Painting advice, please?

[justin.schoeman]

It seems I have a weekend, or two worth of work left, before my aerie will be ready for painting, and I am hoping to bum some advice from those in the know .

Firstly, the bulk of the fuselage and wings are ready, but there will be some extra bits as I go (some only after test flying). Is it worth painting now, I should I fly it without paint until all of the fairings and goodies are done?

What paints are available? I would like to be as light as possible. I have heard that there are some paint types that apply _very_ thin, and light, and others that weigh a ton. What is available, and what is worth the price?

Finally, I have not used a paint gun in anger for many years, and even then, I wouldn't really say I was any good with it . What options are there? Take it to an automotive paint shop. Rent the equipment and do it myself? Perhaps some other home builder with the equipment willing to volunteer their skills?

Any other tips or advice would be appreciated!

Justin

[grostek]

Hi Justin,

The 2K system works well on Aluminum.

The secret to a good finish is preperation, hence scuff the surface of the whole areas to be painted with scotch brite so that the paint has a rough surface to cling to.

Then spray a primer (Metal Primer), next spray an undercoat (Universal Undercoat), then your choice of 2K colours. Ask your local paint shop for the current products that are compatible/specific for aluminum they may have other better alternative products, such as primer/undercoat in one which will save weight.

Final coat 2k

This is available off the shelf at most hardware stores.

If you want to go for aircraft grade paints, then alodine the skins first then undercoat with a Zinc Chromate primer or the replacement they use now and then apply 2K.
This does not seem to be the way for you to go because your aircraft is assembled and for allodine and zinc chromate to be effective against corrosion they need to be applied to individual components before they are rivited together.

The finish of your aircraft is the first thing that is seen by outsiders/visitors, it does not matter how perfectly you made and assembled all the parts, if the paint finish does not look good then automaticaly most will assume te aircraft is build the same way.

So if you have any doubts about your abilities, get a professional to do it for you.

The original Zenith 601 was designed with 6061T6 Alu alloy and this was an alloy developed for the marine industry, ie it has very good anti corrosion properties in a marine environment. Find out from Carl how much 6061 is used in the Raven and plan your painting from there.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek.

[Rudix]

It seems I have a weekend, or two worth of work left, before my aerie will be ready for painting, and I am hoping to bum some advice from those in the know .

Firstly, the bulk of the fuselage and wings are ready, but there will be some extra bits as I go (some only after test flying). Is it worth painting now, I should I fly it without paint until all of the fairings and goodies are done?

What paints are available? I would like to be as light as possible. I have heard that there are some paint types that apply _very_ thin, and light, and others that weigh a ton. What is available, and what is worth the price?

Finally, I have not used a paint gun in anger for many years, and even then, I wouldn't really say I was any good with it . What options are there? Take it to an automotive paint shop. Rent the equipment and do it myself? Perhaps some other home builder with the equipment willing to volunteer their skills?

Any other tips or advice would be appreciated!

Justin

Hi Justin,

I am also considering options here, maybe it is worth chatting to Andre at Rhino? He has the equipment and skills, I am just not sure if he has the time! He is a busy man and I am throwing more work at him.....

Regards,
Rudi

[Morph]

Justin,

I sprayed my BB myself, having never used a gun in anger before. 2K is very forgiving, get the basics right and it is easy to spray, and shines immediately without any requirement for elbow grease.

Most guys here in the cape use automotive shops if they don't do it themselves.

[justin.schoeman]

Thanks guys.

The skin of the Raven is not 6061, and is not alclad - so corrosion resistance is fairly poor. On one US EAA site, they mention alodining a complete airframe (rather than components), so I assume it is still a possibility.

As for 2k paints, how much does it weigh? I have heard number like 12kg for a plane the size of the Raven. That sounds like quite a hefty load! Someone (I wish I could remember who) mentioned a paint system that only weighed around 6kg. Whoever mentioned that, I don't suppose you are reading here, and want to jump in?

Thanks,
Justin

[RV4ker (RIP)]

Justin,

I sprayed my BB myself, having never used a gun in anger before. 2K is very forgiving, get the basics right and it is easy to spray, and shines immediately without any requirement for elbow grease.

Most guys here in the cape use automotive shops if they don't do it themselves.

Any chance of a little DIY summary on here. I am keen to respray the Skull. From ...


To


Sorry for the HiJack....

[justin.schoeman]

Any chance of a little DIY summary on here. I am keen to respray the Skull. From ...

Just bring it around to my place - I need something to practice on before I try paint my plane .



-justin

[RV4ker (RIP)]

If I can land in driveway I am there....

[justin.schoeman]

If I can land in driveway I am there....

[Morph]

The most important part about spraying with 2k is the pre-preperation. Any imperfections will shine through and there is no way of buffing it out after the fact. In my case I sprayed the Bush Baby, the skin is a fabric, covered with Nitrate then Butyrate (mixed with alluminium powder) both of these were applied by rollers. For aluminium planes use the appropriate undercoat.

