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Help Brantel Pick A Paint Scheme

Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
I go to see Bobby Pott's with my airplane tomorrow and I am sure he needs to know how I want my plane painted so here are my creations so far and I need to choose. Now I know they are not perfectly symetrical and all that...I used MS PAINT for goodness sake, give me a little wiggle room. I am artistically challenged to the bone and have struggled with how to paint my plane for years!

PPG Deltron 2000 base/clear. Metallic Red/Burgundy, Metallic Silver or Metallic Gold, some kind of Off White color:

#1
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#2

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#3

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#4

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My Favorite at this point is #3......cuz the wife wants Gold :eek:
 
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#3

Brantel,

By no means am I an expert! I need guranimals to dress myself.

But, I have seen many airplanes with gold and rarely do they look good.

For example, Kenny Rogers hada Jetstar that was green and gold and looked absolutely Hediis (sp?).

Looking at the gray I have to say, I like it and it feels like something that has't been done before.

Last, have you considered on #4 doing some kind of stripe on the spinner?

Good job!
 
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SmilingJack said:
Last, have you considered on #4 doing some kind of stripe on the spinner?

Good job!
Click to expand...

I am open to ideas...how would you see such a stripe? I am artistically challenged to the bone and have struggled with how to paint my plane for years!

I never really considered Gold myself but the wife thinks it is a good idea :eek:
 
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#4 for me

Take #4 and put the dark color on the bottom and see how it looks. That will help keep the plane cool on our hot summer days.
 
#2

I like the looks of #2, but #4 is appealing too. Have you played with red top black stripe and gray bottom? Just thought the gray would not show dirt as much....Glad you are at that stage...quite an accomplishment!
 
Are you really a closet 49er fan......? All look good. Bill has a pretty good eye for this stuff if you've seen his new scheme!
 
Long Ranger

SmilingJack said:
Brantel,

By no means am I an expert! I need guranimals to dress myself.

But, I have seen many airplanes with gold and rarely do they look good.

For example, Kenny Rogers hada Jetstar that was green and gold and looked absolutely Hediis (sp?).

Looking at the gray I have to say, I like it and it feels like something that has't been done before.

Last, have you considered on #4 doing some kind of stripe on the spinner?

Good job!
Click to expand...

He also had a green and gold Long Ranger he kept in my hangar in Atlanta (PDK)...not fond of the gold either
 
Possibly use a rich yellow similar to Pantone Yellow C. Just stirring the pot!
I do like the light buckskin, or whatever it is... The burgundy you choose will dictate your choice of all the other colors and shades you'll use. If you're unsure about your choices, grab a sample of your burgundy and go to a retail paint store or furniture store that has a "certified" interior designer on staff, and ask for their opinion. Picking the right colors and shades is the key to making an average design appear stunning.
atr7ew.jpg
 
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Spinner ideas

Maybe just the tip in gray for #4 and if the wife wins this one you could do the tip in gold.

I went with a military paint job and you can google the p-51 gunfighter to see what I did for my spinner.

Also, since you are messing with the computer try throwing 2 thin stripes on the spinner to accent or match the tail.

And yes! I feel your pain! When I started to think about the paint I was think....wow...how can this be harder then building?
 
#1, but add a fine line of silver between the gold and burgandy. If you look really closely on the Coke can, they did this and it makes nice separation.

Maybe even put, "Caffeine Free" on the plane someplace.:D
 
3

Brantel,

The maroon on the car is perfect.....it's the same maroon that is on my airplane. Cadillac has used it for a few years. It is beautiful. If you get the correct shade of gold, your airplane will be a head turner for sure. I really like the layout and lines. Go for it.
 
Definitely #3

The two tone with gray is boring and not visually stimulating....
The right tone of gold will really look good with a bright red...
I think its also expensive...
Best of luck. Please the wife, not us Vaffers...:)
 
#3......... but use a tan in place of the gold. And then a dark blue thin accent pin stripe between the colors.......... maybe?.......... I guess! ......... I don't know.
 
printing at 2000 or so cans a minute

SeanB said:
#1, but add a fine line of silver between the gold and burgandy. If you look really closely on the Coke can, they did this and it makes nice separation.

Maybe even put, "Caffeine Free" on the plane someplace.:D
Click to expand...

Hey Sean,
Take a look at any aluminum can that is printed. They all have the silver line in between colors. Its a processing fact of life. It is the can showing through. You have to keep the colors completely separate when laying them on the can or they will bleed and ruin the image. Nice observation. Not a lot of people notice.

Good luck Brian!
I'll reserve comment. My wife says I'm artistically challenged. ;)
 
As a USC alum, I do like the colors! My vote is #3.
Minor nit: On the frontal view, the chin color below the spinner where the intake scoop is should be tan, not red.

