Aircraft paint prices 2019-2020

[Snowmass]

First it is often not required to strip old paint that is just faded but not peeling. It makes a good base coat. Second there may well be private air strips like mine not far away with a hangar you can rent. A local A&P rented mine and re-sprayed his Mooney in a day just this way. Many planes down here have been painted in ordinary hangars not dust free; you just wet down the floor prior to spraying. I never took a course on painting but I can read the instructions and almost any auto supply house has books on DIY painting. On the other hand I live in a rural area where self reliance is a matter of necessity and pride so maybe the country is just to citified. I painted both the car and plane in that foto saving many, many thousands of dollars for a few days work. Pays a lot better than engineering work. (DIY pays no income tax.)

 

[Doc Holliday]

Spraying over old paint adds weight to the aircraft. Also, depending upon the process, some newer paints don't react well with older paints.

Spraying in a hangar with a wet floor? Yep, you're adding humidity, which can cause different effects to the paint. And no matter how much you wet the floor, you are still going to get trash in the paint job.

A DIY paint job in a dusty wet floor hangar will look just like that, a DIY paintjob.

 

[bluerooster]

This discussion makes we wonder about forum posters. Are you guys all too old to try something new in life? The advantages of DIY painting are huge yet no one seems to even show interest. For example many will take on building an entire kit plane which is vastly more time consuming but a few weeks painting your own plane seems out of the question even though you could use your A&P and a local auto painter to help you. It s really not that difficult.

May I refer you to post #28? DIY for certian.

 

[bluerooster]

I guess it depends, I’ve seen some poor quality paint jobs...some by so called professionals. I expect them to do a better job than me.
First you have to properly strip the paint, which includes cleaning off the chemicals.
Second you have to paint in a dust free environment, that’s definitely not going to be my hangar.
My AP tried painting a new piece of sheet metal on the tail, after 2 tries he called in a friend who was a professional to do it.

It took me a lot longer (and more work) than I thought it would to just strip and paint my engine mount.

Tom

Tubular structure, n matter how small, are a total PITA to strip and paint.

 

[Snowmass]

Spraying over old paint adds weight to the aircraft. Also, depending upon the process, some newer paints don't react well with older paints.

Spraying in a hangar with a wet floor? Yep, you're adding humidity, which can cause different effects to the paint. And no matter how much you wet the floor, you are still going to get trash in the paint job.

A DIY paint job in a dusty wet floor hangar will look just like that, a DIY paintjob.

Just because you can't paint doesn't mean I can't paint. You are so jealous. Adds weight? To a C-210D? Since IO have been to 23,000' NA I gues I coul live with a few more pounds.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Just because you can't paint doesn't mean I can't paint. You are so jealous. Adds weight? To a C-210D? Since IO have been to 23,000' NA I gues I coul live with a few more pounds.

I've painted metal aircraft and fabric aircraft, as well as a couple of helicopters and several parts, so yes, I'm familiar with the painting process.

And you're being foolish if you don't think painting over existing paint doesn't add weight.

And why should I be jealous of a shade tree mechanic?

 

[bnt83]

The little Vans RVs are anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds of exterior paint on vansairforce

 

[Stewartb]

Tubular structure, n matter how small, are a total PITA to strip and paint.

Sandblast, phosphatize, and powder coat. Even my 2’ extended Cub fit into the oven. You can’t duplicate that at home.

These weight added reports sure sound high. A coating of a couple of mils should be easy to calculate, not that I’ve ever tried. 20-30 pounds on an RV? that’s hard to believe.

The total weight of medium fabric with glue, tapes, stitching, coatings, and paint on a Cub is about 50#. That includes things like fabric filler and several cross coats of silver coating as well as top coating with a couple of cross coats of finish paint. A heavy fabric job is about 70# total.

 

[Snowmass]

I've painted metal aircraft and fabric aircraft, as well as a couple of helicopters and several parts, so yes, I'm familiar with the painting process.

And you're being foolish if you don't think painting over existing paint doesn't add weight.