I made sure that that surface was thoroughly flatted and cleaned before applying any of the top coats.

The next thing about 2k is the ambient temperature. The warmer the better, over 20 degrees would be ideal. If colder then the paint runs like water and it a pain in the arse.

Mix is obviously important, 2 part paint, 1 part hardner, 10% of the total amount thinners. In the case of a fabric plane, add 30% softflex/plastercizor additive to the 2 part paint, then 1 part hardner, then 10% thinners

I set up my garage at home, with an extractor fan and made sure I was wearing the correct mask. I wasn't too concerned about creating an industrial type spraybooth as this was going to be a once in a lifetime exercise. Get in there, spray the coat then get out. Let the air clear then go back again

Start with something small as a tester, wing tips, tail feathers etc. Ailerons can be removed and sprayed separately for example. If you make a mistake these will be easy to flat down. If the paint runs, simply wipe it off and start again, until you get the hang of the speed required.

You will need 3 coats, each crossing the other. The last coat is the gloss coat. So I would start with a direction that would start and end off the surface to be sprayed, i.e. wingtip to trailing edge of the wing. Start the gun ahead of the wingtip, even spray across to the Trailing edge and release the trigger. Then forward, then back all along the wing. Nice and even. no need to overcoat, just enough overlap to cover the whole surface.

Let dry for 5-10minutes

Next spray crosswise, along the length of the wing. Take short manageable sections and spray the whole surface

5-10minutes drying time

Final coat, cross coat again, i.e. in the same direction as the first. Here you need a bright light so you can see the surface, and apply enough paint to give you a nice gloss. Remember the paint settles nicely when left alone. I turned the surface so it laid horizontal to ensure an even spread of the paint.

That's it

In the case of the red upper, I would do the whole surface in one layer of white. Then mask off the red sections, finish the rest of the white sections, let dry thouroughly. 24 hours. Then I would mask off the white sections, and spray the red. The first white layer will make the red nice and bright.

[RV4ker (RIP)]

[grostek]

Hi Justin,

Read Morphs post and there he says that the 2K system uses about 10% Thinners, this is correct so it follows that when your paint is dry it will weigh what you used minus that 10%.

Ask at the paint shop, they have a special ruler that you place in your mixing pot and this ruler is marked with exact lines of how much paint, hardner, plastizirer, you need to add to get the correct mix ratio.

They also have a metal cup with a hole in the bottom which measures the amount of drops per min, this is to correct and adjust the paint mixture for temperature.

Both are dead simple to use and ensure that you have the mix ratio spot on.

They are also inexpensive to buy.

I am sure if you practice on a non critical surface first (like the garage doors ) you may be pleasantly surprised by the results you obtain.

Finally your compressor must be able to give you DRY,OIL FREE air of the correct pressure and volume.

While spraying it is always a good idea to have a full face mask that is supplied with clean compressed air so that you dont breathe those fumes.

Kind regards,

Gunter Rostek

[justin.schoeman]

Ask at the paint shop, they have a special ruler that you place in your mixing pot and this ruler is marked with exact lines of how much paint, hardner, plastizirer, you need to add to get the correct mix ratio.

They also have a metal cup with a hole in the bottom which measures the amount of drops per min, this is to correct and adjust the paint mixture for temperature.

Both are dead simple to use and ensure that you have the mix ratio spot on.

They are also inexpensive to buy.

This all sounds so easy until you try to do it .

I am sure if you practice on a non critical surface first (like the garage doors )...

... or George's RV .

Finally your compressor must be able to give you DRY,OIL FREE air of the correct pressure and volume.

While spraying it is always a good idea to have a full face mask that is supplied with clean compressed air so that you dont breathe those fumes.

How difficult is it to find this equipment to rent? The US EAA guys make it sound like it is available on every street corner. Somehow I don't think it is going to be that easy here!

[RV4ker (RIP)]

I have all the spray kit but it is in FAVB

I will be "testing" on our old trusty Glider trailer (Rusted to buggery) in new paint scheme to practise before I deSkull the RV...

Where in Jhb is best place to get 2K paint? I will paint in FAVB since I have space and equip there, but there is only a local Midas (they can "get" U anything at a price) and they not afraid to charge. Am based Edenvale when in Jhb and driving bakkie and 6m trailer back next week so ideal time to collect...

[Morph]

I used Cape Autopaints, they are a member of the House Of Paints group. I found their prices to be half of the rest of the competition. So much so that I bought Tailspin's paint here for him and had it shipped up there. Happy to do the same for you

Typically you would look at
5 liters of white (R385 per tin) you will only need about 3 liters in total, but the white is cheapest in a big tin
1 liter red (196.91 per liter, see the difference)
2 X 1liter hardners (about R122.81 per liter)
5 liter 2K thinners - 158.80

comes to R827.53 + VAT = R943.85

Softflex additives, if you are spraying a BB for example. Not neccesary on aluminium planes (R181 - ex VAT per liter 1 needed per 3 liters of paint)

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