Is car/automotive paint the same as Aircraft paint?
I mean, could I take my RV down to the local repair/paint shop (seen his work. Very nice) and expect the same job as you would get from and aviation painter. Is their paint the same?
I could give the RV to an aviation guy and spend $10,000 (are they?) or I could take to auto/repair sprayer and pay $2000.
I was just wonder'n
RV-7A Emp
I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.
I believe many people use local auto paint shops. I would think that the paint may need to be harder to withstand the elements more, but I think this has served people very well so far. Maybe someone else has more info.
I don't think the difference is as much the paint as it is the preparation.
Most of the aircraft paint shops strip down to bare metal and work their way up from there. I have heard that an unpainted plane can be done for $3K - $4K by a "good" shop if they don't have to strip and prep!
Yes, most aircraft painters use Acrylic urethane paint as opposed to acrylic enamel. It is a bit tougher and can take more hits. There may be special blends for aircraft but the guys that I know use automotive paint sources. Aviation paint would just cost more anyway.
Cheers, Pete
Peter Marshall
Newbie RV-8 builder.
You wanna draw, ....against the fastest rivet gun in the West??? LOL
I have been told that auto paints have been being made to be more flexible over the last decade or so because cars are being built with more plastic componants. Flexible paint doesn't sound so bad to me and the variety of colors for the automotive industry is huge. I could be way off base but I havn't seen a good reason to not have an auto body shop paint a plane.
I painted my plane with Valspar polyurethane epoxy paint. I had a little left over from spraying and i poured it into a paper cup. When it cured I took it out of the cup and set it on the bench. That was about three weeks ago. It can be folded up and returns to the origional shape , sort of like a piece of rubber. It is that flexible. Yes, it is an automobile paint and seems to be really good.
Dan, final assembly and FAA inspection is planned in about two weeks!
yes I agree that some auto paints can be used on an airplane. The expensive polyurethane airplane paints (jet Glow) are designed for the big iron.. 45,000 feet the air is cold .... aluminum skin shrinks more than the paint film does due to the EXTREAM cold..and the UV radiation is higher than at 8,000 ft.
The UV is what breaks down the color pigment and the urethane polymers.
Most automotive polyurethanes are loaded with UV inhibitors to prevent this break down, so that leaves the 45,000 ft problem. my RV 7 won't go there so I don't worry about the toughness (flexibility)
Not not just any polurethane... one should choose a isocyanurate catalysed polurethane. DO NOT USE any polurethane that has Enamel or Epoxy in the name... The UV at sea level will eat it up in 3-4 years.
Now when you get to the point of using this type of automotive paint .. the price is not much less that jet glow.
I plan to use jet glow and get some UV inhibitor and absorber from Cyba and doctor up my paint.. will look like new after 10 yrs...
