build status

[weezbad]

well i primed with k-38 and all went real nice. dry to sand in 2 hours. however i never made it back to the project that day. i am using a harbor freight hvlp gun for priming but i bought a satajet for the color. amazed how well the hf gun worked. very smooth primer sanded super nice. i think i could paint the whole plane with the hf gun..


notice the shaded area? that is what i am block sanding out. i will sand untill all this is a uniform color. i was using 220 dry and 320 wet. will final sand for paint with 400-600 have used 800 on all the cars ive ever painted and they all tur out very slick but i may follow vans instructions of 400.


using a paint stick is a favorite of mine. most of that k38 ended up on the floor.



when i started today it was 95 deg and 71% relative humity. then the temp started droping at sunset and the humidity came up . this little t-stat meter said wet just as the dew was forming on the truck. 6 bucks at harbor freight.

[cnpeters]

Keep the updates coming, Weez. Looks great.

[weezbad]

well i got down to a handfull of divets and a pin hole or two so i spent the afternoon filling and sanding them. will re-prime and block then paint the cowl by friday...i hope.

[weezbad]

the saga continues,
here i am wetting down the cowl with dx 330 wax grease and silicone remover...you cant do this enough IMHO. the thinness of the 330 reveals any imperfections in the surface. water has a self leveling effect and will lie to you BAD.


after i felt the blemishes were removed i sealed the room as best i could and sprayed 3 coats of white on there. 20 min between coats @ 90 degrees. should have only used two, there was little to no trash but went three coats. picked up some nibs on the last coat. the respirator hose i think may have caused that dragging around . next time two coats, as the white is very strong and covers well.


i think i can do better, and i will try to improve but this is good enough for me in the unlikely event it doesnt improve. i failed to wet the floor by my own mistake. i told my wife to turn on the water and she turned it off. its a 90 deg. ball valve and she turned it jumped in her car and left. i was taped in the room

[weezbad]

primed the tips with ppg dplf epoxy . will let dry and apply 3 coats of k-38.
if you want to use your spray gun after using k-38- or k-36 you had bess take it apart and clean it out gooooood. the acrylic urethane primers are the worst for clogging up a gun. so far the concept white , and the dplf clean up with simply spraying thinner or mek through but the k 38 requires disassembly of the gun. and by disassembly i mean remove the cap, the fluid tip the needle and the cup. the stuff just wont come out any other way.

[weezbad]

this is what you find in a gun after k-38 was used in it. i have already shot a half pint of thinner through it...you must disassemble it.


here i wet sanded and scotchbrited with the maroon pad. i only sanded because it felt like it had epoxy overspray on it and would not come off with the scotch brite. the rest i sanded with the scotch brite.



here are all the parts primed with dx 1791 wash primer. it is translucent and goes on easy. you need to back the gun up for this application.


this here is the 3m bag kit you buy an adapter for your type of gun. allows you to spray upside down. i have a sharpe and a sata jet. it fits both but not the harbor freight stuff.


now i wish i could report all of it looked this good. but the cold bitter truth is some parts have enough orange peel to choke a mule. i was trying to avoid trash painting vertical and all was going well but then i inadvertently hit the tip micrometer and reduced the pressure somewhat and managed to get some oranage peel. the trim tab and the emp fairing turned out awesome however. i may wetsand and hit another coat on the h/s and v/s but im not much on backing up on a paint job...i like to move on and ride it out if you know what i mean. i will at least wet sand and buff it.


and now for the bad and the ugly. this is the worst piece. oh and while unhooking a part from the hanger to set aside i managed to pierce my Friggin ear with the coat hanger hanging from the ceiling that i had just remove the part from. it was pulled tight and i was stuck there,,,till i realized i had a pair of wire cutters in my pocket. i guess i was luck..sorry no picks of that.


oh yeah my collection of spray guns has changed a bit. the little one is awesome for cleaning out the others after painting. really cuts down on the waste.

[cjensen]

Great stuff Willy! This is VERY informative for someone like me contemplating painting my own in the garage...

[weezbad]

Well I’m happy some may benefit from the thread. It isn’t as much trouble as I thought it might be to try and post about the painting. I do however dislike posting the mistakes, but maybe some will benefit more from that than the successes. I have painted many cars and had good luck with them. But this seems to be fighting me a bit. I will attempt to get it right but in the end I will settle for the best I can do. I still aint paying 10,000 for paint. Not as long as lowes sells rustoleum and rollers.

[Spike]

That orange peel can be taken out with a bit of work.

