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  #1  
Old 07-10-2019, 05:21 PM
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FresnoR FresnoR is offline
 
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Default Cost to Paint an Airplane; RV vs 737-900

Found out a super interesting fact from an airline friend. It costs airlines approximately $131,000 to repaint a boing 737-900ER. $26k in actual paint, which is an Akzo-Nobel base coat plus clear, and the rest in labor which includes stripping existing paint and consumable materials such as sanding discs, tape, masking paper, etc. and hazmat disposal costs.

Funny, when I think about the cost to paint an RV at around $10k, it seems the Boeing is rather cheap.
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Old 07-11-2019, 05:49 AM
BillL BillL is offline
 
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Who can paint an RV for $10K with all the labor and materials cost? I mean a base/clear and multicolor and no decals. That seems quite low.

At $20k for an RV, that 737 seems like even more of a deal.
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Old 07-11-2019, 07:34 AM
F1R F1R is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FresnoR View Post
Found out a super interesting fact from an airline friend. It costs airlines approximately $131,000 to repaint a boing 737-900ER. $26k in actual paint, which is an Akzo-Nobel base coat plus clear, and the rest in labor which includes stripping existing paint and consumable materials such as sanding discs, tape, masking paper, etc. and hazmat disposal costs.

Funny, when I think about the cost to paint an RV at around $10k, it seems the Boeing is rather cheap.
There is YOUR business opportunity. If you can make money doing quality , attractive paint jobs on RV AC for 7-8K you will be a busy man.

There are lots of square feet that are easy and fast paining on the 73. They don't take the wings, tail feathers and control surfaces off an airliner to paint them.

The smaller the job the higher the prep and detail time is compared to the total area.

I am guessing that if you had 20 RV 10's and you went to the same company that does the 737's with a single paint scheme , you would get a much better price.
Even at that I'll bet they could do 2 of 737's faster than 20 of RV 10's

Best of Luck

Last edited by F1R : 07-11-2019 at 07:42 AM.
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Old 07-11-2019, 07:42 AM
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Quote:
attractive paint jobs on RV AC for 7-8K you will be a busy man
.. busy .. and broke
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  #5  
Old 07-11-2019, 07:44 AM
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If I could get a first-quality paint job on my -14A for $10K, I'd be all over it. I expect to be in the $16K area when all is said and done.

By way of comparison, the Stars & Stripes paint job on my old -8 was $12K back in 2003. I bet it would be double that now.
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  #6  
Old 07-11-2019, 07:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillL View Post
Who can paint an RV for $10K with all the labor and materials cost? I mean a base/clear and multicolor and no decals. That seems quite low.

At $20k for an RV, that 737 seems like even more of a deal.
$20K? My RV-10 paint job cost me $7500 plus my sweat equity to remove & re-install all the flight control surfaces, flaps, panels and fairings. Now my paint job ain't show quality or clear coated, just 2 colors of PPG plus a trim color, but it's good enough. During the process I was quoted on avg $10K to $12K for an RV-10 sized plane in 2016.
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Last edited by Auburntsts : 07-11-2019 at 07:50 AM.
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  #7  
Old 07-11-2019, 07:48 AM
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Danny King Danny King is offline
 
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Default Cost to paint an RV

I painted the Doll myself back in April-May of 2000. It took me a month of labor to complete the job starting with a bare new airframe. The materials cost was $2500 at 2000 prices. I paid myself $0 per hour for a month worth of work.

Last week I purchased a pint of PPG black and it cost me over $100 dollars. That's for a pint! I already had the PPG 61 hardener which cost more per fluid oz than the paint. Then a gallon of reducer is $30, and gallon of cleanup thinner is another $12 bucks. That is 2019 prices.

If I painted a "Doll II" with the same paint job, I can't imagine what the material cost would be today. Add reasonable labor cost for a paint shop do the job, and I'm sure it would cost me well over $10,000.

In addition, that paint shop needs to know how to disassemble and reassemble your aircraft. For example the placement of the washers in the ailerons hinges and pushrods must be done correctly! If you didn't build your RV, that talent is priceless.
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Last edited by Danny King : 07-11-2019 at 07:51 AM.
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Old 07-11-2019, 07:48 AM
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At least one high end shop I know of (who shall go unnamed) admits they are lucky to break even on painting new RVs in the 16-18k range due to the fiberglass and other prep work needed on new builds to get it ready for paint. They paint RVs for fun and recognition and to keep their people busy between big jet projects, etc. They went on to say the price should be in the 25k range but know the RV market wouldn't tolerate it.
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  #9  
Old 07-11-2019, 07:49 AM
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Dudes...learn to paint!
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  #10  
Old 07-11-2019, 07:52 AM
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Quote:
Dudes...learn to paint!
Truth! I don't think I could get close to this though ...

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