F

fstringham7a

Well Known Member
RE: Panel/Paint

Hi to all

Will one step forward two steps back........Here is a picture of my panel!! I was all excited to start the wiring tomorrow....but NO... :( Why you ask? The very expensive Professional High Performance Enamel Flat Black Rust-Oleum
paint just doesn't hold up. I guess I could put a clear coat on top and lose some of the flat shine or just get the old paint remover out and start from scratch???? :eek: What to do? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.


By fstringham, shot with C765UZ at 2007-07-10


Frank @ SGU RV7A Panel/Electrica
 
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My panel is Rustoleum also; and was painted with a spray gun. But--------it just isn't that tough, and is easy to scratch, and sometimes pulls off when removing labels.

If, and when I create another panel (or portions) for glass instruments, etc; I'll use a paint like I've done on the exterior. It's extremely tough, flexible, resistant to chemicals, and the stickiest tape has yet to pull it off the metal.

Sherwin Williams Genesis 3.5. But it really is awfully expensive! :D

L.Adamson
 
fstringham7a said:
...... The very expensive Professional High Performance Enamel Flat Black Rust-Oleum paint just doesn't hold up....... Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.
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You could use black wrinkle paint, available from Wicks.

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Panel paint

I just painted my panel this morning before work!!!! What timing for this post. I spent the extra money for PPG black, DCU single stage. Then dulled it down with their flattening agent. I already had the flattener from painting my interior light gray. It looks fabulous but hind sight is 20/20. I found out too late that PPG sells rattle cans of various interior colors, like gray, tan, black, etc. It is already dulled down. Not totally flat but not semi-gloss either. The tattooed lady at my local auto paint store says the PPG rattle can paint is high quality. Next time I will save myself the $45 for a pint of black PPG DCU paint and use the PPG rattle cans. Check it out.

You still need to put it over a good primer so it won?t peal off!!!!

Sincerely, Brian Vickers, RV4 finishing
 
I haven't had any problems with scratches on my rattle-can panel....but then I used heat lamps to cure it overnight when it was fresh. I mean, it was too hot to put your hand on it....nice hard finish!

One data point,

Paul
 
Plastic, not paint

Hi everyone,

I'm not as far along as ya'll, but using Formica or a clone makes for a bionic surface. No runs, drips, scratches - fairly inexpensive, colors and textures galor. With some of the thicker sheets you can even "carve" your labels right into it. It's what I'm gonna use.

Jeff
 
powder coat

I had painted mine myself but wasn't quite happy with the results (was looking for perfection since I would be staring at the panel for thousands of hours). Decided to get mine powder coated! That is a nice, hard and durable finish that will last a while. Ironically, the powder coat color is the same one that Van's uses... and it matches my interior paint (Dupont Nason) exactly.

Cost was very reasonable at $50. Check out some local powder coat shops if you want to try an alternative.

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Ditto on the powder coating. It's very durable and you can match practically any interior paint scheme you desire.
 
Another Dito on PC

Another Dito for powder coating. I used a sandy beige and matched interior paint perfectly. Mine ran about $70 for the panel but the result was great!

Jim
 
RE:4:00AM Stripper/Panel That Is!!!!!!

fstringham7a said:
Hi to all

Will one step forward two steps back........Here is a picture of my panel!! I was all excited to start the wiring tomorrow....but NO... :( Why you ask? The very expensive Professional High Performance Enamel Flat Black Rust-Oleum
paint just doesn't hold up. I guess I could put a clear coat on top and lose some of the flat shine or just get the old paint remover out and start from scratch???? :eek: What to do? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.


By fstringham, shot with C765UZ at 2007-07-10


Frank @ SGU RV7A Panel/Electrica
Click to expand...

Follow up to the above.....very restless night .....after reading your excellent advice. Talk to my wife about the choices and she said......"After spending $80 K plus why would you go cheap on the panel. Lets powder coat" :eek: .....So got up at 4:00 Am dismanteled the panel and began the stripping process in preparation for the powder coating. New decision though....value of the color....light or dark or something inbetween? ANY advice would be appreciated.

Thanks as always and will this ever end!!!!!!!!!Just Kidding :rolleyes:

Frank @ SGU RV7A Panel Powder Coating/ ELECTRICAL
 
Stripper...don't bother

I wouldn't bother with stripping the paint. The powder coating process requires the parts to be blasted to insure good adhesion. Strip away, but the parts prep guy wont even notice rustoleum.

My panel is powder coated in a lovely medium grey almost crinkle finish that will hold up to anything...even slipping screw drivers haven't scratched it.

