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Epsound

Well Known Member
Hello all.

Saw the front page bit with the polished rv. Looks great! Has anyone here got one that is polished? Or, has has both (polished and painted) I have only heard rumors that polished jobs are alot of work to maintain. Seems to me that if there is a decent clear coat that this could be a relatively easy thing to maintain.

What are your thoughts?
 
Another consideration with a polished airplane is the continuous bright reflection off the wings while flying. To me this gets old very quickly.
 
polished vs painted

You'll find a ton of discussion on this topic if you use the search function. Here is what I got doing a search for "polished aluminum"

www.vansairforce.com/community/search.php?searchid=4829046

The search function is a great tool if you have specific questions. I have found that there is almost nothing that I've thought about that hasn't already been discussed. Learning from those who have already "been there - done that" is very helpful. :)
 
Bare Aluminum, polished, painted...

I flew my RV-9A for the full 40 hours of phase 1 testing with no paint. A turn where the sun reflected off the dull aluminum of the wings was bad. I can only imagine how bad it would be with a polished mirror finish acting as a solar oven on the side of my face. I chose Pearl White with a clear coat for the majority of the paint scheme.
DSCM0209A.JPG
 
If you like a polished look don't be afraid to go for it. A polished plane can be stunning and will attract attention wherever you go. The reflection mentioned by others has never been a problem in nearly three years of flying and I always fly in sunshine. With the right tools and polish...I use Nuvite...the initial polish can be done in a few weeks. You can bring the shine back to a mirror finish when it needs it, usually once a year, in about three or four days.

Check out the websites for Airstream trailer and Swift Aircraft enthusiasts. They have made an art out of polishing materials and techniques.

Here's how mine looked about six months after the initial polish.

Polish_and_Paint.jpg

Polished_RV9-A.jpg
 
Jim,
How do you wash the polished skin? Do you use special cleaners? Your ship is stunning and is well worth the effort!
 
Jim,
How do you wash the polished skin? Do you use special cleaners? Your ship is stunning and is well worth the effort!
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Hi Don,
For light cleaning I use distilled water mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol from the drugstore) in a spray bottle. Spray on and wipe dry with a microfiber terry towel. For heavier dirt/ oily film I use mineral spirits (paint thinner) again in a spray bottle. Wipe clean with a microfiber towel. You can wash and reuse the towels over and over. Just don't let your wife catch you using the washing machine!
 
Jim...that is BEAUTIFUL!! Gets me goin' for a polished airplane again! Just gotta convince my wife...;)
 
Reflection doing damage to the canopy?

My next door neighbor, "High Roller" flew his airplane polished for about a year I think. . . he had to replace his first canopy due to warping from the localized heat generated from reflection off the wing while sitting in the sun.

Something to be concerned with. . . Has anybody else ever encountered this?

I have seen some canopy's that have a wavy look to them, and I wonder if they were on a shinny airplane for awhile. . .
 
FLYPTV, Jim...Opaque glass

Jim, beautiful plane! Guess what? Even my wife loves it. In fact, she thinks it extremely stunning. Yeah, thats arguably even better for me. "hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge." Thanks for the picks. ;)

FLYPTV... Of course I can't speak to the effects of polished finished on glass. However I have learned that solutions with amonia in them, used to clean the galss, i.e. windex, eventually turns the glass opaque. An A&P told me this.

What I have gathered so far is, the initial application is the largest portion of the task.

Any tips or suggestions on techniques for the initial application?
 
Epsound,

I'll give you some tips on polishing. I helped with the plane you are talking about and it took 2 of us about a week to get up.
Start with F7 and make 7 passes with the buffer, then 1 pass with C with
the buffer and then 1 pass with C on the cyclo. Then the final coat of S with the cyclo.
Use cornstarch in between rounds and don't wash the stuff with the lingerie:eek:
You can look on my website at some of my pics and it works on SS too.

Good luck and wear sunscreen and have some shades but it is worth it.
 
An interesting perspective on this came from one of the attendees at LOE this year. He had a polished RV-8. He said that the heat from the reflected light (he's based in California) actually warped his canopy to the point he had to replace it. Then he painted the airplane (quite a beautiful job too but that's another story). It may not be as big a problem for a side by side where there is less canopy area. Something to consider.

Chris
 
Protecting paint when polishing?

When a polished plane needs to be re-polished, what's done to protect paint and decals during polishing? BTW Jim, I love the look of your plane. Now you've got me thinking about going the polished route.
 
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When a polished plane needs to be re-polished, what's done to protect paint and decals during polishing?
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Rick,
The simple answer is you re-polish right over the trim paint or the vinyl graphics.
The final polishing compound...Nuvite grade S...feels like hand lotion. When used with a Cyclo 5 buffer and cotton sweatshirt material there is no affect on the trim. As you polish a thin black residue will form on the trim. After you finish a section just wipe the trim clean with a spritz of mineral spirits and a microfiber towel.