And why should I be jealous of a shade tree mechanic?

Did you dare to paint in just a hangar? And I am not a shade tree mechanic because I am not even a mechanic just a farm boy which is even better. Of course paint adds weight so maybe just strip and leave bare. And by painting myself I added lots and lots of weight to my bank account which probably makes you even more jealous.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Did you dare to paint in just a hangar?

No, I was smart enough to set up a paint booth because I wanted a quality job.

And I am not a shade tree mechanic because I am not even a mechanic just a farm boy which is even better.

I'm sure your workmanship reflects that as well.

Of course paint adds weight so maybe just strip and leave bare.

So why paint over existing paint and add even more weight?

And by painting myself I added lots and lots of weight to my bank account which probably makes you even more jealous.

Not sure where all these "jealous" comments are coming from. I'm hardly jealous of a shade tree mechanic with an airplane that has a 50 foot paint job* on it.

(* looks great 50 feet away)

 

[MooneyDriver78]

The other problem with painting over old paint, is usually the old paint has started to flake or corrosion is occurring, if you paint over the old paint even if good today, it’s only a matter of time when the old paint underneath starts having issues as well.
You have to strip, you have to properly clean stripper chemicals off, properly prime it. Once you have done all that, the painting process is probably the easiest part. Not to mention removing control surfaces, rebalancing, etc.


Tom

 

[kyleb]

Did you dare to paint in just a hangar? And I am not a shade tree mechanic because I am not even a mechanic just a farm boy which is even better. Of course paint adds weight so maybe just strip and leave bare. And by painting myself I added lots and lots of weight to my bank account which probably makes you even more jealous.

Inferiority complex often?

 

[Radar Contact]

The other problem with painting over old paint, is usually the old paint has started to flake or corrosion is occurring, if you paint over the old paint even if good today, it’s only a matter of time when the old paint underneath starts having issues as well.
You have to strip, you have to properly clean stripper chemicals off, properly prime it. Once you have done all that, the painting process is probably the easiest part. Not to mention removing control surfaces, rebalancing, etc.


Tom

Amen. My planes last paint job looked okay when I bought it. After flying through rain over the last 3 years, the paint (that was a paint over cheap job) is coming off in sheets. It started as a nice 5 foot paint job and in a short 3 years became a 50 foot paint job. I'm very excited to be having it currently stripped by solid professionals (saving the weight from 2 full paint jobs), gone over with a fine tooth comb for any possible corrosion, having minor cosmetic issues fixed right, having it fully alodined for additional corrosion protection, vortex generators installed, primed and custom painted in a quality booth with all the control surfaces being appropriately balanced/rigged and re-installed.

This will last me for the rest of my flying with her.

 

[Snowmass]

I painted my C-210 in 1981 and the Imron is still quite good.

 

[jbDC9]

Spraying in a hangar with a wet floor? Yep, you're adding humidity, which can cause different effects to the paint. And no matter how much you wet the floor, you are still going to get trash in the paint job.

A DIY paint job in a dusty wet floor hangar will look just like that, a DIY paintjob.

Yep! Years ago I had my RV-8 painted at an upstart paint shop in central Texas. The guy was a custom car painter and was branching out into airplanes; from looking at a couple of his previous jobs he did nice work. Problem was, when I signed up he didn’t have a proper paint shop or booth set up yet. My base coat white was sprayed in a crappy old T hangar with a wetted floor... and it looks like crap. Dust and crud in the base coat, plus lots of drips and runs. To me it’s a 20 foot paint job. Eh, someday I’ll get it stripped and repainted at a proper shop. It’s only money right?

 

[Snowmass]

As usual a country hick beats the self appointed pro. This foto is recent. I have painted many cars in my crappy non-T hangar with a wetted floor saving tens of thousands of 2019 dollars. Maybe YOU should have painted your plane.