Similar color scheme used by Ken Holcomb on his 7 (not the greatest photo...)
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Without reading the other responses... I like the pattern from #3 and #4 the best, but I think the gold stripe fits with the red and off-white colours much better than the silver/gray stripe.
 
We made it from KMOR to KTCL today and I left the plane in the capable hands of Bobby Potts.

I ended up going with #3 but without the large tail #'s. We picked out some very nice colors that compliment each other.

In about a month I will show you the results!

Thanks for all the help!
 
Congratulations! ...it's going to be beautiful!

My personal experience is that panel and paint were the most agonizing and difficult decisions I had to make. Your paint scheme is clean and well thought out, and the colors you selected really make it work. The only problem I see, and one you may not have considered, is that you may get a sore throat from saying thank you to 'everyone' who sees your bird on the ramp and compliments your paint.
 
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It's really nice to see that you're getting your plane painted, Brian. I'm partial to red colors myself, and I'm also mulling over a lot of ideas. It will be a while before I'm ready to paint, but not a day goes by that I don't think about it. Can't wait to see it!
 
I tweaked the plan drawing a little to fix some errors in the original and tried to pick better colors to represent the ones I picked out. It is almost impossible with the tools I have to work with. If I had a 3D model of an RV7, I would do a real rendering in Solidworks and that would be the ultimate paint scheme tool!!! That software can create photo realistic renderings complete with shadows, reflections, light sources etc.

Anyway, I fixed the wingtips to have the parting line end up on the parting line of the wingtip and skins, fixed the color on the front lower view of the cowl, made the bottom of the wheelpaints match the fuse scheme, and removed the large tail numbers. I was on the fence with those and Bobby and I were afraid that they would be too distracting on a small plane like the RV.

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big version:
http://i51.tinypic.com/30m8hzo.jpg
 
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Looks great Brantel. When's the drop off date? I dropped mine off on Friday for colors. It's going to be a long planeless month!
 
apkp777 said:
Looks great Brantel. When's the drop off date? I dropped mine off on Friday for colors. It's going to be a long planeless month!
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Dropped it off yesterday...That's cool ours went in a day apart...Who will get done first??? I agree that it will be a tough month or more!
 
Great choice! You will like having yours painted.

As for who's gets finished first, my money is on Tony. But that's because he is using the same painter I did and he will be done in three weeks, or less.
 
Pin Striping

Have not read all the post here but after today's visit to the Patriot Jet Team's open house I remembered that they had a pin striper come in and put a red pinstripe at the edges of color changes on their crew plane, a Twin Commander. It really sets off the color change with a snappy highlite. just a thought. Can always be done later, or not....

Looks really nice already! :D
 
Brantel said:
Dropped it off yesterday...That's cool ours went in a day apart...Who will get done first??? I agree that it will be a tough month or more!
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The real question is, who will be the first to call our painter and ask "uh....are you done yet?" Mines only been working on it for one day and I thought about calling for a status update, might be a few days premature!:)
 
Haha,

I emailed mine today to send him the updated design....I almost asked him how it was going. 1st day and all he should be about 1/2 done right???

I am having airplane withdrawals!!!
 
Brian,

As a check, have the painter spray out the actual paint for your approval. You might want to tweek the colors a bit.

From a painter friend of mine I learned that simpler is better. Consider loosing the horizontal stripes on the VS and rudder and going with solid. Personally I think that's more dramatic. Reality is those two stripes aren't repeated anywhere else in the design on any surface making the vertical look different than the rest of the plane.

John Siebold
 
WenEng said:
The two tone with gray is boring and not visually stimulating....
The right tone of gold will really look good with a bright red...
Click to expand...

Not gray but, three planes in my group used silver with bright red and it looks really good. Another in the group used gold vinyl and it looks good too.
And I have seen another RV-4 with red and silver also that looked good.
 
Brantel said:
Haha,

I emailed mine today to send him the updated design....I almost asked him how it was going. 1st day and all he should be about 1/2 done right???

I am having airplane withdrawals!!!
Click to expand...

I broke down and called my painter today. He's had the plane for 5 working days. He told me all the fiberglass has been primed, he will shoot the wings tomorrow and the fuselage early next week. The plane will be done on July 15th! YES!!!
 
apkp777 said:
I broke down and called my painter today. He's had the plane for 5 working days. He told me all the fiberglass has been primed, he will shoot the wings tomorrow and the fuselage early next week. The plane will be done on July 15th! YES!!!
Click to expand...

Yours is gonna beat mine me thinks...I got a couple status pics from last week. I am trying to force myself to leave my painter alone and let him do his job! These pics look scary! We spend years building out planes and trying not to scratch them and then the painters go at em like pissed off cats!

Looks like they figured out how to get her all apart!

They sure do look ugly all drenched in alodine!

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