Tim
 
fstringham7a said:
New decision though....value of the color....light or dark or something inbetween? ANY advice would be appreciated.
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Dark, but not shinny. This will reduce reflection in the canopy at night.
I used a medium gray color on mine.

Kent
 
Don't give up yet Frank. How long ago did you paint it? I've found that the Rustoleum Professional series dries quick to the touch (that's what separates the Profesional from the others in the Rustoleum line), but it takes a LONG time to cure to the point that it will not scratch easy. My whole intererior is painted with the Stainless Steel color and after 6 mos. it is tough!!!! I have no qualms about using it on my panel, though I have not found the exact color/sheen that I'm looking for yet. Good luck, though.
 
Enamel Takes Forever!

Frank,
What was your prep & prime? Did you paint immediately after priming like the can says? I just used Rustoleum Pro to paint the 351 from my boat and everyday it cures harder. It takes much longer if you spray on soft primer, but it sets up rock hard if you leave it alone for a week or more. Heat lamps will help.
 
RE:patience

WSBuilder said:
Frank,
What was your prep & prime? Did you paint immediately after priming like the can says? I just used Rustoleum Pro to paint the 351 from my boat and everyday it cures harder. It takes much longer if you spray on soft primer, but it sets up rock hard if you leave it alone for a week or more. Heat lamps will help.
Click to expand...

Bill, I did the prime and after it dried (85 degree morning heading for 113 afternoon here in the desert southwest) appplied the first coat of paint. I got some dusting lines at the edge of the paint strokes which I have found to be no big deal. They are eliminated with some 600 grit wet paper. I applied two more coats. The next morning I gave it a 600 grit wet sanding and wanted to have a brushed effect so I made parallel strokes with red scotch bright. I stepped back and though, man this looks good. So the next step was to start putting the panel together........WRONG........I should have waited a few days and gave it the old heat lamp treatment...but no.....as usual my lack of patiences forced me to get the panel together. As you all know by the time I got it together the panel looked pretty bad (at least for me). :mad:

The panel today is at the powder coater with the results seen by 5:00 PM today. I decided to go with mat black. $40.00.

So lessons learned. If you use rattle can be patient/let it cure/enjoy $ savings or go powder coating with it's strength/$$$$$$$$$.

Thanks again for all the advice/help/suggestions, as usual the RV family comes to the rescue!!!!!

Frank @ SGU RV7A Panel at the powder coater
 
First decisions are often best

You decided to make it black after years of thought. As an old military pilot, any color of black is right. Good luck and better sleep.
 
RE:powder Coat Complete

CODon said:
You decided to make it black after years of thought. As an old military pilot, any color of black is right. Good luck and better sleep.
Click to expand...


Follow up to the panel/paint/powder coat saga. Got the panel back this PM and it is great looking/tough as nails/ready for wiring. I am just $40 lighter in the wallet!!!!!!!!!!Will get some ZZZZZ this evening but I am sure I will be able to creat a new problem for me and you :)

Thanks for the help to all you great RV builders

Frank @ SGU RV7A Panel/Wiring
 
Rustoleum Hard Hat, Dark Machine Grey, has been holding up very well for me on the panel and interior..
 
2,018 hours / 10 years later

My RV-6 will be at Oshkosh. 8th time in the past 9 years. My panel was painted with a Rust Oleum spray can. It has held up better than expected.

Look for it at Oshkosh.

RV-6
"My Sanity" painted on the cowl
10" SoCAL WVAF decal on tail
N157GS
 
My boulder grey rattle can Rustoleum panel still looks great after 3.5 years as does the rest of the interior I used it on. Make sure you adequately scuff and clean it. I used no primer under it.

Roberta
 
Panel Paint

I used Floquil Model Railroad paint on my Kitfox panel about 700 hours ago and it doesn't scratch, peel, etc. It puts a very thin, very flat finish on and drys almost instantly. You can buy Floquil paints at many hobby shops in about any color.

I'd use it on my RV8 except I wnat to use a Walnut Burl Veneer this time - after much testing. I used it initially on the Kitfox, but had adhesion problems which I've now solved. Still have the Floquil as backup :D

H
 
Wrinkle Paint

I finally pulled the left side of the panel to refinish the paint. I had flat black originally and was never quite happy with it. This time, I laid on a Krylon black wrinkle finish and it looks great, IMHO. The right side has had this paint for more than a year and it is wearing well.

I baked the paint on for 3 hours in a 200 deg convection oven for a hard, tough finish. It has a nice depth and shimmer to it, but is non reflective. It feels nice, and won't show paw marks from the kids, either.

I re-made all the labels on my P-touch machine with industrial adhesive tape, using Denmark font - kinda funky and fun.

Krylon Wrinkle Finish $6 at Checker Auto

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