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DIY painting your RV - what do I need to know from people who have actually done their own paint??

N

Notso

Well Known Member
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Hi all, I recently got a wild hair to repaint my Flying RV-8. For one, I'm not at all a fan of the original paint job (beautiful professional paintjob, but hate the colors) as well as I recently did some SB work on the rear stabs / elevators and such and it needs a repaint. My desire is a basic-ish Silver warbird type paint scheme with colored nose and Rudder with invasion stripes.

I've gotten quotes from several places and it ranges from $22-40+K, depending on the shop. I even got a local quote from "a guy that paints airplanes on the the field" that came in on the higher side of that range.

I'm now considering trying to do it myself. For those who have painted their RVs..... would you do it again? Is there stuff you wish you would have know before hand? Tips on paint equipment, paint type, stripping, sequence, masking, chemicals, tenting, etc etc. How many hours/days/weeks/months would be a resonanable time frame to do a DIY paint job?

I'm not looking for an Evoke quality OSH show winner, but at the same time I don't want it to look like crap even at close distances. I'm not hard set on a DIY job and i could scrape the $$ together if I had to to get a shop to paint it if necessary. But mainly looking to see if a DIY paint effort is worthwhile.
 
Of course it’s possible. Will you be happy with the results from your first attempt at spraying? Highly unlikely.

Don’t underestimate how much work it will be. It’s enough work to prep and paint a new item - stripping and prepping something that’s already painted is even more work. And the cost of materials and equipment is considerable.

I only paint infrequently and it’s taken me probably 7-8 years of various small paint projects to get to the point that I am happy with my results.

If you really want to learn and do it yourself, by all means go for it, but if it’s just to try and save money you will likely regret it.
 
I thought of doing that myself as well on my RV-14A. No painting experience so I took the training at Sherman Williams Aerospace Coatings in Wichita which was a good 'primer'. Bought a high-quality spray gun and began to retrofit my garage with a tent and ventilation to enable small part painting using water-based paints from Steward Systems so my neighbors wouldn't complain about the solvent smell from SW products. I thought of going all Steward Systems on the finished exterior, but I would need to move into a larger hanger space that would be more difficult and costly to configure for painting, not to mention getting approval from the airport authority and my hanger mates. In the end, I found a rather inexpensive paint shop near Columbia, SC who did a terrific job on the exterior paint. He's got quite a backlog, but happy to share his contact info if you want to reach out to him.
 
I painted mine. Would I do it again? No! It’s a LOT of work and your project will be even more work since you need to strip and dispose of old paint. Plus it will probably take you twice as long as a professional painting company. If I had sent my plane to the paint shop, $25,000 quote, and then worked extra hours at work while it was away, I would have been way further ahead financially.
It’s not done after the painting either. You’ll probably have to cut and buff, touch up spots, fix runs, etc. I also had access to a paint booth but it wasn’t big enough for the wings so I disassembled my plane.

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For me, yes, I painted mine and would/will do it again. But, I have painted lots of cars and a couple aircraft...I'm not a pro, and learned by fire, and its not hard by description, but very tedious and environment means everything. You haven't described any experience of your own, and your "desired" paint scheme is a favorite of mine, but one of the more difficult lay-outs. Best done with base coat/clear coat because of multiple colors, tape lines and the not-so-easy silver metallic. These paint systems are somewhat time controlled to stay chemically happy, so once you start, the process goes until the clear is shot. When I painted my -4 (I built), it was raw, and you will likely need to strip/prep which is no fun, but needs to be done whether it's you or a pro. I shot mine with wings and empennage assembled, all removable parts off. I bagged/masked the fuselage/empennage and painted the wings, couple days later masked/bagged the wings and shot the fuse/emp. I then shot all the flight controls/cowlings/wheel pants, ect. in a third shoot. BUT, I did an all white monochrome look...so no trim colors or WWII cool scheme. You may be better off doing the strip/prep and befriending a guy who shoots cars for your plan, that is if you have the space and and controlled environment. If you remove the wings, of course you can go anywhere. I built a plastic enclosure in my "rented hangar" with fans/filters (inlet and outlet) and shot it all at night, completely unknown to the surrounding folks that would have freaked out..No one ever knew. BTW, we did not have a no paint policy.
 
Foghorn said:
I painted mine. Would I do it again? No! It’s a LOT of work and your project will be even more work since you need to strip and dispose of old paint.
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Another data point: my hangar neighbors stripped and repainted an older 172. They did quite a good job on it (I think they had some experience, and I know they’re very mechanically savvy). But afterwards they also swore “never again!”

