How Much Paint Needed?

[USCANAM]

Going to probably start shooting the primer on the RV9 on Thursday, and want to make sure I have enough primer (Vari-Prime). At the cost of paint, I'd rather buy the proper amount.
Would like to know approx. how much paint required to put on one medium coat on a RV9. That includes all composite parts i.e. cowls, wingtips, but not wheel and gear fairings.
Thanks All
Jack

[rv8bldr]

Hey Jack

I painted my -8 several years ago. Here is an excerpt from my web page on what I used for the whole plane. The plane was sprayed all over white, then red on the bottom half of the fuse, wings, and tail, and some blue trim.:
*********************************


I used Imron for my paint. Here is the list of what I wound up using:

• 1 Gal of Kleine-Sol
• 2 pints of Variprime and Converter
• 1 Gal of Colar light gray primer with activator
• 2 Gals of Imron (White) with activator
• 1 Gal of Imron (Red) with activator
• 1/3 of a Qt of Imron (Blue) with activator -> the smallest I could buy was a quart
• 1 Gal of reducer, of which I used about a cup
• a couple of gallons of laquer thinner
• 1/2 a Qt of Acetone (for cleaning the fiberglass)
• umpteen rolls of masking tape
• 2/3 of a 1000' roll of masking paper
• 3 rolls of 1/2" 3M Fineline tape
• Scothbrite pads
• tack cloths
  

Note: no etch or alodine. I scuffed the entire airplane (by hand!) with 320 wet paper, then wiped it all down with Kleine-Sol, then used Variprime, then Colar, then the paint.
************************

Hope this helps,

[USCANAM]

Mark
Helps a lot
Thanks
Jack

[rvbuilder2002]

Unless you are planning to paint it black, one medium coat of paint is not likely to cover fully.

To get good coverage on a typical two seat RV, 3 sprayable gallons is a common amount used.

[airguy]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

Unless you are planning to paint it black, one medium coat of paint is not likely to cover fully.

To get good coverage on a typical two seat RV, 3 sprayable gallons is a common amount used.

3 gallons TOTAL? or per coat?

[USCANAM]

FWIT!!
1 quart of primer surfacer for composite parts
1 gallon Vari Prime (including activator)
1 gallon of sealer (plus activator and reducer)
10 scotchbrite pads
1 tube of Icing filler

over $600 so far;

possibly more Vari Prime
then main color $145/quart, plus activators
3 shades of silver trim
clear coat
1 mile of line tape
I hope the $2000 I put in the budget will be enough!!
But we're having fun !!!
Jack
RV9A
48.7 hours, now down for paint

[tc1234c]

I did mine outdoor almost a year ago. I hired a painter to shoot the paint. You may find the amount of paint/supply used at the bottom of the following page:

http://3limafoxtrot.com/painting.htm

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by airguy

3 gallons TOTAL? or per coat?

Total......

[KTM520guy]

When spraying a RV I need 3.5 quarts of mixed, ready to spray primer for the AL parts. 4 quarts are needed for an RV-10. For the composite parts I use about 6 quarts of "high build" primer. That sounds like a lot but most of it gets sanded off.

If I may offer a word of advise. Please reconsider using Vari-Prime. It offers little, if any, corrosion protection and can be removed easily with a rag and some solvent. IMHO of course, YMMV.

[USCANAM]

Ted
Very interesting link on painting your RV. You kept very good records. They are too good for my wife to see!!
KTM520 Guy
I read all the pros and cons about the Vari Prime on a search.
I got about the same 50/50 response talking to people who have painted airplanes. Basically, I've determined that it's not that forgiving to poor prep, so since I've bought the material, and have been getting a lot of attention from the Dupont dealer, I'll take may chances with it, and try to make sure the prep is as good as I can make it.
Thanks for your input.
Jack