While we had our first two RV’s that we built (in Texas) painted at GLO Custom, a great paint shop in Fort Worth “back in the day”, our subsequent builds (in Nevada) have gone a different route. The Tundra and eXenos have never seen paint, but the little jet and now the F1 Rocket have been treated to custom paint by artist John Stahr - and we have been very pleased with the work and the process! I have painted airplanes before, and (probably) because I didn’t grow up painting cars, I don’t really enjoy it - and my work is B+ at best. But it is nice to be able to paint at the home shop, and John has been willing to travel to practice his art. He has given notice, however, that he would prefer not to travel (at least as much) in the future, so Florida (his current location) might have to be in your paint travel plans….or just get him really, really, really interested and invested in what you want. He’s an artist, and loves to do his thing!
Painting with John is like riding the whirlwind! Folks that drop their airplanes off at a shop and are given a minimum time of two months (sometimes/often becoming three, four, or more….) will be amazed that he shows up, does his thing in eight days, and rides off into the sunset. Of course, he doesn’t prep fiberglass - you have to have the airplane paint-ready when he arrives. If you scuff all the aluminum before he shows up, he’s REALLY happy - that saves a day and he can get right on to masking and prepping for primer.
Our recent job is a good example. I had all of the control surfaces off the airplane before his arrival. He arrived late in the day, but hit the ground running the next morning, with a trip to the paint store to lay in supplies, and primer shot in the evening. The next morning he laid out a rough idea of the scheme and shot gold in the areas that would have gold striping. When that was dry he began the day-long process of laying out the lines for all of the striping on the ship. He uses a process whereby there is only one layer of paint everywhere - he doesn’t do a base color with all other colors on top. With his lines laid out, he can then move his masking to shoot all of one color, then move it again and shoot another - and so on. By day four, all the color is on the plane - and then his fun starts.
John isn’t so much a painter as he is an artist, and once the airbrush comes out, the magic begins. One of the great things about being there with him is that the art is collaborative. He asks good questions that spur thoughts, ideas bounce around, and the result is far more detailed and elaborate than the plan going in. It is pretty hard to do that if you’re not at the paint shop - you get the design that you asked them to do. The last day is for clear-coating - although on this plane, the clear-coating happened in stages - once for all the removed components, once for the belly and wings, and finally for the top where most of the art was located.
A few random thoughts….
1) All of the supplies for the Rocket (bought at the local auto paint store) cost about $2500. I paid for them, so all I had to give John at the end was his fee and travel expenses. We fed and housed him throughout, and he worked well more than twelve-hour days.
2) How much does John charge? That’s between him and each customer, but I can tell you that the entire paint job on the Rocket was way, way, way less than if I had dropped it of at one of the fancy shops. Way less….. Get John interested in your art project, and he goes all in!
3) Prepare for a bit of chaos in the shop. John works fast and moves things to where he needs them. Don’t sweat it - you can restore it all when he’s gone. We built a wall of 4 mil plastic to create a paint booth, opened an end window for a shop fan to draw air through, and put up with the fact that into every job, some overspray will fall.
4) I was wondering how we would hang control surfaces for painting. The answer is step ladders and long 2x4’s. We also used four or five saw horses, some work stands - and probably some big boxes. Be flexible and be ready to borrow some ladders from neighbors.
5) John will wear you out - but it’s a “good tired”. He’ll keep working even when you take breaks.
6) When John puts on his full suit, its time for you to go find someplace else to be! (Its actually just for clear-coating, but its still a good idea to watch stuff being sprayed from outside the “booth”.
7) Help with masking - it takes a lot of time, doesn’t require an artist’s touch, and its your airplane!
8) While I philosophically prefer to fly before paint - just in case you need to make structural adjustment - JOhn can work either way, and for our purpsoes on both the builds we id with him, the calendar worked out best if he painted before. If he has a choice, he’d prefer the wings to be off - but we don't always get what we want, do we John?!
A few pictures of the process, and John at work…..
Painting with John is like riding the whirlwind! Folks that drop their airplanes off at a shop and are given a minimum time of two months (sometimes/often becoming three, four, or more….) will be amazed that he shows up, does his thing in eight days, and rides off into the sunset. Of course, he doesn’t prep fiberglass - you have to have the airplane paint-ready when he arrives. If you scuff all the aluminum before he shows up, he’s REALLY happy - that saves a day and he can get right on to masking and prepping for primer.
Our recent job is a good example. I had all of the control surfaces off the airplane before his arrival. He arrived late in the day, but hit the ground running the next morning, with a trip to the paint store to lay in supplies, and primer shot in the evening. The next morning he laid out a rough idea of the scheme and shot gold in the areas that would have gold striping. When that was dry he began the day-long process of laying out the lines for all of the striping on the ship. He uses a process whereby there is only one layer of paint everywhere - he doesn’t do a base color with all other colors on top. With his lines laid out, he can then move his masking to shoot all of one color, then move it again and shoot another - and so on. By day four, all the color is on the plane - and then his fun starts.
John isn’t so much a painter as he is an artist, and once the airbrush comes out, the magic begins. One of the great things about being there with him is that the art is collaborative. He asks good questions that spur thoughts, ideas bounce around, and the result is far more detailed and elaborate than the plan going in. It is pretty hard to do that if you’re not at the paint shop - you get the design that you asked them to do. The last day is for clear-coating - although on this plane, the clear-coating happened in stages - once for all the removed components, once for the belly and wings, and finally for the top where most of the art was located.
A few random thoughts….
1) All of the supplies for the Rocket (bought at the local auto paint store) cost about $2500. I paid for them, so all I had to give John at the end was his fee and travel expenses. We fed and housed him throughout, and he worked well more than twelve-hour days.
2) How much does John charge? That’s between him and each customer, but I can tell you that the entire paint job on the Rocket was way, way, way less than if I had dropped it of at one of the fancy shops. Way less….. Get John interested in your art project, and he goes all in!
3) Prepare for a bit of chaos in the shop. John works fast and moves things to where he needs them. Don’t sweat it - you can restore it all when he’s gone. We built a wall of 4 mil plastic to create a paint booth, opened an end window for a shop fan to draw air through, and put up with the fact that into every job, some overspray will fall.
4) I was wondering how we would hang control surfaces for painting. The answer is step ladders and long 2x4’s. We also used four or five saw horses, some work stands - and probably some big boxes. Be flexible and be ready to borrow some ladders from neighbors.
5) John will wear you out - but it’s a “good tired”. He’ll keep working even when you take breaks.
6) When John puts on his full suit, its time for you to go find someplace else to be! (Its actually just for clear-coating, but its still a good idea to watch stuff being sprayed from outside the “booth”.
7) Help with masking - it takes a lot of time, doesn’t require an artist’s touch, and its your airplane!
8) While I philosophically prefer to fly before paint - just in case you need to make structural adjustment - JOhn can work either way, and for our purpsoes on both the builds we id with him, the calendar worked out best if he painted before. If he has a choice, he’d prefer the wings to be off - but we don't always get what we want, do we John?!
A few pictures of the process, and John at work…..