Professional paint jobs are certainly expensive, but for good reason I think.
 
I painted my recent build. I used single stage PPG paint. It took me 4 months of working every day to get the quality of finish that I was looking for. It's a LOT of work. Painting is easy. It's the prep and the cutting and buffing that sucks. Would I do it again? Probably.
 
fixnflyguy said:
You may be better off doing the strip/prep and befriending a guy who shoots cars for your plan, that is if you have the space and and controlled environment.
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I think this is the best way to DIY if you have never sprayed. The prep work takes a lot of time and not too hard to learn/do if you have someone to give you the steps to do. This can save you lots of money. Bringing in someone to spray will also keep you from needing to buy a paint gun since most likely the person spray will have the equipment and want to use his own. Spraying equipment can be pricey and the more expensive guns do a much better job than the cheap ones.
You may want to have the guy spraying also do taping of the paint design. Long strait lines and symmetry are hard to do unless you have some good artistic talent. Also go with a simple paint scheme with only 2 colors. The less masking, unmasking, remasking, can save a lot of time/money.
 
I had never painted anything in my life but I had a lot of desire to paint it myself. It ended up being the most rewarding part of my entire build. Yes, I would absolutely do it again. Just do your homework, practice........a lot, and go for it. I had 200 hours in prep and masking, 40 hours of actual spraying, and 200 hours of finish work. As far as equipment goes, I did buy 2 very high end guns; one for base coat, and one for clear. I do believe a good painter can make almost any gun work though. I also added a ton of filtration to my air system. I had a decent paint booth with a lot of lighting. Maybe the best advice I got though was from Evoke and it was to soak the floor with water before painting. That really decreases the amount of debris that can get into the paint; for the stuff that does get into it, keep razor blades nearby. For your paint type question, I just got to know my local automotive paint supplier really well. He was extremely helpful throughout the process. He gave me countless samples until I found the colors I was looking for, and in the beginning I misjudged the quantity of almost everything so being able to go get whatever I needed, when I needed it, was amazing. Honor the TDS criteria (reducer temps, flash times, etc) and all will be well. I completely agree with Bill E, once I started whatever I was painting, I didn't stop until the final coat of clear was on. I have never stripped anything of scale so I can't help you on that one. Good luck!
 
I painted my RV8 because I wanted to do everything on my RV myself just to prove I could do it. I never spray painted anything other than from a rattle can. I definitely would do it all again if I build a new airplane. With a flying airplane, the paint preparation to get a good pain job is just too cumbersome, and extreme labor intensive. On fully assembled and painted airplane, sanding or stripping paint off the wings will be a big job. I would not want to do it, lying on my back and breathing in all the sanding dust for many weeks. It is not healthy for my lungs even with respirators. If an RV is unpainted, then this is slightly different proposition. But the surface preparation to etch the aluminum for good paint/primer adhesion is a big job. I would only want to DIY paint with the airplane unassemble , and in pieces.
 
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I painted my aircraft as well (back in 2011) No experience - zip. It was a fun experience, and I would do it again.
I had an advantage over your situation, my aircraft was still in 'pieces', so I could put the wings on a rotisserie.
I used Stewart Systems for my aircraft, primarily because I was going to paint it at home in a homemade paint booth in my garage, and I didn't want to kill my neighbor's pets with toxic fumes.
At the time, Stewart recommended a 4 coat process, with 10 minutes between coats. No problem for the wings, but a bit of a challenge on the fuselage.
I picked a 'simple' paint scheme with minimal tape-up. A friend in the vinyl business provided the decals.
I'd would say it's a "3 foot" paint job, and I am happy with the results. If someone picks at it, I can also say it was a 2K paint job, and that introduces some perspective. Its 15 years later, and besides a few scuffs here and there, it still looks like a 3 ft paintjob.
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There is a sticky thread on here about painting by Dan Horton, worth a read to get a feel for the effort. Single stage PPG paint with cut and buff is relatively straight forward and a simple paint scheme with vinyl accents (stripes etc.) helps to keep things manageable. The majority of the effort will be prep work and finish work versus actual painting. I used the single stage PPG on the -7 and Stewart Systems on my Champ and both turned out OK, not show quality but not bad, the advantage of the Stewart system is that you dont need the breathing gear, the advantage of the PPG etc. is the wide range of color choices.
Would I do it again, probably, and would be better the second time.
Figs
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a poor man’s paint job may still be satisfying. Maybe not classic show car quality but still fun and a bonding experience with your machine:
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If the paint is solid and sounds like it is, you could consider a scuff and re coat. This will add another 20+ pounds to your plane, but should significantly reduce the quotes or make it easier for you to do it yourself. Obviously a trade off. I suspect most painters may not warrant their work if not fully striped and repainted by them.
 
