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Least painful, easiest DIY paint?
- Thread starter rmartingt
- Start date
Here's what you do... Get one of the $200 "portable garages" from Harbor freight. Spray in there. Once the paint has been applied, get a friend and carry the parts inside your garage to dry, then paint the next piece. You and a buddy could probably prime and single color paint an entire airplane that way in a weekend. Obviously, use PPE and best painting practices and the like and you can apply a nice coat of paint that way. If you wanna do some sanding and buffing, it can be even nicer...
Oh, but paint a trashcan and your neighbor's utility trailer first (using cheap paint) to get a handle on the process.
PSX-700 appears very durable; it can be applied direct to steel, and from the product data sheet, aluminum _may_ be treated with a chemical conversion coating (think Alodine):
"...Non-Ferrous Metals and Stainless Steel ...Aluminum may be treated with a surface treatment compliant with Mil-DTL-5541 or equivalent (non-immersion applications only)."
No mention of fiberglass application.
Paint
I second vinyl. My plan is to vinyl the flat aluminum parts. I can paint. If the vinyl doesn't play out, I'll paint. I'm painting the curvy fiberglass parts.
A few suggestions
1. Good paint gun. HF sells a Sata copy. Black Widow HTE. I've used mine a few times and really like it. It lays down a nice coat. Iwatta and Sata are just a couple of the best. Once you find one, keep it clean. Disasseble after a session and get every spec of paint out.
2. Play paint. Learn with a less expensive paint. Yes, they are all a little different, but once you figure it out, spraying the expensive stuff will be a shorter and cheaper learning curve. I am a Kirker fan. They also manufacture Eastwood and Summit. Re-branded. I like Kirker EnduroPrime and UltraGlo single stage urethane. I still use P60G2 and my interior is Jet Flex. EnduroPrime is about $70 gallon plus $50 gallon hardener. UltraGlo gallons are about the same plus activator and reducer. Reducer works with both. Pretty cheap practice. Go to a junk yard and pull a hood or truck. Or spray the wife's car!
3. Learn to Cut & Buff. Easy to fix a multitude of problems like runs, drips, orange peel, etc and end up with a 12" paint job. Ask anyone who's seen my painted parts. They were 12 foot paint jobs before.
4. Make a list. You need supplies and equipment. Gotta have clean air for the paint gun and your lungs. Compressor, respirator, HobbyAir, etc.
5. Prep is probably more important than spraying paint. If the surface isn't perfect, paint won't be any better. Study how the experts do it. On VAF, sesrch for Dan Horton threads and read, read, read.
6. Read more. Better still, find a Mentor who knows how to paint and learn.
WJ hits the nail square on the head. I shoot a lot of paint... every day. Painting is more about proper prep than painting.
Your perspective is a little jaundiced.... if you've been using Stewart's than your a special kind of masochist...
Friends don't let Friends use that stuff. If you still need to wear safety equipment to shoot it, then why would you learn incorrect hard to learn painting techniques to shoot that stuff.
Shoot urethane single stage. I personally love aerothane, superflight and airtech. I dont care for aerothanes Nevada silver though. Why aerothane? Because it was redesigned with every chemical component to be flexible. So while it's an excellent choice for fabric ac, it's also wonderful for metal planes too as the metal moves alot.
other instructional aids are Charlie Hutton, Waldo at consolidated, paint society and underground paint king... I like his stuff because he shows screw ups and what to do to fix them.
Here's one from Waldo
A word about vinyl......... HEAVY.
You embraced the suck on the rest of your project... embrace the suck on the paint.
Lastly bad paint is generally from one of two things.....
Poor prep and, or greed.
Make your first coat light and even, let it tack then keep a wet edge.... and dont get greedy! That's it. If you watched videos about gun set up and you did that right then everything else will eventually be fine.
Agree.... but rivets and panel edges can really suck.Correct, it will bond just like epoxy primer (I don't believe the Si-O bond contributes much to adhesion, but it does stop UV from chalking the carbon bonds; any chemists on here please correct me). You'll still want to prep as usual, scuff or etch.
