What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Cost to Paint an Airplane; RV vs 737-900

FresnoR

Well Known Member
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.
 
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.
 
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:
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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
Dudes...learn to paint!

Truth! I don't think I could get close to this though ... :D

ofO.jpg
 
Another point, no one is going to be standing 2 feet away from a jetliner admiring the paint job. I'm guessing Delta isn't as picky about paint quality as the average RV owner either.

But that's coming from someone who still has the "temporary" rattle can paint on his plane 8 years later because he's too cheap to drop the $$$$ on a real paint job. the funny thing is I still get compliments all the time, especially the first month or two after the annual polish; they must be too distracted by the shiny metal to notice the $40 paint job on the fiberglass bits. :D
 
B737 vs. RV-4 paint job

Doesn't fully answer your question, but ironic solution to my 737 related paint job. I work at an MRO that maintains heavy jets, and I had a customer needing a 737 re-painted all white for lease return. So happens I also have an RV-4 I built that was ready for paint..well, after the 737 project was complete, a 3 gallon PPG Desothane paint kit was left unused and slated for hazmat disposal..liberated to my shop, I decided white was a good start for the -4. I spent $300.00 on prep and primer, and "Casper" was born. So I have less than $400.00 into my full single color urethane (really good paint) and can live with the minor DIY defects I know exist.
 
The shop I used, paint many big jets and one day that I was there, they shared the cost of painting a jet. One invoice was at $220k.
 
I painted my recent 7 myself and the paint and materials alone was over $3000 plus 3-month long paint/prep sessions involving hundred of hours. If they are doing all the fiberglass prep I'd say $10,000 is a bargain. What most folks think is ready for paint probably needs reworked a couple more times before applying the final paint.
 
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.

I used the same shop as you did on my RV-7A and will do so again on the RV-10. Certainly not inexpensive, but the quality of the scheme and execution of the design helped me win awards at OSH and SNF. Didn't set out to build a show plane - it just happened.

I've picked up several newly painted 737's and although they are OK, they don't hold a candle to the RV-7. But they don't need to, either.
 
Last edited:
I finished my 7A in April 2012 and it was painted several months later. The pretty basic/no frills paint job was $9000 from a local paint shop. He did a great job. I had priced a couple others that were a few hundred miles away and they were more expensive so it only made sense to use this local guy. Interestingly, he's no longer in business.

As we all have, I've seen some spectacular RV paint jobs that I would guess cost 2-3 times what mine did. I've also seen at least one RV that had brush strokes in the paint! :)
 
Last edited:
I can get a very high quality 3 color paint job in Central OR (Bend) for $10K exterior (bare plane) and add $1K for the interior. This is the price for my 7A, may be a little more fora 10

My plane will be in for paint in the next couple months, I'll share pics when done and then the contact information if people want after it's done. They do quiote a few aircraft and helicopters.

I'd even rent you my vacation home in Sunriver, OR if you were to fly out there to get a plane painted :D

5 Bedrooms, sleeps 16 since you'd all be saving so much $$ on paint.
 
I'd even rent you my vacation home in Sunriver, OR if you were to fly out there to get a plane painted :D

5 Bedrooms, sleeps 16 since you'd all be saving so much $$ on paint.

Dan....I was shocked to see your occupation listed as "sales". :D

ABC.....always be closing!

Mike
 
My paint scheme is pretty basic (due to my limited skill). It cost me about 2k total including the tools, supplies, and booth

20190527-133656.jpg
 
Looks nice! What kind of paint did you use? How long did it take?


It is an acrylic urethane. I painted it a little at a time in my garage, then took the parts ro the airport as they were done. Probably a couple months overall, but that was while working final assembly at the same time. I wasn't painting every day. I made a detailed writeup in the painting section of the forum.
 
Back
Top