Mine was painted in my hangar by the local PPG sales rep who also does occasional painting on the side. He used epoxy primer with a base clear top coat and no cut and buff. It was a lot of work! He had all the spray/filter equipment. Cost me $3500 and I consider it a 5 footer but am happy with the end result. I would probably do it like this again but would not consider it if it required stripping and painting.

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-Read Dan H.'s thread on cutting and buffing. If you are up for that job you can make your first 3, 5, or 10 foot paint job look professional. Perfection is possible. It only takes time. Lots of it...
-I have painted 3 of my projects and I would NEVER consider stripping an already painted plane unless the current paint had adhesion issues. As Larry said: Scuff the old paint and live with the weight. Lose 20 lbs around your own waist to make up for it... (Its been debated here and some believe that a couple coats of paint on an RV is significantly less than 20 lbs. You may only have to lose 8 or 10 lbs...)
-All my painting has been single stage color. If I ever paint another plane I will go the base coat clear coat route. It takes some stress off the cutting and buffing. Mistakes and future touch-up/repairs will be easier to blend and make look good.
-Definitely find an auto painter that will come to your booth on his off time! Best tip so far in this thread!
-My best tip: the more you can do with vinyl graphics the better. If you can paint only one color and do the rest of your scheme in vinyl you are waaay ahead of masking and painting multiple colors. Your complicated WWII paint scheme is a perfect project for vinyl details.

GOOD LUCK!
 
Notso said:
Hi all, I recently got a wild hair to repaint my Flying RV-8. For one, I'm not at all a fan of the original paint job (beautiful professional paintjob, but hate the colors) as well as I recently did some SB work on the rear stabs / elevators and such and it needs a repaint. My desire is a basic-ish Silver warbird type paint scheme with colored nose and Rudder with invasion stripes.

I've gotten quotes from several places and it ranges from $22-40+K, depending on the shop. I even got a local quote from "a guy that paints airplanes on the the field" that came in on the higher side of that range.

I'm now considering trying to do it myself. For those who have painted their RVs..... would you do it again? Is there stuff you wish you would have know before hand? Tips on paint equipment, paint type, stripping, sequence, masking, chemicals, tenting, etc etc. How many hours/days/weeks/months would be a resonanable time frame to do a DIY paint job?

I'm not looking for an Evoke quality OSH show winner, but at the same time I don't want it to look like crap even at close distances. I'm not hard set on a DIY job and i could scrape the $$ together if I had to to get a shop to paint it if necessary. But mainly looking to see if a DIY paint effort is worthwhile.
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just a data point ymmv. I've never painted an airplane but I repainted a 911 that I restored. Mostly body off but not complete disassembly. Turned out well but I will never, ever do it again. Vastly more work than I anticipated, mostly in prep. Even if you do it in your hangar I'd get a local earl scheib guy to come and do the painting. But then, I didn't build my airplane either.
 
Everyone gave you excellent advise. Stripping will be the worst part of it. Painting is actually fun. Cut & buff is a bit of work, but not horrible and very satisfying. I will add a different option.

Paint curvy parts like fiberglass with Single Stage squeezed. SS is easy to sand and fix. No clear. Vinyl wrap the rest. Curvy parts are difficult to wrap. Far cheaper than a full paint job. Weight is slightly less but a good paint shop can probably beat it. I figured about 15lbs total. You can skin it simple or as wild as your imagination. I threw on the Screaming Eagle just for fun. Vinyl companies can print anything you can draw in Illustrator and it's still cheaper than paint. Figure about $2500 for two rolls plus tools. Printed will add to the cost. I have no numbers. You could wrap it about 8 times for the cost of a cheap paint job. Nascar race cars are wrapped for almost every race. It allows fast changes to sponsor graphics. Weight savings, less labor and cheaper. For those who fear the corrosion, spray primer first. I alodined the entire exterior. I can strip and reskin the whole airplane in a couple weeks with no PPE or disassembly. I stripped and reskinned both wing top skins in two days working about 4 hours each day. Visitors kept asking about a couple tiny blemishes so I reskinned them.
She probably won't win a Lindy, but pretty much everyone asks who painted it. They are very suprised when I tell them it's vinyl.
The fiberglass is painted black so I can choose any color I want next time I skin it. I may have a cool design printed for the next time. My grand daughter is a graphic artist for a company that skins vehicles. Bugs and oil wipe right off with Extreme Green. A quick wipe with Meguires Quick Wax and a towel slides right off. Easy peasey. Lemon squeezey.
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I bought a project -7 that had issues.
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I asked for a bid on a scuff and spray from a student/teachers aid at the local tech college. She had previously done several cars including corvettes. She quoted me 14.5k

I then got talked into doing the full strip. If you want suggestions on that DM me.

