painting your rv while building?

[cbrown747]

I am doing all my research, reading through all the rv-builders websites as well as talking over the phone etc.. I am looking to build the rv-9a.

My question is I heard one rv builder (rv-8a) paint his rv while he was putting it together. I am assuming he painted each part and then assembled it.

Does this make sense and if so, what are the pitfalls?

[rbibb]

I've been thinking about doing that same thing.

Downside that I can see are:

1) any painted trim scheme will likely have to wait until the airplane is complete in order to align the masking for stripes, etc. If you painted the base color it might be sometime before you painted the stripes and most paints want to be applied within 24 hours or so. Having said that if you scotch bright scuffed the base coat in the striped area I would expect you would have no adhesion issues.

2) If you use a clear coat process you will have to clear coat it once assembled anyway and will have to prep for that that time.

3) If you end up buying paint at different times differences in lot color might be noticeable although I think this is unlikely.

4) Any trim tabs you have to add will need to be painted which will interfere with your "in process" paint job.

If you notice bizjets they get epoxy primed and then flown to a completion center where interior and final paint is applied so it can be done.

[Scott Hersha]

My business partner has built 3 RV's - 2 9A's and a -7, and he painted them all before final assembly and phase 1. All 3 were beautiful airplanes and there were no problems doing it this way. Good thing is, the pieces were painted in a good booth and it was a little cheaper. Plus he didn't have to take everything apart, and then re-assemble it like I did - twice.....

[N941WR]

The one down side of painting first is that you will be taking the cowlings on and off a number of times during your phase 1 test period. This all leads to scratches.

Also, if you need to make any mods, there is a good chance you will damage your paint.

As for the clear coat, that adds weight. See if you can get a good single stage paint job.

BTW, now that my plane has been taken apart, I will probably paint it. The question is, paint it now why it is apart or assemble it, fly off my new phase 1, and then have it painted? Oh, that's what you asked. I'll probably take it some place and have it painted.

[Kyle Boatright]

I wonder if the builder was priming, not painting as he went?

From my perspective, painting is a huge pain. Been there, done that. One of the issues is that it takes a lot of setup work to turn your shop into a good paint booth. I mean, the space has to be very clean to avoid debris in the paint. You may also want to use plastic film to protect your walls, floor, etc from overspray. Most folks add extra lights (sidelights, for instance) which would probably be in the way of other tasks when you're not painting. And then there are ventilation issues, where to put the cars issues, and a host of others...

The picture I'm trying to paint is that there is a lot of setup work involved before you shoot the first drop of finish paint. I think it would be a real time and effort drain to paint each individual component (or assembly) as you progressed through the project.

Instead, if you want to paint your plane, build it first, then paint all of the major sub-assemblies (wings, fuselage, empennage, etc) in one week (or weeks or months) long effort. You'll save a lot of time that way.

[npowell]

I just finished painting most of my RV-9A before final assembly. Nothing else makes sense to me. Theparts are all there - why assemble them and then interrupt flying to take them all apart again, clean off all the fuel and oil, and paint.

The only thing I have left to paint are the cowl and the gear fairing and pants. I will be painting the cowl within a week or so. Painting all went well using a Harbor Freight one-car canvas garage for a paint booth and couple of large fans (Walmart, $25. apiece). Everyone has their own style, but this made sense to me. Only slowed me down about two weeks.

Neal Powell
RV-9A
Working on cowl and engine.

[L.Adamson]

I'd definitely paint before flight, but not before most of the construction is complete. I painted mine with the wings & tail sections off the airplane.

Too many RV's go unpainted for years. There is a lot procrastination in RV land! You either have to have 6-9000 bucks in reserve for a "fly it there" paint job by someone else; or just get with the program and get it done! A RV is not complete until it's painted! It's quite a job, especially with multiple colors, but then you don't have to tear the plane apart, and not fly for months.

With today's high quality multiple part paints (though expensive); you get extreme toughness & elasticity that won't easily scratch when removing parts. Besides, you have to remove a lot of parts every year for the condition inspection. Over the course of two years, my fairings & cowl have been off numerous times with no scratches.

I've always maintained that un-painted RV's only look good to the builders.
The builder apparently has a paint scheme in mind, that somehow superimposes itself over their unfinished product. But to us, it's just more boring aluminum & half finished fiberglass... So yes, get it painted before flight!

L.Adamson --- RV6A

[SebsRV7A]

I watched my neighbor take his Lancair apart and prep it for paint after flying in primer for a couple years as I was building. My feeling was I didn't want to take the plane out of service after waiting 3 years to build and fly it!
I didn't paint the cowl or wheelpants for a while (actually the wheelpants finally got white Krylon this spring after 2 1/2 years), but they come off easily.

I hate to take my plane down for maintenance (modifying plenums, etc) when I have a choice, and I'm glad I didn't need to stop flying for 2-4 months to have it painted.

On another note, I learned to paint while doing my plane. It's a decent 10 foot paint job, but I'm proud of the fact I did it myself. And, I saved a lot of $$. There is a lot of planning to setting up a paint scheme with unassembled parts. I tried to keep it simple.

Sebastian Trost
RV-7A flying 340 hours
Henderson, NV

[tinman]

I painted mine before final assembly. I am a lousy painter...no doubt about it. I can shoot orange peel until the cows come home... Every day was an adventure shooting in our sub-tropical climate. I even managed to get a lizard stuck in some curing paint...Jurassic Park painting just plain stinks!

The only good thing to say about doing it this way is that once I start flying, I won't have to stop flying to take her apart again. She is truly DONE as she sits :-)

[newtech]

My 7A was painted as sub assemblies before final assembly with one exception. I painted the inside of all the fuselage panels, bits and pieces, before riveting the fuselage together. When we finished riveting the fuselage the interior was already painted and only needed minor touch up at the end. I also didn't prime any internal part that was alclad. Even with a heavy House of Kolor candy apple paint job my final weight was only 1057. The interior panels in the baggage area and floor panels were left unpainted. The airlines don't paint the food carts so why should we paint the areas that are going to get the highest wear? Bare aluminum looks appropriate in high wear areas.