final painting as you build?

Hi All,
Does anyone have any comments on final painting the separte pieces as you build....Hor. Stab...Vert, stab...elevators...rudder...wings..etc
Is this any advantage or disadvantage?
Comments would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance...
Jim,
7A (Emp almost done) I think I might have the record for the longest time building the emp

You might check the archives - I know we have had a number of posts on "painting before flying" before, and lots of good advice/information posted!

Paul

IMO, you'll want a significant amount of parts to paint together. Paint is expensive, and you'll soon find that you don't want to waste it. Once the hardener is mixed, it's only good for a few hours.

I'd also want enough paint for the entire project, to insure the color matches.

Note: If you balance your elevators before paint, and fly that way, you're going to need more "lead" when they're painted. And of course, this could somewhat screw up a finished paint job on the elevators. The lesson that I learned, is to retain the total lead weights as supplied by Van's. Get the elevators painted, and then remove a bit of lead if needed with a few lightning holes. I had to add 5 oz. of lead after painting, and then a new fiberglass coat to smooth things out; while making sure everything is anchored to eliminate an elevator jam.

Do check the archieves as Paul says, but here's how I sum it up.

It takes two days to completely disassemble a flying 7, three days to put it back together. It might seem a lot of time, but you'll eat that up and more with repetitious set-up/clean-up for small paint batches, plus you'll have a much nicer paint job, and the as-manufactured paint can all be the same color batch. Piecemeal is just asking for color mismatch for multiple reasons and damage. That cowl is going to be going off and on more times than you care to know during Phase I, and any necessary/desired airframe mods won't have to be blended in. Also, paint's way more expensive than gas. Don't waste it in small batches.

Besides, you may change your mind about colors and schemes down the road since you've just finished the emp.

The only compromise would be paint before final assembly before inspection, but you still face the damage/mod factor, especially if this is your first kit.

John Siebold
Boise, ID

Not a good idea

Sounds good but really isn't a good idea. As John noted, the cowl will be on and off lots during Phase I. Every movement risks potential scratches and chips.

A couple of things. With the help of a friend, I had my 7 completely torn down in about 5 hours. The A will likely take a little longer because of the gear weldment issues and bolt removal. Reassembly after painting was about 8 hours. Not bad at all.

Painting by component will use a little more paint. Color matching shouldn't be a problem because most paints have toner that is sprayed on prior to color to insure a match.

Build, fly, fix, paint. In the long run you'll be money and time ahead. Make sure you are discipled to set a date for paint and live with it. The time goes by faster than you think (unless you are painting yourself )

Please don't get caught in the "I don't want to take it out of service that long to paint," mentality. Is it just me or is it frustrating to see a great set of formation flying with most of the planes painted and one or two that are not? To me it somewhat detracts from the professionalism of an otherwise very professional presentation.

RV7Guy said:

Build, fly, fix, paint. In the long run you'll be money and time ahead. Make sure you are discipled to set a date for paint and live with it. The time goes by faster than you think (unless you are painting yourself )

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Something to keep in mind, about flying first and then painting....................is where.

Many airports will not allow you to paint in their hangars.

It's either going to come down to disassembly and taking the aircraft piece by piece to somewhere else. Or perhaps flying it somewhere else for a professional or do it yourself paint job.

I finished my RV in a three car garage & converted the single door bay to a paint booth. My airport does not allow paint jobs in the hangar. In my case, painting beforehand was the way to go.

However, the plane had been completely assembled once, and all bolts torqued, and everything fitted. It was only when I discovered that I had to remove the wings to install the nutplates for fusalage/wing intersection, that I gave in a tore the whole thing apart including all the tail surfaces.

I would definately make sure everything fits before painting, as you're bound to scuff it up if not.

Just today, I closed the canopy after installation and scratched the paint on the top of the fuse longeron skin. I got distracted and failed to install the canopy rail bolt on the starboard side, which let the canopy skirt down 1/16". I am now "irked"!

L.Adamson --- one step ahead, and then two back..

I painted mine piece by piece and was happy with the process and results.

What I did was finish an assembly, fit it to the remainder of the airframe, rig it (push pulls, etc), disassemble, then paint. Then I took the component to the airport to wait for all the others. FYI, my flying surfaces were painted and sitting at the airport for over a year waiting for me to finish the rest of the airplane.

This process helped me clear space in my shop. Also, I learned to paint on relatively small parts, like the rudder, elevators, flaps, etc. Even when I messed one up, the part wasn't big enough that the rework was a huge deal.

The best I have ever done getting an RV tore down for paint was 1.25 hours to remove the flight controls. Usually it runs me about 3 hours to take off everything.

Thanks

Thanks for all of the input...
I appreciate it...It makes making a decision a little less hard when you have all of this experience of others up front.
Jim

Painting

Jim,

I owned and operated an aircraft paint shop for many years, (now retired), and painted many RV's. IMHO it would be a big mistake to try and paint your plane in stages. Fly it first, work out all the "Bugs", you will have the cowling on and off numerous times as well as inspection panels, fairings, and other parts and pieces.

The painting process, using todays high tech coatings, is somewhat involved. Paint shelf life, The paint should all be mixed at the same time in order to insure color uniformity. Todays paints, particularly whites, yellows and reds do not cover well and require numerous coats to insure a quality job. This is mainly the result of the removal lead from the paint. If extreme care is not taken in the process, you may notice a "Difference in color" between the various parts when they are assembled. This is almost certain to be the case if "metalic colors " are involved.

The other consideration is the probability of damage to the pieces while in storage and during the assembly process. Beleive me as carefull as you try to be you will scratch something. Modern urethanes are difficult to "Touch up" even by a professional, metalics are even more difficult.

In closing, when we were approached by a customer to paint his plane in pieces, we passed on the job. It would require much more work, time, expense and the end result would not be as good.

Dick

amen brother

RV7Guy said:

Is it just me or is it frustrating to see a great set of formation flying with most of the planes painted and one or two that are not? To me it somewhat detracts from the professionalism of an otherwise very professional presentation.

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and when others see them i get to answer to all the wise cracks. even though i dont know them i may as well have been the one to do it.
its amazing to me how easily people can change their mind about the quality of something through a coat of paint.
by all means paint it soon after flying, if not before. so all the nervous nellies will feel better about those homemade airplanes flying over
ps i just wish mine was flying. either way.

Hi, folks.

I'm planning my workshop. I?ll build a hangar at my yard, because I have a lot of space.

I' m thinking to build a paint booth inside it to make the priming easier and also to paint the airplane. I'd like to listen to your opinion.

My hangar will be 10m x 12m x 3,5m covered with metal roof.

I' m desing paint booth with 4m x 9m x 3m at the end. The other 1m x 4x will be the "compressor room".

I will finish the plane, mark strips with tape, remove wings and paint fuse with empenage and both wings at once.

My questions are:

a) Is paint booth's size enogh for it?
b) Is my paiting procedure adequate?

Thanks for all help