RivetBangers.com

Hey All,

I am getting to the point of dreaming about and laying out the paint scheme.

I plan on doing it myself and enlisting the help of the Auto Collision Instructor here at my school. Robbie Dobbie Doo, the Portugese Prince of Paint is willing to come to my house and shoot. All I will need to do is prep and purchase the materials. He will also help me layout and work on the hard spots. Pretty cool, huh?

Here is what I am thinking:







What do you think? I know the pictures are grainy but the letters read RED, SILVER and WHITE. I am thinking a Merlot for the red, Chrome-ish for the silver (as opposed to gray) and Matterhorn for the white.

Thoughts and comments appreciated!

CJ

Since I'm just in the process of painting, I'll share some of the items I've learned during the process.

1. My wife owned the design and color process, but I retained veto capability in case she wanted to do something bizarre. This caused her to take ownership of the design and she's been more engaged in the process since then. She even did a significant amount of fiberglass sanding.

2. Determine which paint system you want to use. For example, I found that PPG Deltron and another PPG name I can't remember were almost the same price a Sherwin Williams JetGlo and Acryglo. Once you make that decision, get the paint charts from the choosen vendor to make your paint color choices.

3. I have red and silver AcryGlo stripes. Acryglo is metallic. I've been told that red and silver tints, regardless of products are the most expensive. The JetGlo Matterhorn white was about $150/gal (plus hardner), where as the AcryGlo Red and Silver were about $150/qt (plus hardner). Be prepared for the sticker shock on the materials.

4. Marking the striping is a pain. It took more time that painting did. The real problem areas are around the control surfaces. When you have a stripe that isn't perpendicular, it's alignment gets fubar when the control surface goes to one extreme to the other. There is no perfect solution, but you have to come up with a comprimise. I chose not to continue the stripes by connecting them to the other side of the control surface. My suggestion is to mount the control surface while you are taping and tape them at the same time.

5. Get good striping tape. You don't want paint bleeding under the tape. We had a problem with the red and have to give multiple coats to get the color dark enough to our taste. We had one spot that got under the tape. It was a pain to fix.

6. Last but not least, there is only one opinion that counts. Yours!!! Who cares what everyone else thinks? All that matters is that you like it.

bob

p.s. I think your design looks good too!

Not bad, but I've come to the conclusion that RVs look better with straight lines.

I like it. Go for it

I'm with Ian...I don't care for swoopy lines on any airplane. Love the color choices tho!

Bob,

Your wife did a great job! Is she available for outside contracts?



Michele is my creative side. In fact, her mom is sewing my seats as we speak!

I am simply going single stage. DuPont has served me well and I plan on staying the course unless I have a reason to sway. It is locally available and it worked well for the interior. I already know the red is costly, hence the reason there isn't THAT much red.

You surely do have more striping than I. I do expect to get a pinstriper to finish off the transitions from color to color. That will also add another color to the mix. Not sure what that will be just yet.

Ian and Chad, I like the straight lines too. But there have been a few curvy designs that have caught my eye as of late. Seems that the boxiness of the RV needs some curves to it??? I think that in time the curves will appear dated and lines will probably always be in style. I dunno...

Vlad, your plane is after Billy's!!! When mine is flying we might just pull his -6 out of service to paint it here at my house. Perhaps he will loan you his -6 while we paint your -9!?!

Hmmmm, need to run that past him!

Hahahaha

We are getting there guys!!!

CJ

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... This is what makes this discussion so interesting. I think straight lines look okay, but I'm finding that the RV's that catch my eye the most are the ones with some graceful curves in the lines. Nothing too swoopy, but these hershey-bar wings need something to break up the boxy appearance. My paint job will definitely have some graceful, elegant curves in it, topped off with some pin striping to accent the design. I like your ideas, CJ. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I really like the lines of the new RV-14's paint job. Wheel pants, legs and wings are solid color, so that would make the painting of those very easy. The graceful swoop up the side of the fuselage and on to the tail with a solid color HS makes this look very modern and clean. I'm not a fan of the 12" N numbers, but I do like the outlining of the digits.

Hey guys, I have revised my scheme a tad. I think simpler is better. I am still dialing in all the cowling and plastic parts so coating them is still in the future. Here is my current status.



...and here is my revision.



The "black" color will be silver. I didn't have a silver pencil so I used a regular #2 lead. The white will be white.

Any thoughts or comments?

CJ

CJ,

You have excellent choices in colors! As in two of the most expensive pigments to purchase.

The SW AcryGlo Red and Silver Metallics were both about $145/qt plus hardener. The SW JetGlo Matternhorn White and the SW AcryGlo Phantom Gray Metallic I don't think cost that much for a gallon.

Of course Murphy's Law required that my paint scheme required about 1.2 quarts of silver and about 1.5 quarts of red. So I have a couple of really expensive cans of paint left over. It would be nice if I could have purchased paint in quantities smaller than a quart.

Not know what paint products you're going with, YMMV.

btw, you may want to check out this program.

http://www.airplanecolor.com/aircraft/rv-9/index.htm

bob

Bob, I know these colors are expensive but I like them. Besides, doing it myself will save a bit to spend on materials. Plus I will learn lots in the process.

I will check out that website. Thanks!

CJ

captain_john wrote:Bob, I know these colors are expensive but I like them. Besides, doing it myself will save a bit to spend on materials. Plus I will learn lots in the process. CJ

It clearly was an interesting discussion when I had to explain how much I had to spend on paint for the RV-10. Fortunately, the design and paint color choices were her's. The made the conversation a little easier since she wanted those expensive colors for the stripes.

bob