I did the full strip, they did all the prep, prime, prepped sprayed and resprayed with final color, all done in inflatable paint booths. Then she came back a few weeks later and gave everything a cut and buff.

I painted everything white/white/white. Everything not white will be a vinyl sticker. This gives me or the next owner the option to peel off my vinyl and reapply a new scheme either in vinyl or have the additional colors painted on

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Still at the avionics shop getting the IFR upgrade.
 
Painting was the hardest part of the build project, but I'd do it again if I were building another. I'd hate to take on stripping. I'm satisfied with the result but it's not perfect, and now I admire every car I walk by in a parking lot. I went to a Sherman-Williams workshop to learn, and got LOTS of good advice from the auto paint store I bought from. The links to Dan Horton's advice are very helpful, too.
 

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I did it myself and would do it again. Took months and about $1500 in 2015 dollars. Had help from a cousin that had painted cars before. Was aiming for a 100 yard job, but got a 10 yard result. Wouldn't win any prizes, but it is "all mine". It I had to pay $10k+ for just the paint couldn't afford to be in aviation at all.
 
I painted all of my first three builds. I used PPG primer, base and clear coats. I decided to farm out the current (and final) build (RV-10).

Over a year ago I priced out just the material for this build. It came to over $8K. I did take the time to do all the fiberglass body work and primed (again with PPG primer). As this stuff is the major driver for paint shop cost I’m hopeful that my prep enables me to negotiate a discount.

Here are builds #2 and #3. The paint booth is in back.
Carl
 

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I stripped my plane down to bare metal with aircraft stripper. My plane was completely disassembled. I used Kleen Strip aircraft paint stripper from the hardware store. Cool weather is best because the stuff evaporates fast. I worked small areas about 18” squares. Scraped some off but pressure washed most of it off. I used the stripper on the fiberglass parts too and it didn’t affect them.
It was couple weeks of on and off work to get my plane stripped.

Lot’s of work to get the painting done but very satisfying and people always ask who painted it and I can say, I did.IMG_8784.jpeg
 
Yes, I did mine. I'd probably do it again.
First thing that caught my eye... SILVER. Any metalflake will be harder to shoot. Even with my experience (2 cars way back when, and the airplane) I would not tackle it.

Another lesson learned... it is amazing how different brands shoot differently. My Yellow is PPG Acryglo. Went nice, certainly expensive. The white is Southern Polyurethane's ... much less money. But didn't spray the same. I finally figured out what it needs when I was nearly done. Since it sounds like you are looking to do a 'scheme' my 0.02 would be to stay in a single brand of top coat.

The whole plane got Southern Poly's epoxy primer and I'll always recommend it. Very happy with it.
 
I stripped and painted my 6A. I would GLADLY pay someone to strip the old paint. That was a nasty job, and I used the new Hydrogen Peroxide environmentally friendly stripper. It was yellow polyurethan over VariPrime. (don't paint yellow over a dark primer, looked horrible) Stipper took off the poly okay, but used mostly MEK to take off the (vinyl) primer. It's a "layer" thing with strippers.
I used Sherwin-Williams automotive basecoat clearcoat Ultra 7000 paint system, which is their top of the line. Very nice but expensive. The car body shops mostly use the cheaper stuff.
I used all solid colors, VW colors.
Cut and buffed a lot, re-painted some parts, but it came out very nice. Still looks great after nearly 20 years. And I got to say I painted it.

