[madmaveric]

How much paint is needed for the outside of an RV-12?

I plan on painting mine as I go, due to space I will have to paint each section as it is completed before shipping off to storage.

This means I need to buy some paint for the first bits soon but I want to make sure I get the same shade for the whole aircraft, this means buying it all in one batch.

The plan to paint in a single metallic colour using clear over base (2k clear) but I have no idea how many litres of each I will need.

I was originally guessing around 6 litres of each (clear/base) plus mixers (that would make about 9 litres of each once mixed) but I have a feeling that may be way off as I have seen people mention 6 gallons :O

 

[cactusman]

How much paint is needed for the outside of an RV-12?

I plan on painting mine as I go, due to space I will have to paint each section as it is completed before shipping off to storage.

This means I need to buy some paint for the first bits soon but I want to make sure I get the same shade for the whole aircraft, this means buying it all in one batch.

The plan to paint in a single metallic colour using clear over base (2k clear) but I have no idea how many litres of each I will need.

I was originally guessing around 6 litres of each (clear/base) plus mixers (that would make about 9 litres of each once mixed) but I have a feeling that may be way off as I have seen people mention 6 gallons :O

We used approx 1 gallon of green primer, 1.5 gallons of white and 2 quarts of black metallic and i pint of copper met. SW Jetglo and Acryglo.

Also 1 quart of clear approx...and we ran tight on the white but he did the whole plane....of course you need hardener, reducer and stabilizer for the metallics.

Depends on the type of paint i think and the ratios for the mix.

 

[madmaveric]

We used approx 1 gallon of green primer, 1.5 gallons of white and 2 quarts of black metallic and i pint of copper met. SW Jetglo and Acryglo.

Also 1 quart of clear approx...and we ran tight on the white but he did the whole plane....of course you need hardener, reducer and stabilizer for the metallics.

Depends on the type of paint i think and the ratios for the mix.

Thanks, that really helps.

I plan on using one base colour and maybe 'stick on' stripes later etc. (I'm not sure I would ever get them to line up if I tired to paint stripes in sections). The base I'm going to use is mixed at 2:1 (2 paint to 1 thinner).

The clear, hardener, primer and thinners I can buy as i go as they won't need colour matching.

I think I will buy 8 liters of base colour (2 US Gallons) and the rest as I need it. It should give me some extra for any touch ups as well. (that's still ?320 of paint just for the base colour here in the uk :O).

 

[rockwoodrv9]

Paint doesn't last forever in the can. Make sure you check the life of the paint. Be extra careful when mixing to not get any catalyst contamination into the paint. With a light color such as you plan to use for your main paint, I don't think you will have much problem with paint match.

 

[madmaveric]

I hadn't thought about paint life. I will check with the supplier but hopefully it will be about a year from start to end (if my build plan continues on the current path) so hopefully won't be an issue.

The other consideration I have to ask about is how much they can mix per batch. If they can only mix 4 litres at a time then buying more won't guarantee to remove issues so I may as well buy 4 now and 4 later.

Ideally I would paint the tail and main fuse from the same batch as this will be noticeable where they join if there is any difference. I suspect a small difference wouldn't be noticeable with the wings and tail feathers (as it would just look as if the light was hitting it differently ).