Paint Sequence Advise Needed

[Champ]

My paint scheme (see below) dosen't lend itself to simply laying trim colours on top of a solid base. Colours butt one another. I am using Acryl Glo single stage. No clear coat.

My thought was to lay down the silver then the blue to the line between the black and white stripes and then put the black on top of the silver and the white on top of the blue. This way only one "butt" line would occur between the white and the black - very careful tapeing required here.

Any suggestions from the painting gurus on how to accomplish this - apart from going base clear?



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[Steve Melton]

I'm no paint guru, but fwiw, since you're painting it yourself you can do anything that works. try some test panels to see if you can make the butt line work. if it were me, I would overlap the paints. paint the overall silver, then blue top, then add the black stripe. I was told blue was especially tricky to match. Paint the blue connecting areas at the same time from the same can with the same undercoating if possible. again, paint some test panels or color cards understand the undercoat color effects.

[N661DJ]

First of all, I would not attempt to "mask" the scheme by hand. I would purchase a computer generated "Spray mask". The thin silver stripe between the blue and black is tapered, as is the black stripe. You will find it difficult to mask this with the curves and taper correctly, it can be done, but will take a lot of work to get it right. IMHO, A spray mask is the only way to go.
That being said, paint the silver, lay the mask on, paint the black, mask over the black and silver, then paint the blue.
Acri Glo is good paint, but I think I would use Jet Glo for the main color, Silver, and blue, Acri Glo for the other color, only a suggestion. Jet Glo is a lot more durable.
In any event, let the paint cure, dry, completely before you attempt to lay any tape or mask on it, otherwise it will "tape track" and you will see faint shadows of the tape when removed.
Good luck,
Dick

[Dan Langhout]

Originally Posted by Champ

My paint scheme (see below) dosen't lend itself to simply laying trim colours on top of a solid base. Colours butt one another. I am using Acryl Glo single stage. No clear coat.

My thought was to lay down the silver then the blue to the line between the black and white stripes and then put the black on top of the silver and the white on top of the blue. This way only one "butt" line would occur between the white and the black - very careful tapeing required here.

Any suggestions from the painting gurus on how to accomplish this - apart from going base clear?

Not sure I see the problem here. Where do your colors "butt"? Looks to me like there is at least a narrow area of silver showing between the black and the blue everywhere. I would shoot the silver as the "base" and then shoot the blue and black as "trim".

A couple of comments:

Paint masks will definitely help you to produce thin, accurate curves and details. BUT - large paint masks have their own challenges to get them applied properly, and they can be very expensive. I used paint masks on my RV-7 paint job (some photos HERE and HERE) due to the complexity of the scheme and the limited time I had to mask each color and stay within the paint's re-coat window. The masks for my plane were over $1700 - and you really only have one shot at applying them. The pucker factor is high! The final detail accuracy was great though.

If you are not trying to get your trim done within your paint's re-coat window, i.e. - you are planning to scuff the paint where the trim will be shot, then I might consider just taping your scheme with fine line tape. You would have basically infinite time to get the lines just right although there would be some tedious scuffing required in between the tape lines.

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT: One more comment. I hope you are good at shooting slick paint. Highly metallic colors (like your silver) really can't be "cut and buffed" like solid colors can. You run a high risk of getting a mottled appearance because of the stratification of the metallic particles in the paint (ask me how I know ).

[wirejock]

I'm no expert but why not paint the two primary colors to a place uder the stripe then use vinyl graphics for the stripes. The vinyl will hide any imperfections in the overlap.
Again, I never painted an airplane so what do I know.
I do plan to paint mine but planning a solid white with vinyl graphics.

[Champ]

Steve - I did try butting colours on a test panel and it turned out OK in a 1 ft length. I used fine line tape - very carefully. Was hoping there was a better way for the lengths I have to do on the fuse & wings. The stripe between the black & blue is actually white compounding the problem. Perhaps I should change it to silver and make life a lot easier.

N661DJ - I appreciate your suggestion on the mask but I will probably tape. My labour cost is $0.00 and I have the time (retired). I debated using JetGlo but my paint supplier who has painted RVs himself recommended Acryl Glo - cost & according to him easier to apply, easier to cut & buff any orange peel or dust, dries faster, less prone to solvent pop. I guess I will have to keep it below 200 mph though .

Dan - The stripe between the black and the blue is actually white - dosen't show up to well in the picture. I won't try & recoat in the window so will be scuffing to allow cure time. The "silver" has no metallic - it is more like a light grey. I will be checking your mask photos tonight. My son designed the paint scheme. Anything is possible on the computer - not so easy in real life. The tail is actually a dark blue / lighter blue checkerboard - good spot to use a mask if I actually go with it.

wirejock -I looked into wrapping the entire plane and also partial wrap but decided to go old school - like me. Cost, seams, potential peel away, corrosion at seams??? Reg # will be vinyl. Vinyl over a base would have been a lot simpler.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

[Dan Langhout]

Ah, now I see. So, what you can do is shoot the silver first as a base. Then shoot white to a soft edge (feather edge), keeping it inside the area covered by the black stripe on one side and blue on the other. You can enhance the feather further when you scuff. In this case, since your next colors are very dark (black and dark blue), and your underlayment colors are both light,
there should be no shading problems with some over white and some over silver.

[C-FAH Q]

I suggest taking it here.
Www.purplehillair.com
It will be perfect when it leaves.
Been a few airplanes from your area completed by Purplehillair.

[Steve Melton]

Ok, I didn't see the white. I think you could mask that by hand with paper templates. Less expensive that way and I think you will enjoy the masking process.

[Champ]

Dan - I think you nailed it. That was just the kind of advise I was looking for. Also, shooting the silver to a feathered edge under where the black will go would eliminate another colour butt line.

Gary - I've seen Purple Hills work and agree it is excellent but that would take all the "fun" out of the process. Besides - all prep & priming is done and any parts that are one colour are also done - not perfect but not to bad. I am in the paint before fly group because it is just so convenient to do it in pieces in my attached garage/shop/booth (and cheaper). PS - I've been over Purple Hill as I had the Champ at CHD4 for a couple years after my son got his licence. He lives near Kintore.

Steve - Yep - love that masking:roll eyes: Great thread you had going on your DIY paint job.