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Painting question

R

rgmwa

Well Known Member
This is a trivial kind of question, and one that has obviously been solved thousands of times before, but it's been puzzling me for a while.

What's the best way to paint panels that are held on with screws, like the panel that covers the instrument bay, or the exposed screw heads in the canopy frame. Do you paint with the screws in place so the heads get painted (leaving a small bare patch underneath the head) and probably damage the paint the first time you take the screw out, or take the screws out, paint the panel separately and then somehow paint (or not) the screw heads to match?
 
i've heard, and it sounds reasonable...

...that before you paint, you unscrew the screws about one to two turns, enough to expose the metal under them, and paint. that way you get the screws painted and the surface under them as well...
 
Right or wrong, I evaluated each set of screws for if I thought I would need to remove them during the likely life of the paintjob.

If they were on something like an inspection panel, I removed them, then painted the panel. If they were on a permanent or semi-permanent assembly (like the fuel tanks or canopy), I painted over them.
 
You may be quite correct, but it seems to me that when you tighten them back the screw would squish out the paint and mess the surface around the screw. I have been pondering the same thing.

don.olandese said:
...that before you paint, you unscrew the screws about one to two turns, enough to expose the metal under them, and paint. that way you get the screws painted and the surface under them as well...
Click to expand...
 
For me, any panel that is attached with screws get removed from the aircraft and painted separately. This allows the edges of the panel to get painted.

I have found that if you just back out a screw and hope to get the paint under the head or into the countersink area, well, it creates some additional problems. The first is that the screw head will create a shadow area under the head and paint (or primer) will not be applied with the same texture as areas outside the zone of influence. Then, if you try and apply more paint to those areas, the paint density becomes significantly different and not attractive when compared to adjacent areas.

As Kyle posted, if there is a slim chance that a screw will ever be removed, then paint over it.
 
A bunch of use must be at about the same place.....me thinks I'll paint access panels without fasteners tight (paint under fasteners); then substitute kit fasteners with black button head (Allen heads)...and use thin nylon/plastic washers under neath to protect paint. That's my plan for now anyway...
 
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Here is what I do. For this example let's say the screws holding an inspection panel are in question.

I totally remove most of the screws and loosen the remaining ones. If you want your screws heads painted the remove them all and use trash screws to hold the panel. Place the screws you want to paint into a small cardboard box and paint.

or

If the goal is to paint the lip underneath the inspection panel then you need to remove it. Mask the opening from the inside. Tape the inspection panel to a stir stick. That gives you a handle so you don't touch the panel while painting.


Hope this helps
 
Thanks guys..

I think what I'll do is:

1. Inspection / removable panels are taken off and painted separately.
2. Canopy screws are removed temporarily while the skirt is painted - hopefully without the canopy falling out.
3. Rear window gets installed after painting.
4. Any screws that I want painted are held in holes drilled into a sheet of ply or thick cardboard so all the heads can be painted in a single batch (with spares).
5. Round head screws get a plastic washer to protect the painted surface.
 
Hope this helps. When painting screws, be careful not to get too much paint in the screw slots. Ask me how I know...:)

I wish I had a photo of the white or red screws but this is all I could find.

11awvb4.jpg
 
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