ColoRv
Well Known Member
I had a paint scheme drawn up that took me months of tinkering with but it just fell a bit short. It seemed a little amateurish (because it was) and lacked an artistic touch. My hangar mate had used Jonathon at Plane Schemer and was pleased so I contacted him. He works quickly and over the course of a week or so he took my sketch on a napkin and turned it into this:
In the meantime I was flying off my phase one. I had already set up a paint date with Straight Flight here in Centennial after my hangar mate snaked the last available date with Grady of GLO (some things happen for a reason). Three weeks prior to my paint date Straight Flight backs out due to a bigger cooler project showing up. Oshkosh was two months away and I was in trouble, calling paint shops everywhere with no luck.
Jonathon was putting the final touches in the paint scheme and asked which paint shop I wanted him to send the paint mask details to. I told him my delimna and asked if he knew a good shop that could squeeze me in. As it turns out, he is the paint manager at International Jets and after some schedule shuffling agreed to save my Oshkosh dreams.
My first cross country in the new plane was from Denver to Alabama, which was amazing fun. Arriving at International Jets was a relief in that their facility was far beyond my expectations. Their main focus is L-39 jets that they restore from front to back in house so they have A&P's and avionics guys at their disposal.
The paint shop is huge and split into four areas each of which easily houses an RV in full disassembly. There was another RV8 rolling out finished as mine rolled in, along with a couple twins and a piper. The paint I saw leaving as mine rolled in looked amazing. These guys are the real deal.
Four long weeks later my baby was done. Basecoat/clearcoat in dupont aviation paint. Base clear is something I have quite a bit of experience with and was not something I was willing to do without. It has a depth that single stage doesn't achieve. It's also far easier to repair if needbe later and has smooth lines between colors. It is, on the other hand, harder and far more time consuming to apply. Price-wise, it cost $500 more than GLO charged my hangar mate for a very rough single stage paint job. If you put the two planes next to each other there really is no comparison. I couldn't be happier with how this paint job turned out. It's show car quality in aircraft paint.
VAF, please take this as my whole hearted endorsement of Jonathon at Plane Schemer and International Jets paint shop. The judges at Oshkosh thought it looked good enough to award it a very nice plaque. Thanks Jonathon!
Jonathon's email address is: [email protected]
In the meantime I was flying off my phase one. I had already set up a paint date with Straight Flight here in Centennial after my hangar mate snaked the last available date with Grady of GLO (some things happen for a reason). Three weeks prior to my paint date Straight Flight backs out due to a bigger cooler project showing up. Oshkosh was two months away and I was in trouble, calling paint shops everywhere with no luck.
Jonathon was putting the final touches in the paint scheme and asked which paint shop I wanted him to send the paint mask details to. I told him my delimna and asked if he knew a good shop that could squeeze me in. As it turns out, he is the paint manager at International Jets and after some schedule shuffling agreed to save my Oshkosh dreams.
My first cross country in the new plane was from Denver to Alabama, which was amazing fun. Arriving at International Jets was a relief in that their facility was far beyond my expectations. Their main focus is L-39 jets that they restore from front to back in house so they have A&P's and avionics guys at their disposal.
The paint shop is huge and split into four areas each of which easily houses an RV in full disassembly. There was another RV8 rolling out finished as mine rolled in, along with a couple twins and a piper. The paint I saw leaving as mine rolled in looked amazing. These guys are the real deal.
Four long weeks later my baby was done. Basecoat/clearcoat in dupont aviation paint. Base clear is something I have quite a bit of experience with and was not something I was willing to do without. It has a depth that single stage doesn't achieve. It's also far easier to repair if needbe later and has smooth lines between colors. It is, on the other hand, harder and far more time consuming to apply. Price-wise, it cost $500 more than GLO charged my hangar mate for a very rough single stage paint job. If you put the two planes next to each other there really is no comparison. I couldn't be happier with how this paint job turned out. It's show car quality in aircraft paint.
VAF, please take this as my whole hearted endorsement of Jonathon at Plane Schemer and International Jets paint shop. The judges at Oshkosh thought it looked good enough to award it a very nice plaque. Thanks Jonathon!
Jonathon's email address is: [email protected]
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