I've been using it over the years for pieces, about to do the whole airplane with the white (+vinyl flair). White hides well after a few thin coats, so the entire airplane's worth could weigh ~7 lbs if one is light on the trigger.
It's not as easy to apply as acrylic: it runs for a long time, cures very slowly and requires many thin coats for quality finish, which is likely why pro shops don't normally use it--time is money. It does cut and buff like a dream though, and it's much more mechanically and chemically resistant than acrylics or urethanes. For us tinkerers the recoat-without-prep feature seems really attractive if you plan on keeping your airplane for a long time.
Go to Tractor Supply and get some tractor paint. They have several of the standard tractor colors and the paint is cheap. Practice on anything you can. Go to the junk yard and get a hood or door from a wrecked car. For $25 you can figure out if you want to tackle the paint yourself or take it to a shop. I had a lot of experience painting and painted my plane. It is ok but wish I had taken it to a shop.
sansoneservices
Well Known Member
I'm bad with spray guns, I get runs or orange peel every time. Some very high quality marine paints are designed to be applied by brush or roller. With a good brush or the proper roller the finished product is as good as a spray jobI'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and therefore thinking about paint options before final assembly so I don't have to take the airplane down later.
I'm planning a simple paint job (or perhaps even all-white, with vinyl trim). Not worried about a showplane finish and I don't have loads of money to spend on it. Some might suggest "well then polish it!" but I've polished an RV before and never want to do that again
I have not yet spoken to any local paint shops (I will, before committing to something) but I'm also looking into what it will take to paint myself.
Trick is, I am absolutely terrible with a spraygun. For every one good-looking part I've shot with primer (Stewart Ekoprime), I got probably eight with runs, drips, spots, and just general nastiness. At least with rattlecans it's more like a 1:2 ratio.
Given that, does anyone have a suggestion for a forgiving, idiot-resistant paint system? Something that doesn't require loads of new equipment, magic incantations, and robotic repeatability?
On a different approach, I've really looked hard into rolling with marine paint (e.g. Alexseal 501) since it can be rolled or sprayed, and can be applied outdoors. Rolling sounds attractive and I've spoken to a couple guys who have done it on metal airplanes (a Sonex and some others) with reasonably good results.
DIY making $25,000 and pay someone. Ha ha.
There are so many moving parts. So much good info out there, may be some not so good. Good luck. DIY paint jobs posted above can be done well. I am spraying some paint right now with a new HVLP gun. There is learning curve is setting up you gun, mixing your paint, light, "paint booth", technique. It's all good.
I waste some paint and do practice panels. Don't pass go, don't collect $200 until you can lay do good paint, without runs, too dry, too wet (sag drips). Base + Clear use to be for cars only but now it's go to for planes. Single stage urethan (PPG Jetglow) is great. I have used it. They say it has less UV protection but mine looked great after 10 yrs when I sold the plane. People do clear coat single stage, which improves UV protection. Figure might as well go base coat clear coat system.
So selecting a "system" and learning how to mix, spray is key. Having a good place to shoot with good cleanliness, light, ventilation, temp, humidity is priceless. Right equipment, Personal protection.... materials.... As a cliché preparation is 90%.
There are so many moving parts. So much good info out there, may be some not so good. Good luck. DIY paint jobs posted above can be done well. I am spraying some paint right now with a new HVLP gun. There is learning curve is setting up you gun, mixing your paint, light, "paint booth", technique. It's all good.
I waste some paint and do practice panels. Don't pass go, don't collect $200 until you can lay do good paint, without runs, too dry, too wet (sag drips). Base + Clear use to be for cars only but now it's go to for planes. Single stage urethan (PPG Jetglow) is great. I have used it. They say it has less UV protection but mine looked great after 10 yrs when I sold the plane. People do clear coat single stage, which improves UV protection. Figure might as well go base coat clear coat system.
So selecting a "system" and learning how to mix, spray is key. Having a good place to shoot with good cleanliness, light, ventilation, temp, humidity is priceless. Right equipment, Personal protection.... materials.... As a cliché preparation is 90%.
