The Quest for Paint - Part 2

This is a continuation of my quest to get my RV-12 painted. The first part of the story, my trip from Indiana to Oregon, is document in this thread. Part 2 covers the painting process in Oregon. part 3 can be found in this thread.

This is the Eugene, OR airport, my home for the next two weeks.


First step is to dis-assemble the airplane for transport in John's hangar and load it up and haul it off to John's studio. He does this a lot so he has it down to a science. It took us maybe 3 hours to move the entire airplane about 15 miles.


One of the reasons for flying out to John's to get the airplane painted was so that I could actively participate in the painting process. That started as soon as we got the airplane in the studio. We proceeded to scuff every aluminum surface. In particular, because of the pop rivets, we had to really work to prepare the rivets to accept paint.


After that, it was into primer.


Once the two-part epoxy primer dried, it was lightly sanded and the undercoat was applied. The striping was applied in reverse of what you might think. First the stripes are painted then masked off.


Then the color is applied over that.


Finally, three coats of clear finish it off. The entire process took just 8 days!


While the clear was drying, I had some time to do a little sightseeing. I ran over to the coast for a few hours. I don't work for the Oregon Tourism department, but I could. I've never visited a more picturesque state. Just amazing.






After two days of re-assembly back at the airport, I was ready to start the 2,200 nm trek back to Indiana. I'll cover that part of the trip in the next installment.

8 days?! Most paint shops quote a month or more. 8 days!

I'm feeling faint.

(Mine is being painted as I type this...)

What brand and type of primer and paint does John use?

I don't really know. You would need to call him and ask. The primer is two-part epoxy, the color is base coat/clear coat, and he used two different types of clear coat. It is all automotive paint except the last clear coat. That was an aviation product from Du Pont.

ColoRv said:

8 days?! Most paint shops quote a month or more. 8 days!

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I thought the same thing; my paint shop in central Texas took one week shy of 4 MONTHS to do a simple scheme on my -8! But after taking so long to finish, at least I have a crappy paint job to show for it, so I got that going for me...

ColoRv said:

8 days?! Most paint shops quote a month or more. 8 days!

I'm feeling faint.

(Mine is being painted as I type this...)

Click to expand...

Well, that WAS two of us working 18 hr days. I don't know how John keeps up this pace. I was wore out by the time we finished.

jbDC9 said:

I thought the same thing; my paint shop in central Texas took one week shy of 4 MONTHS to do a simple scheme on my -8! But after taking so long to finish, at least I have a crappy paint job to show for it, so I got that going for me...

Click to expand...

John, many horror stories around to compare to yours. Looking back, the few disagreements I have had in life have been with auto body men/painters not doing what they promised. Fortunately, we have a a/c painter in our local area that does what he promises. My 12 took nine days and I disassembled it to a similar degree as Randy's. With me doing the disassembly and reassembly, 3 color in Imron, $4500.00. Jimmy maintains about a 12 to 18 month backlog. It is not perfect and Jim guarantees it not to be. It is very good as are all of his paintjobs. Randy's is a higher level.

f1rocket wrote:

In particular, because of the pop rivets, we had to really work to prepare the rivets to accept paint.

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Randy, what and how did you do to the pop rivets to prepare them for paint? I gues you mostly filled the hole/dimple. If so, what with, and how did you apply it and finish it off?
Beautiful aircraft - a credit to all your work.
John

We did not fill the rivets. In case you want your airplane judged at AirVenture, they like to see rivets in their natural state. Also, it wasn't that important to me to go to all that work. I wanted my airplane to be as close to the SLSA as possible when completed.

We used a Scotchbrite wheel in an air drill to go over the rivets in two directions, 90 degrees to the each pass. It was the harder compound than the maroon Scotchbrite, maybe the gray color? Then blow the debris out. Then wipe down with de-greaser, then blow out again, then wipe down with a final fast-drying cleaner.

With all our taping and masking, we did not have the paint pull off a single pop rivet. This was John's first RV-12 so he was very careful about prepping the rivet heads. Also, there's no buffing the aluminum because of the rivet heads so the final clear had to go on smooth. Very tense shooting the final coat.

18hr days? That's a tough pace. The results are beautiful!

FYI - I was taught "dark over light" which explains the painting order of your stripes. It's easier to cover a light paint with a dark paint than the reverse. If your base had been light and you stripes dark, then the base would have been painted first and then masked for the stripes.

What a great trip *and* paint!

Oregon...

You're right about the beauty of Oregon Randy. I can't wait for our next visit out to see our daughter in Portland, and stop by Creswell to visit with Malcolm Steck the fellow that was kind enough to hold the Mocking Bird for me last year, until I could fly her home. And your 12 looks outstanding.