another paint booth

[A2022]

paint is not ready for tape until 36 hrs. even though the book says 8 hrs I was not comfortable with it because at 12 hrs it would leave a mark that would gradually fade away after the tape was removed. no damage done. walk away.

question about N number... I planed on painting a background N number blue over the existing white (number to be white) but I am not sure if I can dig this paint mask out and get clean lines with urethane. anyone have any experience with this? my other option is to paint the blue and them come back and paint the white N number over the blue. I still have two unused masks remaining.

my wife came over to inspect the curve. she was happy with it. you know, I was nervous before painting the fuse overall white, she called me on the phone at the hangar and said not to worry about orange peel because like a golf ball it will make the plane go faster. that is TRUE LOVE!

laying stripes on an airplane is fun. nothing fancy here. I can imagine folks doing fancy paint jobs enjoying their work.

[A2022]

cowling paint line. I do not think where the line is matters, I was only going for symmetry.

I pulled a tape line for the bottom blue across the lower cowl for each side half way and met close to the middle. I picked the one I liked best and made a template and duplicated the other side. mark the template with a pencil and cut the line. the trick is to find the cowl center with the template. the trial and error method worked for me on the 5th measurement. very little wasted tape with this method. this 1/4 inch tape in the picture is the negative. I latter swept a 1/2 inch blue tape around the entire cowl as one piece to match the 1/4 inch one. the wider tape gave a smoother line and was still able to contour.

[A2022]

pulled the n-numbers at four hours after paint. paint is very soft and not tape free. called in the reinforcements to pull paint mask. they had fun. the numbers came off well. Amanda dug into the "5" somewhat with the razor on the right hand side and she told me so, I said it was OK, no worries. she did better on the remainder. the memories of the help are worth it. I had some runs on the cowl. this is how to turn a nice white cowl to blue runs. one day I may understand how to paint but with the help at the end of the day it was a good day. outside air temp -12C when we pulled the n-number mask.



















my father's bday and initials

[A2022]

n-number demasked at four hours after paint. the paint was flexible and did not crack on the mask when removed.



paint line pulled at 18 hours. the paint cracked on the tape every 1/4 inch or so when removed but did not flake.







I jammed this shim in the hinge line to keep it open before paint. I picked up some lint on the belly because I decided it would be a good idea to wipe it down with alcohol. epoxy primer was four days old and still semi-soft.


paint dripping off the right hand side because I adjusted my nozzle down to get into the corner. that was a mistake, I should have left my nozzle as it was and paint perpendicular to the line. live a learn. everytime I have tried to make a nozzle adjustment from the normal setting I screw it up. no more nozzle adjustments, I have learned my lesson with HVLP.

[A2022]

on to the tan stripe, two medium coats. outside air temp = -11C, paint temp = 76F, booth temp on first coat 75F, second coat 62F. DT885 reducer. the paint was supposed to match the interior but is glossy and seems to appear lighter color, maybe when it dries it will be darker. one more burgundy stripe to go and then I will be done with the fuse. stripes are easy, just pull the trigger and walk.

also, I am scuffing the painted color areas with grey (very fine) scotch-brite pads. the white paint is four days old and still soft. I tried both the grey and the red (fine) pads. the red pad seemed to be too rough. with the grey pad I noticed I could see scratches from the pad in the first coat of tan paint from the pad but not the second coat.









baking at 65F

[A2022]

burgundy stripe, outside air temp = -11C, first coat booth temp = 75F, second coat 65F, DT885 reducer, paint heated to 80F, time between first and second coat = 15 minutes. paint scuffed with grey scotch-brite. the warmed paint seemed to spray better and no adverse side effects that I can see, it looks better.







paint did not crack on the tape. this was two medium coats for both stripes. tan was painted 48 hrs ago, the burgundy 24 hr ago. I noticed I had some tan sticking to the blue because I moved the tan mask down after 24 hrs and stuck it to the blue. the blue had dried for 48 hrs but the tan paint is stuck to it in some places. I should have laid new paper over the blue. another lesson learned.

[A2022]

tape removed. the tape with white paint around the canopy was tough to get off because the paint was harder. lesson learned, don't leave the tape on more 5 days if you can avoid it. I have to say my wife was not happy about the way I ended the stripes on the cowl and she told me so. Let me tell you, painting is stressful.

[A2022]

wing booth

[A2022]

Originally Posted by fixnflyguy

Steve,
I painted my -4 DIY as you are. I am in the aircraft business, and have painted several cars, so I may have a slight edge, but I'm no pro. I used PPG epoxy primer, DP40, which is a very easy to use primer, can be sanded if needed, and is compatable with Aluminum,Steel, and Glass. It is easy to find at auto supply stores. I did my topcoat with PPG Desothane, which is widely used by the airlines for the big boys. It is a single stage urethane and works very well, and can be cut and buffed if needed. In lieu of the PVC booth, I built a 24'x24' frame of 2x4's , 8' tall, and suspended the center of the 4 cross pieces with rope from my hangar ceiling so it was open span. I left the front open with 4' spacing on vertical pieces for the other 3 sides. I made a "roll up" door with a PVC tube at the bottom so I could move the plane in and out. This was also a great place to work in winter, and it heated with a kero heater a lot better than the whole hangar. I taped in place 10 heater filters at the top of the roll up door, and put 3 exhaust fans at the back lower edge of the enclosure which I vented out of the hangar.The booth took a weekend to build, and worked great. I have less than a grand in my paint job, and 7 yrs. later it still looks perfect (except the couple party fouls I know of). Yours is coming along great, and you will be proud to say you did it yourself!

this guy gives another approach which is good. the trouble was I could not fit a bigger booth in my hangar, but if I could have I would have. I would need more lights with a bigger booth.

[A2022]

a paint booth ate my wing.... on to phase 3. weekend warrior.