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Polishing vs painting?

WingedFrog

WingedFrog

Well Known Member
My plane is painted except for the wings. As it looks good this way and, I have to admit, as I am not excited to interrupt my flying that has just begun, I am mulling the idea of polishing the wings rather than painting. I have heard people say that with pop rivets, the polishing will wear the rivets heads. Has anyone tried to polish his RV-12? (or any RV for that matter, notwithstanding the pop rivet issue). Also what polishing paste and buffing tool to use?
 
Something I was wondering too

I am surprised there has been so little response to your post Jean-Pierre. The eaa site seems to relate only to aluminium rather than alclad - and that seems to be the 'rub' (pardon the pun). Alclad, the material, has no interest in polishing as it loses its pure aluminium coating in the process. I have tried hand polishing with an all metal polish but not impressed with the result.
 
jonjonjon4 said:
I am surprised there has been so little response to your post Jean-Pierre. The eaa site seems to relate only to aluminium rather than alclad - and that seems to be the 'rub' (pardon the pun). Alclad, the material, has no interest in polishing as it loses its pure aluminium coating in the process. I have tried hand polishing with an all metal polish but not impressed with the result.
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Good point jonjon. I was wondering about the Alclad factor and was surprised to find no mention of it in the EAA video or elsewhere about polishing. I am still inclined to go the polishing way but will proceed carefully after your warning. Note that the Alclad coating is of no use if you paint it so if polishing fails painting will still be possible,I will just have to rub the unsatisfactory polished surface with scotchbrite pads before priming.
 
Don't polish

Having owned a polished RV-8, I can assure you the alclad will not come off even after polishing many times over unless you take sandpaper to the aluminum.
The real problem is your pop rivets that will fill with polishing compound
and never clean up.
Although I enjoyed the attention I was getting with a polished airplane, I hated the glare off the polished wings. While the fuselage polished nicely and did not present a problem because of the polishing except for the tiny oil streaks that would ruin a top notch polishing job, I would strongly advise you against polishing the wings. Not only the glare but also the wobbly nature of the aluminum panels make polishing a real pain.
Seems that most people cannot be talked out of polishing, so do as you wish.
my advise, paint it.
 
watch out for the reflections

Living in hot/sunny Texas, I've been warned about polished aluminum low wing aircraft with bubble canopies--instances of canopy sag have occurred. The other concern we've already experienced is the nasty reflections from the wings while flying. We plan to paint.
 
Jean-Pierre, I've not polished an RV and I'm not very familiar with the RV-12, but I have done other aircraft types. As Ernst mentioned, the pop rivet construction of the -12 will greatly add to the difficulty each time you polish as each open rivet will trap compound. I don't know an easy way around that issue.

If you can deal with that and don't mind the glare by all means do as you like, it's your bird. Polishing an alclad coated panel presents no particular difficulty. Study up on the various processes, compounds and equipment used. Be advised it's a dirty job!

Good luck either way you go,

Doug
 
JP, you should talk to Mike (SONEX) at the Chapter next meeting. Yes, I know Mike's plane is painted, but his friend Wayne at Siler City has a polished SONEX. With all the blind rivets in the SONEX, Wayne clan give you a PIREP on the polish solution.
 
Here's an idea. Don't decide yet. Buy a 3 foot by 6 foot piece of alclad. Put a bunch of rivets in it. Leave it in your garage or hangar and vow to keep it nicely polished. Do that for a few months. Then decide about the plane.
 
Paint!

I purchased a polished RV-4. Now I don't know the implications of pop vs. driven rivets, but I have learned something about polishing.

Polishing is forever, I mean you'll never finish. It looks great for a few days after you finish, and still looks pretty good from 50 feet thereafter. But if you want your aircraft to look good close up continually, buy plenty of polish.

If I had the money right now, I'd paint the whole thing.

Jim
N444JT
 
Burn baby Burn (Polish)

Jim has it right. Polishing is high maintenance. Paint cost more but is low Maintenance. You have to polish at least quarterly and if you fly in rain then get that polisher out and polish away.:p Oh don't forget those pesty bugs that hit you all the time. :eek:
 
WingedFrog said:
You guys are giving me a pause here :eek:. Only nay sayers here, no supporters for polishing?
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It's one of those never-ending debates. That's probably why the pro-polishers (myself included) refuse to engage. There's a whole section on the forums covering polishing. Go there to get the real scoop on what it takes. I can't imagine an entire airframe polished, but my paint scheme will include sections of polished skin. I like the look and have already polished some parts. It is a lot of work initially but the ongoing effort is much less. With the right tools and techniques, a once over with the finish grade polish is all that's needed.

Caveat: If you live in a corrosive environment (coastline, acid rain, etc) I'd probably opt to paint it.
 
paint prep

f1rocket said:
It's one of those never-ending debates. That's probably why the pro-polishers (myself included) refuse to engage. There's a whole section on the forums covering polishing. Go there to get the real scoop on what it takes. I can't imagine an entire airframe polished, but my paint scheme will include sections of polished skin. I like the look and have already polished some parts. It is a lot of work initially but the ongoing effort is much less. With the right tools and techniques, a once over with the finish grade polish is all that's needed.

Caveat: If you live in a corrosive environment (coastline, acid rain, etc) I'd probably opt to paint it.
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Hi Folks, I'm thinking of having wings, stabilator, rudder painted soon, - I am wondering what is the best way to remove the little sharp burrs on the pop rivet heads. Thanks for any advice, cheers, DEAN...
 
dinowal said:
Hi Folks, I'm thinking of having wings, stabilator, rudder painted soon, - I am wondering what is the best way to remove the little sharp burrs on the pop rivet heads. Thanks for any advice, cheers, DEAN...
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How dare you polluting MY polish thread with a question about painting?:D
 
RFSchaller said:
Just curious: If you polish the aluminum what do you do with all the fiber glass?
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My plane is painted except for the wings. I had planned to paint the wings too but since I have been flying, many people found the Al wings looked good with the fuselage and empennage painted. The flaperons are already painted and even the wing tips (including the fiber glass housing for the lights) will be painted. I feel that what's left to polish is not that a big deal as far as labor is concerned, especially if you remove the wings. I was the first one to be surprised by how good looking this plane was half painted!
 
RFSchaller said:
Just curious: If you polish the aluminum what do you do with all the fiber glass?
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There are a couple of options. First is to design a scheme around the fiberglass parts ala Van's personal RV-12. Second option is to use mylar on the fiberglass parts to simulate polished aluminum. A third one I guess is to use the "aluminizing" process but that can get very pricey. Not sure about the durability. Think about the Audi commercial with the "chromed" R8.

I'm going with option 1.
 
Strange things can happen ...

I know of one RV-10 that melted the side window from the reflection off of it's polished wing. It was replaced and the wing was painted.
 
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