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Interior Paint

rv8gibbo

Well Known Member
Hi guys,
I'm about to send my 8 to the shop to get the inside sprayed and I would like to know if I should get a heap of screws, blind rivets etc sprayed at the same time ready? Or pressure pack them later?

Cheers
 
Don't paint the screws, it will encourage slipping and stripping. If you are thinking about painting uninstalled blind rivets, I would suggest your interior is not ready for paint yet. Hold off until everything is riveted in place to avoid damaging the paint
Jay
 
colour?

Nathan, if you haven't decided yet, I feel it is my duty to suggest a dark colour...much less reflection in the canopy etc.
Think about how you are going to touchup the exposed areas that invariably get scratched.
someday you're going to add another radio, gps, instrument of somekind, requiring chopping a hole somewhere. Can you hide that?
and....
see if you can find a real one, or photos of a high-time -8, and see where the 'rub' zones are.
( can be tough, most guys keep their planes so pristine, you can't tell they've been flown....ever!) :)
 
Hmmm, there was a thread here a while back where people were posting pics of their "worn" parts. I seem to recall there were not a whole lot, but it did give me some ideas as to where the interior paint might wear.

The automotive industry is using clear plastic protective film on car exteriors now, for example on the rocker panels behind the wheel wells. It seems to be extremely durable stuff - resistant to UV, detergents, scuffs and rock chips. I'm thinking I may use that over parts of the interior where we're likely to be scratching and scuffing paint.
 
Color or contrast...

There is something to be said for bare fasteners on a color background.

Shows work has been done ;-)
 
Zolatone for the interior. It is bulletproof, hides all sort of minor sins and fasteners disappear in the pattern. Use the real stuff, not the spray cans.

It requires a pressure pot, a large nozzle and very good masking. The surface is primed with an epoxy primer and then gets two coats, the second sprayed at 36" from the surface.
 
Many thanks for everybody's suggestions, I'm liking the idea of leaving them left bare! I'm not too sure how much centre section is seen but I may also leave that as is too!

Cheers :)
 
Zolatone for the interior. It is bulletproof, hides all sort of minor sins and fasteners disappear in the pattern. Use the real stuff, not the spray cans.

It requires a pressure pot, a large nozzle and very good masking. The surface is primed with an epoxy primer and then gets two coats, the second sprayed at 36" from the surface.

AKA "port-a-potty paint" :)
 
I like the exposed/unpainted fastener look…to a point. Dunno about all the rivets on the cap strips, though. I might try to apply some semi-gloss Jetflex over the rivets here with a small paint roller after final assembly (will practice on scrap to see if the rolled paint looks OK).

Anybody here with Jetflex touch-up experience?
 
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I like the exposed/unpainted fastener look?to a point. Dunno about all the rivets on the cap strips, though. I might try to apply some semi-gloss Jetflex over the rivets here with a small paint roller after final assembly (will practice on scrap to see if the rolled paint looks OK).

Anybody here with Jetflex touch-up experience?

Yes... a small artists brush works... just make sure you wait long enough for it to cure.
 
I've touched up some blemishes with my JetFlex WR interior by using a Q-tip as an applicator. The texture isn't as even as spraying, but it is good enough.
 
Zolatone

Zolatone for the interior. It is bulletproof, hides all sort of minor sins and fasteners disappear in the pattern.
+1 for the Zolatone. It's somewhat difficult to spray, being thick with chunks in it, but the results are worth it. The first coat puts the base color on and the second coat adds the splatters. I painted my baggage compartment with it probably ten years ago and it has been extremely durable and I like the look. Since that time, I've made some modifications back there and now need to touch them up. Aircraft Spruce only carries gallons, apparently, so I bought a quart ($53) of Apollo Gray from autobodysupply.net. I also bought one of their "ZOLATONE 8209 POWER SPRAY KITS, FOR SPRAYING ZOLATONE COLORS." for $14. I hope it works because I really don't want to use my big gun back there.
 
Paint

Spray the interior as you would normally with a durable, two part catalized paint. After a light primer coat and a heavier top coat, while it is still very tacky turn down the air volume on your gun so it will spit spray the material onto the surface. It will blend and flow into the previously sprayed tacky coat but not flow into it to where it disappears. It creates a very durable coat that has a texture to it. It also is very easy to touch up with a small paint brush downrange should wear areas populate. Years ago I looked at aging Christen Eagles when I was building mine and I decided to do the texture finish. It was a very good decision, and 19 yrs later the plane interior looks great.
You can also wait for the second heavy coat to dry before spit spraying, and it will just have a rougher texture with no flowing into the previously wet paint. I experimented with both and liked the slightly flowed in method better. Lots of compliments on it through the years. I?m certainly no painting expert and I discovered this by accident one day while practicing. Glad I did and I plan on doing it again on my F1.
Good luck with your project!

F
 
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