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Blast from the past: Paint or polish?

smokyray

Well Known Member
Guys,
I recently found this photo I thought I had lost many moons ago, my RV4 over Johnson Creek ID circa 97'.
I couldn't afford paint or amenities so I opted for Met-All polish, "rag bag" from Home Depot with a drill attachment buffer and corn starch. A couple of rattle cans of Kry-Lon for trim, hardware store N numbers from the mail box section and voila', a $16K Sport Plane.

I enjoyed the polished look and weight/cost savings with only two noticeable gripes:
1. On bright sunny days the reflection off the wing shined perfectly into the cockpit with associated temperature increase.
2. Living in FL required monthly polishing touch ups to avoid corrosion.

I finally decided to paint while at a rural KS fuel stop coming home from ID.
The elderly airport manager took one look at my RV4 and said: "Paint or polish, make a decision!"

V/R
Smokey


Before


After
 
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I'm too lazy to polish, but after reading Dave Anders' article in this month's Kitplanes magazine where he mentioned melting THREE canopies, I'll certainly opt for paint every time!
 
Re: Paint vs Polish

After a decade of owning/caring for a polished Swift, I finally threw in the towel in 2016..and sold my Cyclo polisher earlier this year. When I was on a paved airport in a relatively dry location, keeping it polished was easier, but still lots of work. When I ended up on a grass strip with a small river to the north and a wetlands to the east, keeping it looking decent was a pain chore.

I have vowed to never again own a polished airplane. My RV-4 is painted with Imron which is so much easier to maintain. I can clean it up and having it looking like new in 30 minutes vs 30 hours of polish, not to mention the expense of Nuvite and polishers. :D
 
I enjoyed the polished look and weight/cost savings with only two noticeable gripes:
1. On bright sunny days the reflection off the wing shined perfectly into the cockpit with associated temperature increase.
2. Living in FL required monthly polishing touch ups to avoid corrosion.
I can confirm. Mind you, i'm living in the Pacific Northwe(s)t, but still. My wife refers to flying in the -6 as "riding in an Easy-Bake(tm) oven." I never had one but I remember the TV commercials from when I was a kid.

Regular polish touch-ups are needed to maintain the finish, and it becomes a chore after about year 5. I've had mine for 7 years now and for the last 4 have been considering paint or wrap...
 
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