 

[schmookeeg]

This discussion makes we wonder about forum posters. Are you guys all too old to try something new in life? The advantages of DIY painting are huge yet no one seems to even show interest. For example many will take on building an entire kit plane which is vastly more time consuming but a few weeks painting your own plane seems out of the question even though you could use your A&P and a local auto painter to help you. It s really not that difficult.

What an odd thing to crow about. "Huffing paint fumes and having my hands chemical-burned by paint stripper while doing manual labor in pursuit of a mediocre product to save a few thousand dollars" is hardly on my "try something new in life" list.

 

[Snowmass]

Very interesting. I have never chemically burnt my hands stripping but I have heard of rubber gloves and to save the $20,000 dollars I would need to earn to pay for having someone else do my painting for me is easily worth my 3 weeks of work. This is the annualized equivalent of over $350,000 taxable per year. Beats hand digging a septic tank. And I did not need to take my plane anywhere and could keep on flying it flying until the last week or so. So my speculation that most posters are too old to want to learn new things if they are difficult seems to be right. I was hoping that at least one poster might have actually painted his own plane or would at least be inspired to try.

Keep up the attacks. It's a rainy day here so you do keep me entertained since not much else to do. Next?

 

[MooneyDriver78]

My plane is too valuable to experiment on. I already have a 25’ paint job, I don’t want another one.


Tom

 

[Snowmass]

Learn to do it right. Is this so shocking? I wouldn't cost much to have a good, local automotive painter teach you. My REAL Mooney survived my painting.

 

[1RTK1]

Don’t think he was huffing Imron, that stuff isn’t good for you.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Don’t think he was huffing Imron, that stuff isn’t good for you.

He's been huffing something.............just saying.

 

[Bell206]

He's been huffing something.............just saying.

Or he's a reincarnation of the all seeing Carnac the Magnificent....

 

[Datadriver]

I spent less than $1000 to spray 2 coats of primer on my Velocity kitplane.

- I did it next to a recently harvested corn field
- I did it outside
- had some overspray issues; sanded it off and did it again
- did not have any bugs bond to the surface; I used thin coats

It took 400 hours to prep the surface.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

It took 400 hours to prep the surface.

1. Now imagine it’s an 40 year old plane, with aluminum and fiberglass surfaces that you have to strip, sand , and repair.
2. A measure of a quality paint job is how it looks 10 years or more down the road, from close up. I’m sure mine looked good in a photograph too, still does if I keep my distance. I have tried to keep touching it up, which has become a full time job.

This is why I would never buy a plane recently painted, unless it’s a well known shop, and even then I would have reservations. And never buy without inspecting it first hand.


Tom

 

[jbgood8]

The guy I got my Bonanza from is no longer with us.... I wish I knew what he paid Poplawski to paint the plane. It is pretty fabulous, done in 2005 and it looks like it was painted yesterday. I am pretty sure they are not cheap.
Point of the story. If you want high quality I highly recommendView attachment 80767 View attachment 80768 View attachment 80769 them!

best looking bonanza ever! congrats pigpin

 

[Groundpounder]

I painted my C-210 in 1981 and the Imron is still quite good.View attachment 81291

Are those press on mailbox numbers for the N-Number?

 

[Snowmass]

No, they are press on numbers purchased from an aviation supply but do no remember which one. It's been a long time but, as you can see, still in perfect condition.

 

[n2230b]

Progress on 40W.

 

[n2230b]

Further progress N4640W paint/zinc chromate layers.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Are they painting in a community hangar? I’m glad they covered the multimillion dollar jet fuselage but it looks like they didn’t cover the wings?

 

[EdFred]

Based on pictures we now at least know where he is getting it painted.

Okeechobee County if anyone was interested in the secret paint shop.

 

[n2230b]

Are they painting in a community hangar? I’m glad they covered the multimillion dollar jet fuselage but it looks like they didn’t cover the wings?

I think that is a multimillion $ plastic cover job, (jobs). I will post if I have overspray when the finish.

 

[n2230b]

Based on pictures we now at least know where he is getting it painted.

Okeechobee County if anyone was interested in the secret paint shop.

WAIT.....


WHAT??!!??