John

[dons]

Very informative postings. When it comes to stuff like this, I think the 'learning experiences' are quite useful, there are just so many ways to screw up a good paint job, that knowing at least some of the pitfalls is much appreciated. Knowing it can be done is also great, thanks!

[weezbad]

well i sanded the paint and shot it again with another coat. i got a run on the v/s but the h/s turned out pretty good. i can work the run out. the h/s will look super nice if i wet sand it with 1500-2000 and buff. wasnt my intention to be buffing but i will lightly sand and hit it with the microfinishing compound and and polish. the single stage paint sands off reeeeealy fast. so used at LEAST 1500 grit. maybe 2000.


this next picture doesnt look slick but that is the reflection of the wall that isnt slick. this stuff turned out well except for the run.

[weezbad]

well i buffed the v/s and let me warn you, dont paint thinking "im gonna buff out all my mistakes." no matter how gentle you are, the microfinishing compound promtly removes the paint from the o/d of the rivet heads. you cant really see it because it looks like gloss.
anywho here is a pic of the h/s v/s in psuedo installed.


i went to the local paint store and bought a new d/a sander . mine was overdue for the trash. i also got a hookit 1 pad with interface pad. so i dont screw up stuff with it. its good for ametuers.


the plastic that is 5 years old on the 12 of this month came off like it did 5 years ago. just for a data point my shop is insulated. here i have d/a'ed the rudder with 500 paper. man what a time saver. i went back and worked the rivets with the maroon scotchbrite.,,,,,yes all of them


the last picture you will see of the dx 1791. its a step, you do it to all the alu. i may however change to alodine and metal etch for a couple of reasons. this stuff is not very popular and i think i got an old batch. there was a lot of crap in the first coat of it. i think when i stirred it up i got into some hardened crap in the bottom of the can. i am taking it back tommorow. make sure if you use it you have them open the can and put a stick to the bottom of the can after shaking it up to insure yours is good to go.


i put on two medium coates and really poured on the last . thats why the parts are horizontal.
here are the finished parts. they are ok some better than others. we'll see tommorow how the gloss holds out.







good night

[weezbad]

well man, i have learned a bunch this week. mostly paints have changed alot since the last time i shot color. which hasnt been but a couple of years.

the PPG dx1791 self etching wash primer is crap in my opinion. i got another gallon and it exhibited the same results. this is what i found after the paint store got me this gallon from charlotte n.c. they shook it for 10 minutes or more and i opened it when i got home. it was like this. i shook it for about 20 minutes with my new H/F paint shaker. it seemed all well. when i shot it, it was like it was full of trash. seedy they call it.
i then had to load up the paint to hide it and i got solvent pop from hell.
i sanded all that out and sprayed again. you guessed it. solvent pop again. this was not nearly as bad so i opted to sand and buff. it turned out really well. i am moving on. as far as solvent pop i have been told by some very good painters that you cant even use the temp reducer i was using. the paint shop guy even told me that. why did he sell it to me for ???? dunno. 40 bucks down the pipe. the pro's said shoot a slower thinner than called for and to not lay it on to wet. i'll try it again. but next plane/car i paint wont be PPG.



yours truly


after buffing out. this worked waaaay better than it used to which is good because i am not the best painter. i am getting better and the curve is going straight up. i am pleased with the results so far but it has been somewhat frustrating to say the least. i have never had problems of any sort before and ive been shooting ppg acrylic urethanes and high solids polyurethanes for abot 17 years on the hobbie level. (one every year or so.two in a good year)

[Speed3Guy]

First of all, your work looks great! Keep it up!

I used DX1791 all of the time. My entire interior was primed with it too and I love the stuff.

Here's what I've found. No amount of shaking will mix DX1791 that's been sitting for a few months. You have to stir it. Be patient. It takes me 10-15 minutes with a stir stick to get it fully mixed. After that, it only takes about 1 minute if I use it every couple of weeks. If I let it sit too long, I'm stuck with the long stir session again. I also strain it into the gun's cup, but I assume you do too.

I think we're using a similar exterior process on aluminum. DX1791/1792, followed by DPLF epoxy primer, then DCC color. I love the combination, but it's the only automotive type finish I've sprayed. I painted the plane's interior and my truck with it before taking on my exterior. During my previous career as a furniture maker I did spend a few years of my life spraying clear laquer though.

Good Luck,
Guy

[weezbad]

guy, thanks for the tips and compliments.