The key is practice a lot before you shoot any airplane parts. You need to get your (good) gun, paint, and technique dialed in. Practice with black. Cheaper and shows all defects. Watch Youtube tutorials. I watched a DVD called "Painting 101" or somthing like that back in the day. Learned a lot. For instance, with metallics you have to finish with a "drop-coat". Move the wet edge, don't "sweep" the gun, runs are easier to fix than orange peel, solvent pop, "glove slick", etc. Use scrap aluminum or junk yard trunk lids. Anything smooth. Heck, old refridgerator doors would be fine. It's a new skill to learn, just like all the others you have learned building a plane. (and you'll start noticing the horrific paint jobs on most new cars)

My 8 I painted with John Stahr during Covid. Had to settle for a lower grade paint system, and it was disapointing. I had to re-shoot almost all the silver, some red, and some black (and the corresponding clear of course).

Silver is just about the hardest color to shoot well. You just can't re-shoot an area. It will stick out with dark borders. You have to do a whole section.
If possible, stick to solid colors, especially for a first timer. Audi/VW has some great non-metallic colors. Go wander the dealer lot. I used Mercedes Iridium silver, Audi red, etc. on the 8. Makes it easy to get touchup paint on Amazon.

Painting was challenging, but fulfilling. Stripping was just misery.

I plan to paint my next 8 project, and use the good stuff! I have a booth I build in my main shop and dedicated paint shed for smaller stuff, but I hear good things about the inflatable booths if you have room for one.

You can do it!
 

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The first thing you will need to do is strip the paint. If you can get past that without going nuts, then you can think about painting it. I painted mine and it is ok. It will not win any prizes but ok. I have painted thousands of metal doors and cabinets and a car but the plane was more challenging. If you want silver, there are new paints that look almost pastel grey I have seen on trucks that look nice and you wont have the trouble of needing to be as exact. I am sure if you do the painting you will see why the cost to have it done is what it is.
 
I painted all my previous builds to a fair level. Mike in the previous posting has a good summary of what to do.

I started with my early BD-4. Used Imron and followed the DuPont manufacturer’s manual and the local supplier’s advice. Next build was a One Design aerobatic ship, moved to PPG Conquest with flex agent for the fabric. Next was a beautiful RV8 with a Cook turtleneck custom canopy. Most recently completed a RV12 using paint carried by Advanced Auto stores.

All these years, I used the same colors my wife picked in 1979. I did all the painting outdoors, generally early morning, low wind and moderate temps. Another key was a good gun (Sata, expensive), big compressor (5 hp) and good supplies…

I plan to again paint my latest RV15, base coat white, as I finish each sub kit and trim paint after completion.
 

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Theres a good painter bases out of Hooks airport in houston that paints really. Id be happy to give you his info if you decide to have someone paint it instead
 
I can't apply spray paint. Tried painting cars years ago. Even had a good friend attempt to teach me. I believe applying spray paint is an ART similar to playing musical instruments.. with that said, consider hiring a local auto painter to come to your hangar. You can save money by doing the prep work which has a much lower skill requirement. As previously stated you may not be satisfied with the results if you take on the entire project yourself
 
sansoneservices said:
I can't apply spray paint. Tried painting cars years ago. Even had a good friend attempt to teach me. I believe applying spray paint is an ART similar to playing musical instruments.. with that said, consider hiring a local auto painter to come to your hangar. You can save money by doing the prep work which has a much lower skill requirement. As previously stated you may not be satisfied with the results if you take on the entire project yourself
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Just remember that the prep is 90% of the paint job.

I did the full strip and spent hours prepping all the fiberglass. It had been my intent to kick the can as close to the goal line as I could before giving it to the painter.

When my painter rolled in. They spent another couple of days doing more prep before it was to their satisfaction and ready to go into their inflatable paint booths.

This was their first aircraft. They had previously done cars including a couple of corvettes. They did a great job.
 
sansoneservices said:
I can't apply spray paint. Tried painting cars years ago. Even had a good friend attempt to teach me. I believe applying spray paint is an ART similar to playing musical instruments.. with that said, consider hiring a local auto painter to come to your hangar. You can save money by doing the prep work which has a much lower skill requirement. As previously stated you may not be satisfied with the results if you take on the entire project yourself
Click to expand...
Odds are you will end up with a better job, plus..... you will have someone to blame;)
 
Hiring any old car painter is not necessarily a good idea, painting a car isn't the same. Weight, weight and weight matters and a typical car painter is trying for the best finish with no regard for weight, so I would go deeper than just "a car painter". My buddy hired a car painter and he ended up having to remove a huge amount of primer and paint and redo. Fortunately, he had the guy just paint a few parts as a trial. Also, an aluminum plane is very fragile skin wise compared to car steel so choose wisely someone who has painted an airplane before successfully. Or, DIY, there is a huge amount of info available today on Youtube etc on how to paint and get a decent result.
 
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