcing time as well as the actual physical work (and cleaning up)...
Go on, have a go - as others have said, you built the actual aircraft so finally finishing it off yourself is a great feeling.
So I am well into it now, I have a Fuji HVLP Q4 spray system, Ive been super-filling, rolling, UV smooth priming and sanding and plan to use pf131 octoral primer and an acrylic top coat. And yes, it does take a lot of time!
I'll see how I get on with spraying the primer before I decide who sprays the top coat.
I'll see how I get on with spraying the primer before I decide who sprays the top coat.
Graeme Bird
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painting large areas & Time between u/c and top
I am preparing to spraying the top coats (underside of elevators, then wings first!) and have a couple of simple questions I am using 2K acrylic PF131 and Dellfleet 350:
a) how to spray large areas like wings - whether better to work in squares or walk down the wing each time? My paint says cross coats and I am using the slow thinner.
b) do I need to let the primer dry ie 24 hours or is it better to spray sooner and get a better bond.
a) how to spray large areas like wings - whether better to work in squares or walk down the wing each time? My paint says cross coats and I am using the slow thinner.
b) do I need to let the primer dry ie 24 hours or is it better to spray sooner and get a better bond.
Graeme Bird
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