Van's Air Force
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Novice Painter for RV-12iS
- Thread starter KEG
- Start date
2 stage is base coat plus clear coat. Base coat weighs almost nothing. Weight is in the primer and clear. Single stage mixes the pigments with the clear coat, eliminating the base coat. The fact that the base coat weighs almost nothing means you don't really save any meaningful weight. With some colors, you need more coats to get proper opacity. More coats of base = minimal weight; More coats of SS / clear = significant weight.
Further some SS paints can handle very little cut and buff without getting color shading differences, as the pigments that float to the top change hues when scuffed. Most SS paint leaves only a VERY THIN layer of pure clear at the top; It's enough for buffing but not color sanding. Huge issue for a novice painter that is likely going to make mistakes that must be fixed. If you go SS, look for a manuf that uses urethane pigments, as they can be sanded without issue; Most do not. Southern Polyurethanes does, but has very limited color selection.
Base / clear is far more forgiving and blemishes more easy fixable than SS, due to above. Runs in clear and SS are a real reality for a novice. Base is VERY HARD to make runs in.
Downside is that the primer to base coat has less adhesion strength. Therefore SS is harder to chip off, as the clear sitcks like glue to the primer.
I used SS for my 6. Top of the garage door is still pink, seven years later, from the over spray (red paint). This doesn't happen with base or clear.
FYI, avoid metallic base coats. They are NOT novice friendly, especially those with large mica flake. Metallic SS is fine, as is pearls in base coat.
Larry
Further some SS paints can handle very little cut and buff without getting color shading differences, as the pigments that float to the top change hues when scuffed. Most SS paint leaves only a VERY THIN layer of pure clear at the top; It's enough for buffing but not color sanding. Huge issue for a novice painter that is likely going to make mistakes that must be fixed. If you go SS, look for a manuf that uses urethane pigments, as they can be sanded without issue; Most do not. Southern Polyurethanes does, but has very limited color selection.
Base / clear is far more forgiving and blemishes more easy fixable than SS, due to above. Runs in clear and SS are a real reality for a novice. Base is VERY HARD to make runs in.
Downside is that the primer to base coat has less adhesion strength. Therefore SS is harder to chip off, as the clear sitcks like glue to the primer.
I used SS for my 6. Top of the garage door is still pink, seven years later, from the over spray (red paint). This doesn't happen with base or clear.
FYI, avoid metallic base coats. They are NOT novice friendly, especially those with large mica flake. Metallic SS is fine, as is pearls in base coat.
Larry
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I’ve noticed on planes like the RV-6,7,8, and 9 that a simple 3 color paint scheme, base plus two stripes, will weigh in at around 19 pounds. I can’t recall off of the top of my head the weight on a RV-12. With the excellent performance of RVs you’ll never notice the difference between a pro paint job and an amateur paint job.
You could consider to paint only the necessary parts, and to let the rest of the aluminum 'bare' (take some slow grease, but man.........)
take a look at https://www.aironline.nl/weblog/202...driaan-maar-of-deze-ook-216-miljoen-waard-is/
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