Professional Paint Job with Orange Peel on Cowling

[WileEcoyote75]

I recently took my RV-6 to a local aviation paint shop for a full strip, primer, patch work and repaint. The original paint job showed Orange peel, few runs, and in many locations it was starting to flake on the leading edge of the wing. The painter said; over all the plane was in good shape, and that he would fix any trouble spots. Well seven weeks later on a four week job, I was very excited to see my new paint job. The first thing I noticed was orange peel on the cowling? I ask the painter why is there orange peel, and he says that is not the paint, but that is from the gel coat in the Fiberglas? Either way it's unacceptable! He then states that he could not possibly fill all of that, it would add five pounds? I am not an expert, but I would expect the fix should have been proper sanding before applying the new paint. The paint is Sherwin Williams Jet Glo Base Clear. I would like some advice from you guys with experience on fiberglass finishing and painting.


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1...s800/image.jpg

Thanks Chad

He's full of it. Make him strip it and do it right next time.

[SMRacer]

I suspect you are going to here this from just about everyone, but...

My RV4 is polished aluminum except painted fiberglass. The original paint was metallic and not done well. There was orange peel and other problems. I had it repainted about a year ago. It is perfect. There is no excuse for less from a reputable shop.

Jim
RV4 N444JT
Leesburg, VA

[BillL]

Sorry to hear about your painter, Chad. There is no good news here, lack of experience and willingness to learn combined with acceptance of poor surface finish indicate that you will need a new painter. I would not think it possible for this person to restore your paint to a generally accepted standard. Perfect would be at the high end of that.

If he said it was "gel coat" it is possible, but no quality painter would accept an inferior surface poor to top coat. If the prep work is not perfect, the finish coat does not have a chance. Just bad judgement. edit: I just looked at the picture - that was just due to poor paint gun settings, and technique, not gel coat.

Good luck. Stripping all over may be the only (but still the last) resort.

[scard]

You got a load of BS. But like was said, you're going to have to suck it up and find another painter. That orange peel is absolutely an issue with this painter's process, prep, tools, environment, application. Not acceptable at all.

[Johnnybgoode]

If you'd rather work on it a bit yourself before heading to another painter you might try the 3M system and a buffer - probably about $300 invested for buffer, pads, and the 3M compounds - likely the Orange peel is in the clear and will buff out. Worth a shot before dropping it and you wallet at another paint shop. We self-painted and cleared my -4 and the minor orange peel buffed right out to a beautiful shine. Sucks to have to fix someone else's work though... And no, it wasn't the gel coat.
Good luck either way,
Patrick

[Mike D]

I agree and disagree with the others.
I suspect your cowl had some "incompatabity" issues with the paint. So this is not really orange peel, more like pitting caused by contanamation.

But, I would not accept this either. A good painter would have seen this on the first bit of paint application and stopped. Then sand down and use a good cover primer.

If your cowl is the older polyester gel coat, I could easily see this happening. With the new epoxy cowl, there must have been a striping issue that is the source of contamination.

If this were orange peel, it would be all over the plane, not just the cowl.

[Tbone]

I have painted base clears since the Centari Basemaker days (over 26 years) and can tell you that poor gun technique or incompatable material caused that problem. Should be a easy fix though if in the clear. Colorsand with a pad and some 1500 grit paper and rebuff. Tell your painter to contact me......I can't stand it when the wool is being pulled over someone's eyes when you pay them to do a quality job...

[Kyle Boatright]

Do you see orange peel or the weave of the fiberglass? The old cowls used polyester resin which shrinks over time and creates a texture issue. That said, a couple of coats of sandable primer and some block sanding would have made it disappear.

[scard]

The picture is straight up classic orange peel.

(past life professional auto refinisher)