I do strain it with filters into the cup, have been using two lately. i have stirred it with a drill motor in addition to the paint shaker. the first batch went on normal. it was when i tried to get all the stuff at the bottom of the can to go into soulution with the rest of the components that i started getting my problems. i am somewhat baffled however at the texture. have you by chance run the stick on the bottom of the can? also, i would be curious as to the date on the bottom of the can. mine is over a year old and i doubtful it gets used much around here. i am not using dplf on the aluminum. i am topcating the 1791. i really like the prospect of the 1791 i simply cant get it to come out seed free. i have thought about using a coffee strainer but my brother thought that may remove some soilids from the paint. we'll see. i am going to make another shot with it. i will stir it as you suggest and shake it the strain it well. i'll post the results. up till now i have always been a big fan of PPG. but it really seems to be finicky stuff to work with all of the sudden. probally just me though

[Speed3Guy]

Sounds like you've just got old paint. When I run a stick to the bottom of a can, I get a lot of solids. 15 minutes of painful scraping the bottom with a stick does the trick though. I don't have to do it every time. I'm using my woodworking gun (small tip) to spray it.

G

[weezbad]

i hear this is common. i am gonna try to minimize it. i edge rolled the fron edge and it only made things worse.

this side is worse.

the first layer of rage gold.

and sanded.

i have actually sanded one more layer but it still needs a skim coat. theres a ton of dust on the floor.

[weezbad]

well i have painted the fuse and it turned out so so. not my best work but ok. i was not able to use the dpx 1791 due to it seeding. i tried three batches of two different lot numbers. no joy...

Heartbroken, i returned to the old alumna prep 33 and alodine 1201 song and dance....what a PITA that is..it takes HOURS to blow down the seams.

next time i will go variprime and imron. (dupont) i have always used PPG but man i had troubles with the seeding and solvent pop in the color coats.. the solvent pop was my fault however. There are brands such as martin seniour that are much more user friendly. i have a dupont store just up the street. the ppg store is a 30 minute ride from the house.


here is the seeding. It is a rough texture and if you look closely you might be able to see the dark spots.(small as dust) the paint was mechanicaly shaken, filtered through paint strainers and also filtered through a bounty paper towel. nothing helped.


so i washed all that off with thinnner and the next day scuffed it and alumnapreped it then alodined..did i mention it took hours to get the crap out of the seams. rinse rinse rinse rinse blow for days it seems.
now for the alodine

.....




so then i proceeded to tape her up and paint. man i screwed that all to hell. i ended up sanding it the next day and shooting it again with two light coats. if i had initially done three i would have just sanded and buffed..lets just say i dont have any rivet heads that are not bridged.
but it turned out ok in the end..


the very next day i moved it outside after almost wanting to shoot myself in the head trying to lay out the stripes. UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHH...man what a time eater that was.holy crap. that took forever as well. man i am too used to painting cars i guess.
anywho i got them laid out after removing the plane from the paint room...ya just gotta be able to back up and stare at it. amazing how keen the eye is to a 1/4 of an inch. these lines are pretty close ...as close as i could get them anyway.



the blue stripe took 5000 feet of paper to cover the plane.



another 5 k of paper for the grey..oh BTW if you are gonna paint your plane get a tape/paper dispenser..or you are screwed.

an exapmle here http://www.autobarn.net/xxxw-ap-asms2.html but a twin roll machine can be bought at harbor freight for about 30.00..may as well get a paint shaker while your there on sale 89.00.



after the grey was applied i went to dinner and lowes. needed more MEK for gun cleaning and mixing cups. when i got home i un-taped it and was releived that all of the paint stayed on the plane.


and another view.


and a little personal touch i decided to try. i like to bowhunt so i said mmmmm ok, whatever >>>> i think it's aight. we'll see.


now naturally i picked the best pictures to post so dont go thinking its the quality of a professional job cause it is not. it is presentable though...i wanted it better but i am just too limited in experience to get a show finish. next time you see the person that painted your plane give them another 500 dollars because it is doubtfull you paid them enough...

the best tip i have gotten is from a painter at the cadillac dealer where i used to work. his name is Jimbo. he said nevermind flash times just touch the paint on the ajacent surface (the tape that is) and if it doesnt string shoot your next coat if it does it will run if you shoot again....you also dont want it to not be tacky or you will likely get solvent pop. really changed things. also going one reducer slower when approaching the end of the reducers range.

and one to grow on.



i hope this page makes you want to paint your own plane. because misery loves company ......oh BTW a special thanks goes out to Randy Lervold. for it was his page that led me to this insanity of painting my own plane and my brother for getting me started on building one. now if all the paint will just stay on the plane.

[1:1_Scale]

That looks REALLY good Will!

Maybe this is the cure for the nose wheel fork nuts digging in?

[hydroguy2]

Good job, no matter how it looks to you.

Looks great from here