Paint and Polish
"I am currently building an RV-8 and plan a polish/paint scheme similar to yours. I would be really interested in a somewhat detailed description of the polish/paint process, tools used, polishing media, paint to polished surface transition, etc. If you have the time, could you give us some detail?"
Long answer so I hope this the information you're looking for.....
First of all, the paint scheme is an example of the best type of flattery. I copied someone else.
For the polish I used Nuvite and simply followed the detailed instructions they provide. Check out
www.perfectpolish.com. I used a 8" wool bonnet on a disk polisher with Nuvite's G6 for compounding, followed by F7 with a Cyclo dual head polisher and the rags that come with the Nuvite system. I then finished with the S, again with the Cyclo. The G6 compounding will make the aluminum start to shine but it leaves swirl marks the width of the pad across the surface. The F7 cyclo removes those swirl marks and increases the shine to the point where one could probably stop and be happy depending on the finish desired. The S simply takes it to the mirror finish you're probably after if you like a polished plane. I didn't bother to use the S on the underside of the wings or fuselage and those areas are still quite shiny considering you have to kneel down to appreciate the shine there. More on the bottom surfaces at the end.... I used mineral spirits and lots of cotton t-shirts to wipe away the excess polish in the seams and rivets after each step. Except on the S, as you actually dull the shine if you follow the S with mineral spirits. I read that corn starch works well, and I was quite impressed that it does. It cleans off any excess polish and leaves a great shine.
Midwestern Aircraft in Hibbing, MN did the painting before it was polished. The transition from paint to polish is simply a very clean tape line. There is of course a perceptible paint "ridge" a few mils thick, and I even had some concern about having that ridge close to the leading edge along the span of the airfoils. I also have an annoying friend who is an experimental test pilot that cautioned messing with the laminar flow so close to the leading edge, so I gave it way more thought than anyone should before I committed to painting the leading edges. We decided in the end the biggest risk was a change in stall characteristics and that's worth the risk of a nice paint job right
None noted during recent stall testing though, so without a wind tunnel to see what disruption is occurring I'm not giving it any more thought. It's really nice to be able to wipe the bugs off after flying without messing with the polished finish....and it looks good.
I taped the painted edges before compounding and using the F7. The compounding will definitely mess up the paint but the cyclo doesn't seem to be a problem. The S is about the consistency of lotion. It doesn't hurt the paint or vinyls with direct contact. I added the vinyls after the F7 and then cyclo'd with the S. The vinyls are all in perfect condition and I removed a few of the small air bubbles as a bonus. Minerals spirits will clean up any bleed over onto the painted surfaces.
There's a learning curve to determining how much polish to use. It's not as much as you might think. Too much and you'll simply push the polish around without actually altering the characteristics of the metal. Too little and you're just buffing the existing surface. My first two square feet took me an hour and I still had to go back and touch it up at the end. I did the entire left side from the canopy back in about three hours at the end. The entire project took me 50-60 hours. The bottom surfaces where definitely the worst part of the project. I'm 35 and in decent shape and I'm not sure I'll ever do this again because lying on your back working a 20 lb rotating polisher along the surface of a plane is not easy. I did 30-45 sec bursts and then rested my arms. Repeat for about 2 hours at a time over two weekends. The maintenance coats should be a bit easier. I'm told to expect to have to touch it up with the Cycle in about 6 months after the initial polish and then yearly from then on. Of course it depends on the finish one is trying to maintain. Mine isn't perfect but I'm happy with it. I could have even been satisfied without the S. It's a flying plane, not a show plane, and flying planes get dirty. Oh and I also have a 3 and a 5 year old who find it amusing to leave their hand and nose prints on Dad's shiny plane. Mom likely puts them up to it.
MIKE RODER
MAJ, AV
US Army
RV8A Flying
N639PS FKA 75W Built by Thomas Weathers
