Good system, easy to use
We have a large EAA chapter and many of us were interested in their system but were concerned about the finish and how easy the process really was. Since Stewart is local to us, I challenged them to come down to my hangar for a hand-ons paint seminar from prep to finish coat. Jason Gerard accepted the challenge and spent a full day with us teaching/demonstrating the process. We had 20+ people attend and everyone got to paint who wanted to.
What I experienced was actually what they claim. it is very easy to use as long as you follow their easy steps. If you go into this as an experienced painter with an attitude of "I've done this for years, I'll spray like I always do", you're likely to fail.
We mixed the paint by weight for the perfect mix each time. You use distilled water to thin. They recommend the FinishLine spray gun, because it's less expensive, but works well. Jason also brought his Sata 3000 so we could experience a higher end gun.
Gun setup is simple. We set the fan to full, and opened it up to 3/4 turn for the first coat. Nice and steady passes. Do NOT vary your rhythm when applying the coats. Once you start spraying, you have 10 min before the next coat needs to be applied. You will further open up the flow 1/8 of a turn for each coat. You get 15 min for spraying the 3rd coat before the 4th and last coat gets applied.
You really have to see it to believe it. The first coat looks so dry and fogged. The 2nd coat has more coverage but you will be tempted to spray slower. Don't!!! After the 3rd coat it really starts to flow out and after the 4th it looks good, with just a little orange peel. However, after a couple of hours it completely flowed out, no orange peel, with a nice glossy look.
Now imagine 20+ people all taking turns painting these pieces who have never touched a spray gun in their life. The pieces came out better than the $10-$14,000 paint jobs others had paid for only to get orange peel, runs, dry spots, etc. Disclaimer: These are not the same paint shops who advertise or discussed on this forum!
The most common mistakes we experienced:
1) Varying the speed of your spray passes which can cause thin or heavy buildup.
2) Trying to keep a wet line. If done properly, the "wet" look will follow behind you.
3) Do NOT let the paint dry between coat or you WILL get dry spots or mass orange peel.
I definitely give this system a thumbs up!
