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Stewart System Waterborne Poly

RV8R999

Well Known Member
This paint system looks like a great alternative for garage painting an airplane. Has anyone actually used it? How has the paint held up?
 
This paint system looks like a great alternative for garage painting an airplane. Has anyone actually used it? How has the paint held up?


There are a lot of people sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if the Stewart products hold up over time. Seemingly nobody wants to be the "first guy on the block" to use them.

The problem is that very few people have used the products, and there are few, if any, customer aircraft out there with 10-15 year old paint jobs.

It's a real catch-22.
 
That is what I thought..

I'm going to use it. Squadron colors of Royal Blue and Gold trim in Carrier Air Wing theme.
 
I used it

But my plane is only 2 years old. I'm not worried about how it will hold up, it still looks the same as when I painted it. I believe it's been around for a while, used on fabric planes.
Be sure to discuss your proposed colors with Dan. Their blues are quite translucent. If you are going to use them for any large areas, you will need excellent painting skills. My skills are nowhere near that, so I ended up using Imron for my blue areas.
The technique for the Stewart paint is very different than 'regular' automotive paint. Ask for the video they have that shows how to set up the gun and spray technique.
 
Here's mine...

100% Stewart Systems (no, I'm not related to them). I painted in my shop using a basic Campbell Hausfield compressor with one disposable water filter on the gun. Stewart Systems recommends the Defilbris HVLP gun with 1.3mm tip. Sells for about $120 in any auto body store or on-line.
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I won't say that my paint job is superb. It's good enough to make me happy, but I had to figure out the usual beginner problems - orange peel, runs, etc. Not as difficult as you might think. I spent $850 for the paint, $20 for a digital postal scale, and $120 for the spray gun. Probably another $300 in masking paper, painters fine line tape and lots of masking tape. I used three colors - Idaho Snow, Maroon, and Dawn Grey. It took about 2 months to spray the entire plane. I painted prior to first flight.
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I used their primer/sealer in a garage under the bedroom, simple home built fan in the window and some plastic drop cloth as a pseudo booth with no comments from the rest of the family. Easy to use. I painted the interior of the cockpit with the two part gray. Dries hard as nails and I've really tried to scratch it as I did all the wiring. If I decided to try the outside of the aircraft myself, its the product I'll use, for sure.

Charlie Becker
N464CB(r) 8A(es)
Finishing Wiring
 
I used stewarts and the thing I found was use only black sharpies on the paint the blue wants to soak into the paint and stain it, hard to get off.
 
I have used it and was not very happy with the results. I used my tried and true HVLP turbine system, that has done about 12 other, more successful paint jobs. I bought the needle set recommended by Stewart, and tried to utilize their advice as much as possible. Just didn't turn out very good.

I won't use it again, because I can get a good job with other products. If you use it, and I'm not saying "don't", buy the Finishline III or comparable compressed air gun like they recommend. That's the only thing I can think of to do differently for a better result.
 
I used it for the cockpit. Followed their instructions, but sprayed too fast and didn't get enough paint on it for the last coat, so it didn't flow out as it should. That was a good mistake, because it gave me a little bit of an orange peel appearance and won't be as reflective as it might have been. So I am happy with it, but if I were to paint the whole plane I would want more practice.

Stewart used to be some other brand (AFS?) and I don't know how long they existed, but at least the product has been around for awhile.

The Navy tested water based finishes and found them to hold up as well in thier salty environment as their other paints. Probably not Stewart's product, but at least the concept of water based paint can work.
 
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