Brushing instead of spraying

I'm not setup well at all to spray paint the interior of my plane. The masking, the space, the ventilation - ugh. I'm planning to use SW Industrial water-based epoxy that is pretty thick, and would have to be seriously thinned to spray anyway. I sprayed the cross-piece behind the seats (in the yard) before I installed it to see how the paint performs and it was a challenge to spray. It is an excellent coating though. Eggshell finish, super durable, sticks to old AKZO no problem.

Has anyone brushed the interior of their plane? I was going to try a section of the side that will end up behind the panel and see how that looks but was curious about other experiences, tips, brushes, technique, etc...... before I decide I'm overthinking and just do it!

I might end up spraying if the test patch looks awful.....

I'm sure someone has done it, but in 22 (?) years in the RV community, I've never heard of it.

Before I did that, I'd consider a rattle can interior paint job. It is very possible to do a good and long lasting interior paint job that way.

Given your location in the South, why not pick a warm weekend afternoon and pull the fuselage out of the shop and into the yard to squirt the paint(regardless of the paint system you choose). That way you won't need to worry much about the fumes. I did mine that way 15+ years ago and it turned out very nice. The key is (and was) to get all of the dust out of the interior before you begin shooting paint, or you'll end up with a lot of contamination.

Yes, I have used a brush, and a roller, to apply interior paint. As crazy as it sounds, Tremclad rolls on very nicely and can produce a flawless finish. The trick is, the interior of an airplane typically has lots of nooks and crannies that require a brush, or a spray paint, to reach. A foam brush works pretty well if you are careful. Neither brush nor roller produce as good a finish as spray.

If you want a flat gloss level and then want to apply 'texture' to produce a speckled look, brushed on latex paint can work very well, then spray on an extremely light coat of any one of the "stone finish" paints found in rattle cans in the hardware store.

I know of an entire plane brush painted and I could not recommend it.

Believe it or not, we had a RV-3 in our group where the owner painted the entire airplane with a roller and latex house paint. From 5 feet, it didn't look bad. I wouldn't recommend it obviously, but for primer or interior paint, it is a viable option I would think.

I have to admit, I'm strongly considering a roll-on paint job. I absolutely suck with spraypaint (rattle can, HVLP, or otherwise). My priming job inside covers everything but it's embarrassing with the runs and splotchiness.

I'm not building a showplane and I'm okay with a twenty foot finish. But I simply can't afford $8-10k for a professional job.

rmartingt said:

I have to admit, I'm strongly considering a roll-on paint job. I absolutely suck with spraypaint (rattle can, HVLP, or otherwise). My priming job inside covers everything but it's embarrassing with the runs and splotchiness.

I'm not building a showplane and I'm okay with a twenty foot finish. But I simply can't afford $8-10k for a professional job.

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If you have an appropriate space for spraying, there are plenty of folks nearby who could get you started on the right foot.

Dont do it

rmartingt said:

I have to admit, I'm strongly considering a roll-on paint job. I absolutely suck with spraypaint (rattle can, HVLP, or otherwise). My priming job inside covers everything but it's embarrassing with the runs and splotchiness.

I'm not building a showplane and I'm okay with a twenty foot finish. But I simply can't afford $8-10k for a professional job.

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When i was 18 i was a spaz (some say still am) i couldnt draw a straight line (still cant). But i learned to spray good enough. I had a friend teach me when i was working overhauling DC6 generators. It took me an hour to learn the signs when the paint was about to flow, and half hour more to keep from putting on too much. I have been practicing with primer and think i might be able to paint the plane. I would suggest you buy an autobody painter lunch and spend a few hours with him and then decide.

If you plan to install full interior panels, there isn't much metal actually visible. So you could roll most of the interior metal. But I wouldn't use that treatment on any instrument or control panel surfaces.

Only caution on rattle can interiors is- they look great until all those paint chips start showing up. Use a good robust paint.

When I sprayed the finish paint on the crosspiece I found that when it went on it was splotchy like a french impressionist painting. This was because even thinned to the max as recc by SW the gun didn't really want to send it through the tip.

After a week of curing the surface smoothed out and it looks really good. So I think I could force my way through the spraying process; its just so tempting to brush it and not have the masking and spraying hassle. I think that the paint will level pretty well if I don't work it too much with the brush. Not really sure.

So what I'm going to do is brush the cockpit that is somewhat visible to the pilot/passenger but up by the feet or behind the panel. And the floor pan that is likely to have a carpet on it. So it won't get a close look. If it looks pretty good then I'll do the rest same way. If it isn't so hot nobody will ever know because it won't be visible or well lit in general. At the least this will keep me from having to spray 2-3 times. With the fwd-most portions painted (hard to see really), then I can put the brakes, flap hardware, panel assembly, and roll bar in. Then I should only have to shoot paint once and not have to worry about the hard to reach areas.

I didn't want to spray the interior, then have to spray the sub panel and side rails, and then have to spray the rollbar. I also don't want a layer of paint between my parts when a layer of primer is sufficient.