A Painting Question

Can I get away using plastic sheeting instead of heavy masking paper when using 2-part epoxy primer and then Aerothane paint (a polyeurathane) or would either of those two "melt" the plastic sheeting? I tried acetone and it did no harm. What do you think? (I would use heavy duty masking paper except it comes in BIG rolls and is not available locally.)

wouldn't risk it

I'm not a pro painter, but I did paint my RV-6. My advice: It's really easy to be penny-wise and pound-foolish with paint. Get a roll of the right stuff that's designed for polyurethane paints (i.e. NOT just butcher paper or generic masking paper). You can order it online from paint supply houses, or if you are anywhere near civilization you should be able to find an autobody supply store to sell it to you.

Good Luck!

-Jordan

You can use plastic. It does attract dust though. To keep the dust down put a strip of paper next to the area you are going to paint next. On RVs I only use paper myself due to the size of the airplane. It doesn't take me long to mask the whole airplane. When I doing airliners you had to use plastic. Paper would just take to long.

Found Some !

Against all odds, I found some heavy masking paper and bought a large roll of it...must of have been the only roll in the county ! Gettings things is a bit of a challenge when you live out in the sticks. Thanks for the above replies. I will use the plastic sheeting for general coverage well away from where I am spraying something. Thanks for the information.

I'm in the process of doing a very basic paint job. I'm using plastic, and would not do so again. while I am not having problems with paint getting thru the plastic, I have had several occaisons where the previous paint would flake off when I went by on the next coat, putting dried flakes of primer into my wet paint.

Just another learning curve.....sigh

I agree with Dave. Amateur painter me just repainted my plane and used plastic sheeting. The paint drys and flakes off in teeny tiny pieces that on the second day of painting created some oopsies. I like the idea of using paper next to the painting area but plastic further away. It's much easier to just throw a plastic drop cloth over the wings when working on the fuselage and uses a whole lot less tape.

I found a drop sheet at Lowe's/Home Depot which is in effect paper on one side and plastic on other. Worked well for large areas with paper side out.

Ken