When to Paint

Jconard · #1 09-21-2006, 07:53 AM

Hello everyone!

I am vacillating between flying it naked, painting later, or painting it before final assembly.

What are the groups thoughts? Did anyone really make changes during test flight? How was it to assemble for those who painted first?

Really looking for experiences here.

pierre smith · #2 09-21-2006, 08:10 AM

Hi J,
If it's a 6 series airplane like ours, we painted it after phase one, in my hangar, fully assembled because the wings have 70 bolts attaching them!!! Lotsa trouble to take apart. On the 7, 8 and 9, they can be pretty easily disassembled for painting.

Most paint booths can't fit an assembled RV in or we would have landed next to the body shop friend of ours road (out in the country) to be painted.

If I do it over again, it would be painted first,

ps. Which model do you have?

Regards,

Ironflight · #3 09-21-2006, 08:10 AM

I flew mine bare for six months, and the only thing I did that would have affected paint was to repair a wheel pant after a flat tire. This is actually not that unusual, if you are trying to guess at how tight to make the wheel openings.

But there were no "changes" that would have messed up the paint. That said.....I'm glad I flew it as soon as I could!

Paul

vlittle · #4 09-21-2006, 08:15 AM

An alternative method that I've seen is to paint the control surfaces and hard to access areas before assembly.

Later, when final paint is done, the control surfaces do not have to be removed and it's faster and easier.

V

Low Pass · #5 09-21-2006, 08:23 AM

I did mine in parts before final assembly. not a lot of advantage one way or the other, IMO. If you could assure that the bottom and hard to reach areas will be painted properly, then I might say go with after.

frankh · #6 09-21-2006, 08:29 AM

Thats what my Wife insisted on and for good reason. I sold my last airplane after 7 years with no paint...Its real hard to take it down after its flying.

Secondly, how much do you want to spend...Yeah I know 7 grand is relatively small compared to the whole airplane but its still 7 grand!

With all the equipment (HF HVLP spray guns are remarkably good) I spent less than a thousand. i had never painted before and it came out superb. If your like me and enjoy gaining new skills then I highly recommend doing it yourself....Of course it took me 3 months...Yes THREE MONTHS!

I aslo disagree with the previous post that says the later model wings come off easy. If your building an RV7a believe me you will NEVER want to go through the wing mating process more than once in your lifetime...

I painted and it turns heads as I taxi to the runway...I'm happy

Frank

Jconard · #7 09-21-2006, 08:46 AM

I am building a 7.

Because of the cost/chemicals, I am seriously considering rolling/tipping the paint..with AFS.

Alternatively, there are a number of body shops who would paint it economically in pieces.

I have heard 5-7 thousand to paint it complete.

f1rocket · #8 09-21-2006, 08:51 AM

I painted my -6 while it was in my garage. My Rocket is still not painted, although that will be fixed later this month.

In my opinion, the answer to your questions depends on just how particular you are on getting your airplane to fly straight. Few of these airplanes go together perfectly straight right out of the crate. There were some things I would have liked to fix on my -6, but couldn't get myself to cut into the paint. On the Rocket, I've had it apart a dozen times just tweaking little things. It now flies just the way I want it to, and I didn't have to worry about scratching up the paint.

videobobk · #9 09-21-2006, 09:08 AM

We had our 9A painted by a body shop while still in pieces. I think it was a good plan. I NEVER want to pull the wings and I didn't like the idea of the chance that oil would get in a joint and not be completely removed, causing a weak area in the paint. As to costs, I settled for one color and added the second/third in vinyl to save painting costs. The shop did all the metal prep, I did the fiberglass. Prep/shooting was $1750, paint around $1000 and vinyl about $125 (I have a computerized cutter.) I don't think this added significantly to our time-to-fly and now that it's done, it's done!

Bob Kelly

RV8N · #10 09-21-2006, 09:11 AM

I have an RV-8 (tailwheel) and hope I never have to take the wings off. I used a dry lube on the main spar bolts and still had to drive them in. I painted in pieces and don't regret it. I certainly wouldn't want to paint the belly and bottom of the wings by spraying up.

In general I would say:
a) paint first and in pieces if your doing it yourself.
b) fly first if your going to have it painted professionally.

Karl