another paint booth

[A2022]

ok, makes sense, paint temperature to be same as booth temperature. I need to raise the paint temp from 60F to 75F before mixing.

[A2022]

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

Steve, it has been many years since I researched this, but my recollection, and what I've always done, is cut and buff soon after you paint, say after 48 hours. The paint is still flexible and the results are superb with a minimum amount of buffing required with a gentle compound.

If you wait many weeks, the paint hardens and becomes more difficult to buff, matter of fact you must use a more aggressive finishing compound. Keep in mind body shops are cutting and buffing mere hours after they shoot the paint and Concept is designed for that environment.

Your plane is looking great! Painting an airplane is a huge job....

OK, I'll look at DH cut and buff post and buy some materials. I need to go after the underside of the elevators where I tried the three coat method, mist coat, then medium second and heavy final coat. That didn't work as well as two wet coats. From then on I used the two wet coat method. .... and buff the wing tips.

[A2022]

the long gear leg fairings developed slight orange peel when left hanging vertical. I painted these horizontal and they were perfectly smooth. the paint gun did not cause orange peel. it was simply the vertical orientation. the small fairing more horizontal surfaces (where it fairs for the attachment holes) are smooth. for this case, my conclusion is orange peel was simply caused by the paint flowing downhill. there are probably other causes for orange peel.

before, just after painting


two days after painting, hanging vertical

[A2022]

priming, left over grey primer, two years old, to be white when it's over, all hinges taped



pins inserted so as now to damage hinges, safety wired to the pins


K36, I had primed these two year ago before first flight, I didn't use any reducer because I didn't know what I was doing (like I know what I'm dong now...) they held up well but had a very rough finish. adding reducer improves the finish. this was with DT885 even though it was only 70F in the booth. outside air temp 8C.




a way to hold this open for painting, it worked, only slight movement from the air pressure


working environment, it's tight


discoloration from lower cowl heat, for reference when applying new foil, line where foil ended evident

[A2022]

top cowl. I heated the paint and reducer to 70F before mixing by placing in a box in front of an electric heater. I heated the hangar to 24C and the booth temp for the first coat was 80F and finish painting booth temp was 70F. I used DT885 reducer to try to get a nice smooth finish. I painted the part upside down. the warm paint was thinner, had better flow and was overall easier to work with. added that to my checklist. towards the aft I managed to loose the paint line and also got the gun to close and saw the effects of paint "swoosh" in all directions from the air pressure. I thought I had ruined it but slowly it began to heal itself. other than this defect I'm happy with it.

also, the day before I forgot to clean my gun after K36. that took a full hour to clean. another painful lesson.

the "swoosh" run is just behind the reflection of the wire. I will get another picture of this tomorrow to see the effects of gravity overnight.



WET PAINT!









I made one adjustment to door while painting by squeezing the wire to eliminate the door paint blocking on the hinge line and left it more horizontal for curing.




reduced orange peel on vertical surface. no paint build up around hinges.

[A2022]

well, the paint "swoosh" didn't heal itself. it was just too much to ask. I determined I must have been following the V-line from the nose and it piled there. this one will need post paint work. bummer.



soldiering onward, bottom cowl. heated paint to 70F, DT885, paint booth at first coat 80F, end of second coat 70F

scratch hanging part, I don't know how I did this. it had to be the safety wire. I bent all the safety wire ends back after that, like I should always do. this one got me.



red putty






where scratch was


I should have filled this rivet

[A2022]

fairing looks good, no immediate orange peel, urethane likes to be room temp, cold paint goes on too thick and can cause orange peel when hanging to cure. I'll post of picture of this tomorrow to see the overnight effects

[A2022]

first painted piece installed, the white appears grey from the side, humm





can-o-pee primed with sandable primer, a pain to fair the fiberglass transition, I made four separate wooden contour blocks for sanding

[A2022]

inlet filters. all piece parts completed except canopy. canopy to be painted today then the booth is to be rotated to the fuse.

[PTI Paint]

Did you end up providing an air intake? I had to keep the plastic from getting sucked in around the plane and getting weird airflow.