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Plastidip

Capflyer

Well Known Member
Perhaps this is total heresy but has anyone used Plastidip for painting parts of your plane or doing trim/graphics/N-Numbers? Looks like a great solution instead of vinyl graphics or even some easy basic exterior painting. Easy to remove by peeling off and extremely durable. There are tons of videos on Youtube and people paint their entire cars with the stuff or just parts like the wheels. If you think I'm crazy (ok, I admit I am) take a stroll over to Youtube and check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkq-qyY9aY
 
That is pretty impressive. I can't help but think that it's got to be heavy, though. Not so much of a problem on cars, but a bigger problem on aircraft.

Still, that would be a great product for painting wheelpants, gearleg fairings, and leading edges, if nothing else. Things that take abuse from FOD, essentially.
 
I dipped my tie-down rings in red Plasti-Dip back in 2005, and they are still red and rubbery. Of course, they are mostly in the storage location in the RV-8, and they show a little wear from running chains and ropes through them - but it can be blasted off and done again. A really nice way to do tie-down rings...
 
Weight was one of my concerns as well. In another video they peeled a complete car that was Plastidiped and weighed all the peelings. The weight was only a little over 1.5lbs. That is a lot less than paint.

That's pretty compelling right there. I wonder how well it would stick to polished aluminum? :p
 
We have dipped wheels, boat parts, motorcycle parts, etc. The process is pretty simple and it works as advertised if you take your time.

Last weekend we dipped some scratched up interior panels in an old Cessna 177. My friend was really impressed!

Now in the beginning stages of planning a RV-8 build/restore. It's hard not to consider vinyl graphics and plasti dipping
 
...as a temporary protective coat for composites?

Hey, that's kinda cool.

I wonder how this product would do as a temporary protective covering for fiberglass parts, for say, a year or so of flying the airplane before going to paint.

The questions would be, would it form an adequate UV barrier? And will it remove cleanly from fiberglass without leaving behind any residue that would interfere with subsequent paint prep?
 
It looks to me like that would be a perfect use for it, as a temporary coating. Especially for those guys with pink cowls that aren't ready for paint yet. Was thinking it would also make a great instrument panel coating because it is easy to touch up if it gets damaged and the color can be easily changed down the line without having to remove the panel.

I'm toying with doing the bottom and front of my wheel pants. If there is any place on the plane that gets abused, those are them.
 
It looks to me like that would be a perfect use for it, as a temporary coating. Especially for those guys with pink cowls that aren't ready for paint yet.

You've uncovered my true motive! That pink cowl is just embarrassing! :p
 
I think the pink cowling is just there to give you added incentive to *finish* the plane before you fly it... :)
 
Straight away I thought that a flat black or flat dark color of this would be good for the top cowl/Al in front of the cabin to reduce glare.

Second thing I wondered was, OK, this stuff doesn't peel off in car washes and so on but what about rain at 180 mph? What would the high velocities do to it?
 
Hey, that's kinda cool.

I wonder how this product would do as a temporary protective covering for fiberglass parts, for say, a year or so of flying the airplane before going to paint.

The questions would be, would it form an adequate UV barrier? And will it remove cleanly from fiberglass without leaving behind any residue that would interfere with subsequent paint prep?

I would think this product may be very difficult to completely remove from a fiberglass cowl unless the cowl was well prepped with ALL pinholes filled and sanded smooth. Otherwise, the coating would get into all those exposed holes and grip to the fiberglass weave.

Bevan
 
I would think this product may be very difficult to completely remove from a fiberglass cowl unless the cowl was well prepped with ALL pinholes filled and sanded smooth. Otherwise, the coating would get into all those exposed holes and grip to the fiberglass weave.

Bevan

Yeah, possibly. That's the concern. But this stuff may or may not penetrate pinholes, depending on its viscosity. An experiment is in order.
 
I have a lot of trouble believing that to coat a whole car in this goop only adds 1.5 lbs. I mean, what does even one rattle can weigh? I've seen people using several gallons to cover a car.
 
This is very interesting to me! My plans are to paint my plane myself with a very nice white finish and no trim. Then use vinyl graphics for trim so I can change it up if I don't like it or when I get tired of it. With this method, I could experiment with different trims and colors and peel it off later. I plan to not get carried away with the amount of trim I add as it will add weight and it seems a lot of paint schemes I see is just to "busy" for my liking.
 
I have plans of going to Dipyourcar.com location today. I'll report back my findings. All this dependent on not getting called out for work.
 
Has anyone tried it yet? I am seriously thinking about trying at at the 14 year old paint is not looking to good now. Am a bit worried about static charge though - any thoughts?
Cheers,
Nigel
 
My coworker "dipped" his Jaguar in red. He shot it on with an electric sprayer and it came out OK. Looks great from 10 feet away, but up close it is a bit rough. It isn't a smooth finish, but rather textured. Proper prep is the key, and I think he skimped a bit with his masking. If you lay it on heavy, it is much easier to peel later on. I would definitely at least fill the pinholes with micro and put a layer of epoxy on the cowl before trying to paint over it with Plastidip. At least then you could peel or scrape off the coating and resand for a proper paint job.
 
I went to the company HQ in Fl. I was not impressed. The dipped product is really easy to show signs of wear, tear and abuse. I did buy a rattle can and shoot my spinner (I have not yet painted). With the rattle can it is difficult to layer correctly. Once on it can be peeled off although not an easy process.

I have pics, I'm not a fan of the process of posting them here on VAF. If you PM me your email address I'll send the pics I have over.
 
Plasti-dip

Funny this topic has come up.. On another web forum for back country flying it appears the "hot" set up is to coat the big bush tires with bed liner material.. They claim the durability is outstanding when landing on gravel bars, open fields with slate/shale/rocks,etc..... Keep in mind some of those big bush tires cost as much as a wing kit from Vans so they have a financial interest is making the tires last a long time....

As for the Plasti- Dip stuff... I have seen builders dip the ends of the steps and rudder peddles and it holds up real well.. IMHO.
 
Well Paul, at the very least I am dipping my tie down rings in RED this weekend.
Now why didn't I think of that?
 
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