Is that a.....NANNY, NANNY, BOO, BOO??!!


Eddie.... Did you just ...NANNY, NANNY, BOO, BOO Moi??!!?

?..Inspector Cluseau! The Wizard of the Ages! Sherlock farking Holmes!!!

You are killing me man, too much free time!

In the interest of the coming New Year and for the Love of Aviation, I extend to you an olive branch. Lets start over again and be friends. When you asked for the name of the shop after my OP, they had not even cashed my deposit check. You really could have been a bit more patient and less quick to go to the slurs and epithets. This is not my first or only forum. I did not think it was a good idea to discuss on a public forum very expensive work that I have commissioned and is even now far from complete. I don’t think it is a good idea to discuss my particular incomplete project now.

Regardless, I don’t want to engage in silliness on this forum.
Won’t you be my Neighbor?

Sincerely wishing you a prosperous and happy a New Year.

 

[brien23]

For those who believe a few chips in the paint and a little paint fade do not lower the price of a used plane it's a learning experience. Just buff it out does not work all the time and you soon figure out why a good paint job on a plane adds to the value. Just how hard could it be to paint a airplane, till you do one you have no idea of what you are getting into. Nothing is impossible for the person that does not have to do it.

 

[Doc Holliday]

For those who believe a few chips in the paint and a little paint fade do not lower the price of a used plane it's a learning experience. Just buff it out does not work all the time and you soon figure out why a good paint job on a plane adds to the value. Just how hard could it be to paint a airplane, till you do one you have no idea of what you are getting into. Nothing is impossible for the person that does not have to do it.

Yeabut all you need is a drafty dirty old hangar with a wet floor and some sandpaper............................. Save thousands!

 

[kyleb]

For those who believe a few chips in the paint and a little paint fade do not lower the price of a used plane it's a learning experience. Just buff it out does not work all the time and you soon figure out why a good paint job on a plane adds to the value. Just how hard could it be to paint a airplane, till you do one you have no idea of what you are getting into. Nothing is impossible for the person that does not have to do it.

This. Doing it right is a huge amount of work. I've never repainted an airplane, but I did paint my RV-6. The amount of prep work to paint a brand new airplane without decades of wear on it was monumental. Then add in the process of stripping the existing paint, repairing and cleaning up old plastic and fiberglass, just as the prep portion, and the amount of work to get ready to paint is daunting. After that, you still have to do a good job of paint prep and application so the paint adheres and looks good, then you have the detail work involved in applying whatever trim you're going to use. Finally, you have to reassemble the airplane without beating the crap out of your new paint.

This is why it costs a small fortune if you want to pay for the service.

Given appropriate facilities, it is certainly something an individual can do, but it isn't "scuff sand and spray another coat" if you're going for a long term solution.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

When you asked for the name of the shop after my OP, they had not even cashed my deposit check. You really could have been a bit more patient and less quick to go to the slurs and epithets. This is not my first or only forum. I did not think it was a good idea to discuss on a public forum very expensive work that I have commissioned and is even now far from complete. I don’t think it is a good idea to discuss my particular incomplete project now.

They are on my short list of places to call when I pull the trigger, I very much would like a PIREP when job is complete...PM if you want it to remain private.
TIA

Tom

 

[Polarisguy]

The guy I got my Bonanza from is no longer with us.... I wish I knew what he paid Poplawski to paint the plane. It is pretty fabulous, done in 2005 and it looks like it was painted yesterday. I am pretty sure they are not cheap.
Point of the story. If you want high quality I highly recommendView attachment 80767 View attachment 80768 View attachment 80769 them!

Great paint job. Looks like you did the mods to bring it up to V35. Is it really an ‘Me?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[pigpenracing]

Great paint job. Looks like you did the mods to bring it up to V35. Is it really an ‘Me?


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It basically has every Mod you can do to a M35. It has the 300hp IO-550 and the awesome D’shannon panel. I also have a V35B in the hangar.
My M is a much better plane in my opinion. Lighter, faster and just a better flying airplane.