For those of you who want to learn more about polished aluminum go to Perfectpolish.com for information, materials and tools. I have made several purchases from them and have always been satisfied...their polishing cloth is the best I have ever found. Hope this helps.
 
one polished airplane per lifetime

Prior to my current painted RV-3B, I owned a polished Sonex. One polished airplane per lifetime is the proper ratio. If you think you might want to polish, spend a few hours reading. Here's what Nuvite recommends:

http://www.nuvitechemical.com/Company_Literature_PDF/Polishing_clad_Procedures.pdf

I passed on the high $$ Cyclo and used a $40 Wen instead.

http://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboytoo/Sonex#5140822613545655346

http://picasaweb.google.com/tonyboytoo/Sonex#5140822708034935938

One of these days I'll learn how to post a photo.

Tony
 
Polishing is a bit of work, but the finished product is unforgetable. I decided to polish....but only portions of the fuselage. Wings, top of fuselage forward of canopy, bottom of fuselage and empennage, will be painted. Kind of a combination of getting somewhat of a polished look, but taking the labor out of polishing the entire plane.
 
what about painting?

Do you polish before painting when you have a design that includes some painted areas? I would be worried about eventually polishing off some of the paint in the long term. How do you prevent this?
 
Polished Bonanza

I saw a polished Bonanza at Triple Tree this past weekend. The wings were painted the same color as the "accept" colors on the fuselage - absolutely beautiful!

I'm too lazy to do all that polishing - I'm painting head to toe.
 
My question, too.

Epsound said:
Do you polish before painting when you have a design that includes some painted areas? I would be worried about eventually polishing off some of the paint in the long term. How do you prevent this?
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Good question. My understanding is that the polish is an abrasive compound, is it not? Would it not eventually work on the paint next to the polished areas? IE - the red / polish stripes on Jim's tail.

Jim - looks great, by the way! VERY sharp.
 
polishing

JDRhodes said:
Good question. My understanding is that the polish is an abrasive compound, is it not? Would it not eventually work on the paint next to the polished areas? IE - the red / polish stripes on Jim's tail.

Jim - looks great, by the way! VERY sharp.
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I've only logged about 10 hours behind a buffer, but I've SEEN it done way more! I think I would mask off the paint stripes with masking tape before polishing.

CDE
 
Polishing ... & Alclad

G'day Jim,

Sorry to bombard you with questions ... but does the polishing have any effect / removal of the protective silver coating on Alclad? :confused:

BTW ... absolutely awesome looking ride - well done.

Cheers,

Matt
(Down - Under)
 
Hi Matt,

I am no way an expert, but what I understand from what I have read is that the Alclad is not so much removed as it is moved around. Repeated polishing seems to "seal" the Alclad by moving the molecules together.

Here's what Perfectpolish.com says about it:

Will repeated polishing remove the Alclad coating?

Not according to Boeing. As a quality control measure Boeing polishes all of their exterior skin sections after forming using robotic polishers and Nuvite F-7. Apparently defects in the skin are easier to spot when polished. They once polished a section 370 times and the surface cladding (Alcad) was still there. Boeing says that polishing does not remove metal, it just "turns it over."

Of course if the surface is badly corroded or has been sanded, the Alcad will be gone. But it will polish up nicely anyway.
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I'm sure there are others on the Forum who could give you a better explanation.

And thanks for the compliment!
 
youtube video on polishing

I've just been researching polishing in preparation for a perfectpolish.com order and found this youtube clip which gives a quick overview on how to polish. Thought it might interest some who are considering it.
 
My big question is about the rivets. They're alodine gold. Does the polishing process get through the alodine layer?
 
How did he do it ?

Hi all,

I saw this beautiful RV-9 by Jim Ellis and am thinking about polishing my RV as well. What I can't see in the pictures is the windshield transition to the front top skin.

I have a Slider canopy but much like the tip-up, there needs to be a fiberglass build up that holds the windshield to the top aluminum skin. This can get kind of messy. Not a big deal if you are painting, but polishing is a different story.

If Jim is reading this, or anyone else knows how he did it..... please share. It looks very neat however it's done.

Thanks,

Darren
 
Amateur Notes

Darren S said:
....there needs to be a fiberglass build up that holds the windshield to the top aluminum skin. This can get kind of messy. Not a big deal if you are painting, but polishing is a different story.....please share.......Darren
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Darren,

Like most first time RV builders, I knew nothing about fiberglass work and learned what I had to know when I had to know it. I had no fiberglass guru around giving me helpful tips. I'm sure pros have a lot of little tricks up their sleeves. Still, the windshield transition on my polished slider RV-6A may not be perfect but to me is certainly "okay." I dealt with the transition by using a stackup of electrical and blue masking tape. Using a palm sander, I would feather the 'glass until it just started to wear though the tape which was a single thickness at the transition of the canopy glass and the upper skin. As far as "glare" is concerned.....pure urban legend. Neither I nor anyone who has ever flown with me has known glare to emanate from the polished upper skin.

11w6f84.jpg
 
polishing

That's a great look Jim but is it possible to bring the aircraft to such a high polish finish, with the usual building scratch marks or did you keep your beautiful RV in wrapping paper whilst you were building .:confused:
 
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Hey Rick,

I like what you have done. Thanks for posting the picture. It looks like you masked and carefully laid up the fiberglass and then sanded and painted the area, leaving the front top skin polished. Is that correct ?

You painted with what ? Any thoughts on Sikaflex ? I've seen some builders use it for the windshield to top skin interface.

Darren
 
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