another paint booth

[A2022]

Joe, I'm thinking of trying the drywall mud on these pesky pin holes. The trouble is both are white. I may add some black dye to the mud so I will be able to see it. I am beginning to believe in contrasting colors of primer / filler in order to be able to see imperfections. I will try it on the opposite side.

[A2022]

dry wall filler works. I rubbed it in by hand after trying the squeegee. It sloughs off with gray scotch-brite pad. I added some black dye in order to be able to see if it filled the pin holes.







these are small pin holes....filled with dry wall compound dyed black. the apply and sand is easier than the red 3M putty I tried. I sloughed it off over a trash can with grey scotch-brite. it leaves a dry clean surface for priming.




thin coat of PPG K36 sandable primer. pin hole free! I hate pin holes.

[MikeyDale]

Wished I had tried the drywall mud! The fumes from mixing that putty was awful, and it would set up so fast there was very little time to work it!

[A2022]

ok, I like acrylic urethane. two coats. white (the old chevy white color) over white primer. good lighting is needed. it was cold and raining outside but warm in the booth. I sprayed the floor down with water to keep the sanding dust down.

note: the best thing I used for sanding wheel pants was a rolled grey scotch-brite pad (taped to hold the roll) covered with some flexible 320 grit sandpaper. the one that says last 7 times longer from Lowes..... I always wondered, longer than what, but it works well. there are no flat surfaces on a wheel pant.

ready for priming, one coat. then direct to paint, two coats.















wheel pants are a pain in the A.... but good for learning how to paint

[Joeyo68]

Hi Steve,

Good to see you got a good result with the drywall mud. Wheel pants are looking good!

Cheers,

Joe

[A2022]

thanks Joe, I am a believer in the dry wall mud approach. Bag of dry - dry wall mud compound = $4. Goes to show, less expensive can be better. Steve

[Reflex]

Steve,

I'm very new here and have read ALL the posts in this thread with great interest. I live in Kansas and have a shop roughly the same size as yours, I'm just starting a 14 and need to begin priming. As it's starting to get cold here (25 this morning), a booth inside my shop looks like a good idea.

After reading the posts, I have to ask a really stupid question. I see that you have run ducts to the outside though the door, If your temps are 40 outside and you want it roughly 70 inside, how are you keeping the booth warm moving all that air? It seems to me that a directly vented booth would get cold very quickly....but it appears to be mainlining temp.

Also, would it be possible for you to post a close up of how you attached the rope to frame?

Thanks,

Fred

[A2022]

Fred, the booth does cool when the fans are on. that could be a problem. I try to manage it by preheating the booth with two electric space heaters to about 80F for 30 minutes and I start my two round kerosene heaters (the one with wicks) about the same time to heat the hangar. the hangar is insulated so that helps. the booth inlet air comes from the hangar and is evacuated outside. the booth has a slight vacuum. I switch the electric heaters in the booth off and the fans on when I am ready to enter the booth. I use switches for the fans that are on independent circuits in case one were to fail. before painting I verify the booth is negative pressure by noting the plastic walls are pulling inwards. after painting each coat I wait one minute in the booth to evacuate overspray. after exiting the booth I turn the fans off. then repeat but I didn't use the electric heaters between coats. I need to use a checklist to remind me because when I start mixing paint my mind begins to focus on painting. I practiced the painting motions without using paint to understand how I needed to move. the buckets worked well because you can move them around. I used some duct tape inside the part to secure it to the bucket. this is only the first round of painting and it will get colder so we will see how it goes. as for the attaching the rope, I thought I could have done better. I just looped and tied it to the corners. maybe I'll take a picture of my sorry rope ties for a few laughs and we can come up with a better method. I have seen some of the RV-14 parts. that is going to be a solid bird. Steve

[rockwoodrv9]

Nice Steve. I have been hesitant to use the drywall mud thinking it could flex and crack out. I will have to give it try after seeing how well it worked for you. Thanks

[A2022]

filling giant rivet pinholes to have a smooth finish.