R

RV8R999

Well Known Member
Finally broke the code on using this system. In truth the primer was harder than the top coat, mostly because the primer is 1 part and in theory can be shot without being thinned. This didn't work out very well for me so I thinned with water to about 30 second using a B50 viscosity cup. The topcoat goes on very easily but takes some patience in that 4 coats are needed. You really have to wait till the 3rd coat is just barely tacky or the whole thing with run (takes about 15-25 minutes for that 3rd coat to tack). Otherwise I'm really liking the results so far. Here is a pic of my top cowl done in Insignia Blue.
2ue7cap.jpg
 
i'd rather get kicked in the jimmies, but thanks! My plane is going to be painted almost entirely in Insignia blue with some federal yellow for tips with markings to match my squadron aircraft (HSM-70).
 
another tip for anyone contemplating using this system. Forget the viscosity cup. Buy a gram scale and use weight to precisely mix the paint, catalyst, and distilled water.

Divide paint weight by 3.3 = catalyst weight
Divide paint weight by 2.75 = water weight

the catalyst is very viscous so don't try to premix this into a separate container as you'll never get all of it to xfer into the paint container. Better to weigh the paint and leave on the scale pouring the catalyst directly into the paint until the correct weight is achieved (paint weight + paint weight/3.3 or PW*(1.303)). You can pre-stage the water in another container.

this will give you perfectly mixed paint. Also, keep the distilled water in the fridge and the pot life extends to about 1.5 hours.

These were tips conveyed directly to me from Doug Stewart.
 
Cracking the code

Ken,

That looks fantastic.... I am hugely encouraged that you found the primer more difficult than the 2 part Poly. I have had great success with the primer, but relatively poor results when trying to paint my interior with single part poly, Battleship Grey. Orange Peel....I look forward therefore to getting on to the 2 part stuff.

Can you share your gun pressure, and gun settings in terms of turns on the paint flow per coat.

Best wishes,

Richard
 
My opinion is this process if very forgiving in that each coat (except the last) if very thin and it goes on wet. If you start the last coat with the previous 3 when they are just barely tacky the last coast flows in really nicely with the rest and will not run.

I'm using a Devilbiss FLG3 Proline HVLP with 1.3mm tip, 20 PSI at the gun, dry air, filtered. Turn the fan control wide open (yes this is uncomfortable but it works), for topcoat, start the fluid control at only 3/4 turn open. Then increase 1/8 turn for coats 2 and 3 and another 1/4 turn for coat 4 (coat 4 will be 1 1/4 turn open). If you keep the gun only 6-8" away from the piece and move pretty quickly it will be hard to orange peel. This paint seems very tolerant of temp and humidity (so far anyway). Also, the dark colors are very translucent so you really need to criss-cross your patterns (horizontal then veritical then horizontal..etc...)

Be careful of trying a fifth coat. Doug says you might get gassing if you don't wait long enough creating pin holes.

Your primer will still just barely be visible after the 2nd coat. The 3rd coat starts bringing the color in deep and the 4th nails it.

Thanks and good luck!

Did I mention I really dislike painting!
 
Looks really nice, Ken. Would you mind sharing what your prep process was, particularly on the fiberglass in terms of what filler process you used? Also, had you ever painted before and, if not, was the learning curve at all steep?
 
looks really good

would you say the gloss is similar to other paints? Ive heard its not but yours looks like high gloss to me. thanks for sharing.
 
No problem. The #1 process was lots of elbow grease! I painted my first airplane with Imron so I was semi comfortable with taking on this project as well. I will say this process is very different to there is a steep learning curve which manifested itself in extra $ for the amount of paint I sanded off (mostly primer).

The first issue was my air. HVLP guns need a lot more air FLOW than standard guns so I needed to add a compressor in parallel to get the CFM right.

As far as prep goes. I used epoxy/acetone (yeah, yeah, it works and is easy and I've been doing this for years. It saves epoxy and time) for the cowl. Two coats each cowl and some wet sanding and 98% of all pin holes were gone. A couple of coats of Stewart primer with sanding in between filled the rest. I used epoxy/micro for bigger imperfections and a produce called feather fill.

basic process was: sand/clean with detergent/epoxy + acetone/sand/clean/primer/sand/clean/prime/sand/final primer coat/scotch brite/4 coats of Top Coat.

I have some fish eyes on the wheel pants I thought were fixed but showed up with top coat. Not happy about that. You can't see them from 3ft or greater but my goal was at least a 2ft paint job. The paint is like liquid blue except for a bunch of these little fish eyes randomly located all over the pant section. I tried every cleaner and solvent I know of and still have fish eyes. My next thought was to sand the whole thing down and try an epoxy primer as a base coat as whatever is causing the fish eye maybe reacting with the water in the stewart system. Epoxy might not be affected by it. Dunno???

Hope this help...
 
Pat - I'd say when done correctly it is as gloss as gloss can be and I can't tell the difference from any others I've used or seen. Of course technique, skill and luck factor in greatly. My lower cowl was looking just as nice as the first until the last coat in which I was just a bit too slow in one spot and a big run formed - RATS!!! So I'll wet sand that down tomorrow and do it again.

Ken
 
I quit

Well...now that I've painted all my glass pieces, canopy skirts, the HS, VS and Elevators as well as fwd section of the fuse I've decided I've had it with painting and with this system. By themselves each piece looks pretty good however, as soon as I put them next to each other it is clear they are all different colors!!! GRRRRRR The paint is simply too translucent and amazingly sensitive to application variations. I'm no expert painter but I've done a fair amount with other paint systems and have had no trouble. I hate to give up at anything but I'm up against a pending deployment in the near future and cannot spend anymore time trying to get this to work out.

I'm going to have it painted professionally and enjoy flying it until I do...

Should be moving to the airport this month for final assembly and inspection

Of note: I've seen planes painted with Stewart Systems and they look fantastic. Doug and Dan Stewart are both great guys with excellent customer service. I'll blame this failure on my lack of skill and an uncontrolled paint environment as well as a system with little tolerance for either of the above.

I have two gallons of never opened insignia blue along with the catalyst for anyone interested in giving this a shot (no pun intended)... reduced price of course :)
 
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