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Professional Paint Job with Orange Peel on Cowling

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.
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https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1rSYUmfyISs/VG0tFAIWaSI/AAAAAAAAACQ/9HII1nmN4Rs/s800/image.jpg

Thanks Chad
 
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He's full of it. Make him strip it and do it right next time.
 
Fiberglass paint

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
 
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.
 
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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.
 
Another option

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
 
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.
 
Not contamination!

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...:mad:
 
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.
 
The picture is straight up classic orange peel.

(past life professional auto refinisher)
 
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.

Scott's right. I painted my own and was deficient in all the above mentioned areas. :eek: At least I know who to complain to when I look at the paint job.:eek:
 
Agreed,

No offense, that cowling is one of the worst paint jobs I have ever seen. There is no way I would accept his explanation. In fact my method of fixing his problem would be to post a picture here with the name of the paint shop, his explanation for what went wrong, how he is handling it and then I would email him the link.
If you do that, only print fact, not emotion. Then, let the court of public opinion motivate him to fix it.
There is no excuse for that level of unprofessionalism.
 
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.

I'm with Mike on this one. Did the shop paint the cowl off the ship? That could explain Orange peel texture but only on the fiberglass. Pictures seem to show smooth and gloss on the aluminum. Had his settings for the ship then moved to the 'glass cowl without adjusting his technique.
 
Orange Peel

The original paint job did not contain orange peel on the cowling, mainly on the wings and fuselage.

After priming the painter stated that he would reinstall the cowling with a couple screws for taping the lines. I believe the cowling was painted separate for proper coverage around the edges.

Chad
 
Another Option...

Chad,

You might consider giving Grady a call at Glo Custom Aircraft Painting at 52F (dr's home field). Grady uses the same paint and specializes in painting RV aircraft. You might consider shipping your cowling down to him. They will do the propter fiberglass prep and all the rest. You can trust this shop. I just had my aircraft painted by them and it was well worth the travel effort to get the aircraft out to them. They did a complete strip and repaint. You will not be disappointed.

http://www.glocustom.com

Regards
 
There is no difference in spray gun technique for fiberglass substrate and metal substrate.

Most likely cause for the difference this time of year is temperature. Cool metal allowed the reducer to flash slowly, thus reasonable flow-out. Cowl was probably warm and sprayed separately. Warm surface flashed off the reducer before the primer or paint could flow out level.

Judging from the fuzzy reflection on the fuselage side, paint quality is none too good there either, although not as bad as the cowl. Although the cowl may be too rough to save with cutting and buffing, the fuselage may respond well if there is enough clearcoat thickness. If the cowl orange peel is in the primer coat, it probably cannot be saved. Strip and shoot again.

I'll get the photos re-posted to this thread:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=60631
 
The forward part of the cowl looks like fiberglass weave to me. The aft part looks more like orange peel.

Did the original paint have a smooth cowl or did it show any weave at all? If it was smooth to start with then this is obviously not weave.
 
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