paint before or after assembly

[david.perl]

is it better to paint before the first flight and before wings and tail feathers are bolted on or after a few flights to get the bugs out?

 

[g zero]

Paint

I assembled mine , made all the fairings , fit the pants , then disassembled and painted it . I made a lot of jigs to hold parts for panting . It was well worth the effort, and would do it again .

 

[rockwoodrv9]

You most likely will disassemble it to paint. If you have your paint scheme figured out, I would paint it first just to save taking it all apart again. A good compromise would be to figure out your base coat color and paint everything that color. Then any accent lines or stripes could be added easily once assembled.

I am working with a paint schemes designer now and once I get close enough to know the base coat color, that is what I plan to do.

 

[Bill_H]

The removable wings of the Rv12 made the decision easy - paint in parts before first flight, at auto body shop! Details here. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=67760

I friend recently wrapped his RV9 - himself, with assistance from a local auto shop that did wraps. I would STRONGLY consider that. Story here: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=114890

 

[petercavallo]

is it better to paint before the first flight and before wings and tail feathers are bolted on or after a few flights to get the bugs out?

Hi David
Depends on the type of guy you are:
Flyer - need to fly need to fly need to fly
Chino Pilot - What paint Job ! already good enough
Who cares how long it takes - actually I was planning to mine the Aluminum my self and process it ........... you get the idea

PS I flew it as soon as I could, paint is not needed to fly

Have fun , work on it every day you are home

 

[sblack]

I plan to complete the airplane, then remove wings and control surfaces for painting. This will hopefully minimize wear and tear on the paint job if all that is required is final assembly.

 

[RKellogg]

Right or wrong, I painted loose parts before final assembly. Delayed first flight by three months, probably. Been flying now for half a year, and it would be really, really, really hard to take it apart for paint now...

Painting the bottom of the fuselage was difficult. Being able to rotate the wings made that part easy to paint. Loose pieces that can be rotated get better quality paint jobs, not that I could prove it. Commercial airplane painters usually paint planes with the wings on, but control surfaces removed, methinks.

Phase One testing led to some minor modifications, which created minor demerits the paint job.

If you need show quality paint, it might be better to paint after Phase One testing is completed. If you just want to fly, paint it first and get it over with.

Are you going to paint yourself, or hire it out? Ask your painter what he prefers.

 

[Vern]

Painting an RV

Paint before final assembly of wings and tail.
The only part that will need to be changed after final assembly is the wing root fairing. Even if that is painted and then you have to do a minor trim job, the rubber edging covers up your cut .