Cheapest way to paint an airplane?

Henning said:
You can save yourself a bunch of money if you do 90% of the stripping before you bring it to them. Just stay away from around the windows and cover them with a good cling film. Eldorado was a cheap and very effective stripper, just keep lemonade on hand to drink and pour on your skin to neutralize stripper burns.
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BTDT - an awful , time consuming job. Never again. However, I saved about half the cost going that way.

Dave
 
cessna182b said:
BTDT - an awful , time consuming job. Never again. However, I saved about half the cost going that way.

Dave
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:lol: Yep, it's miserable as ****, that's why shops can charge so much for it.:yes: You can hire cheap help at Home Depot and turn them loose with a brush and plastic scraper on big areas.
 
murphey said:
And weighing the plane after is pretty well required
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That's really up to the customer. About the biggest difference I've noticed on a ~25,000 pound (empty) jet is around 75 pounds. They use a LOT of primer and paint on these too. Sometimes they lose a few pounds. Sometimes they gain. Scale error and jacking practices may be a contributing factor but these are weighed three times and averaged to generate a new empty weight report.

(I process about 200 jackpoint weighs a year)
 
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One thing you might consider during full repaint is removing all the antennas and addressing hidden corrosion issues. Then of course, some antennas are corroded bad enough to replace.
 
GlennAB1 said:
Use a roller, that's what we are sometimes forced to do, due to EPA constraints.
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I have been rolling and tipping Awl Grip products using their Brushing Reducer for decades with glass smooth results, even large areas. Doing spray repairs on a yacht is a major PITA.
 
bnt83 said:
One thing you might consider during full repaint is removing all the antennas and addressing hidden corrosion issues. Then of course, some antennas are corroded bad enough to replace.
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Also, while you are at it, get rid of as many antennas as possible.
 
Well

Code: 
Sell your airplane and buy one that doesn't need to be painted

I don't own the plane it is a purchase consideration.
 
bflynn said:
Jay, I'm not sure letting your imagination run wild is a safe idea. Who knows what might come out of it...

Interesting on the vinyl wrap. Are there any known problems? Why isn't every plane "painted" this way?
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All of the special livery airliners are wrapped.
 
Matthews aviation in Yerington, NV does really nice work if you are willing to hop over the mountains.
 
I have seen some really nice paint jobs come out of Wikenburg Az. One of the Paris Jets I worked on was painted there. I believe their prices were good if the owners told me what the real price was.
 
I've heard that vinyl wraps do not protect against future corrosion.
 
Make sure you know what level of work is included in the price. Some shops will deal with minor dings as part of the price, others will charge you extra for all the 'repairs'.
 
Blueangel said:
I've heard that vinyl wraps do not protect against future corrosion.
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The parts in Van's kits are vinyl wrapped. Conventional wisdom among builders is to remove that vinyl ASAP to avoid corrosion under the wrap. People who don't often (anecdotal - no supporting numbers) get corrosion under the wrap. My thought is that on a finished airplane, you need to apply a corrosion proofing process (alodine+primer+topcoat), then add vinyl graphics for trim. That is what Cessna does.
 
Cheap and paint are not two words that go together if you want the job to last and look good. It is just expensive to do it right and well. BTDT
 
Henning said:
I have been rolling and tipping Awl Grip products using their Brushing Reducer for decades with glass smooth results, even large areas. Doing spray repairs on a yacht is a major PITA.
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I've only done it once, but I was surprised how well the brush applied waterline looked - you couldn't really tell the difference between it and the rest of the hull. Awl Grip really does flow and level nicely.
 
I wonder if Herculiner (bed liner) would work? lol

I just remodeled the laundry room at the hotel, and, after much head scratching and careful consideration, I did the floor with three gallons of Herculiner over new plywood. It's as close to indestructible as anything I know, is flexible, non-slip, easy to clean, completely waterproof, and if it gets gouged you just dab on a little more.

And it's got texture, so not only would it look bad-ass, it would give your plane "shark skin aerodynamics", supposedly the hot new thing in fast airplanes. :)
 
Jay Honeck said:
I wonder if Herculiner (bed liner) would work? lol

I just remodeled the laundry room at the hotel, and, after much head scratching and careful consideration, I did the floor with three gallons of Herculiner over new plywood. It's as close to indestructible as anything I know, is flexible, non-slip, easy to clean, completely waterproof, and if it gets gouged you just dab on a little more.

And it's got texture, so not only would it look bad-ass, it would give your plane "shark skin aerodynamics", supposedly the hot new thing in fast airplanes. :)
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Too heavy, but I used to get the Rhinoliner guy down to do work boat decks.
 
I debated using lineX (seems the best out of the bed liners) for step grips, after thinking it over for a while, it's overkill and a pain in the butt, just go with the standard issue randolf wing walk

I wonder how much weight (not to even imagine drag) it would add doing a entire 172 in bed liner, they spray that stuff on THICK.
 
James331 said:
I debated using lineX (seems the best out of the bed liners) for step grips, after thinking it over for a while, it's overkill and a pain in the butt, just go with the standard issue randolf wing walk

I wonder how much weight (not to even imagine drag) it would add doing a entire 172 in bed liner, they spray that stuff on THICK.
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I've gone to using the polyurethane products for non skid on steps and ladders, and I wrap it around the corners. I find there is much less bleeding involved when people slip.
 
For surfaces you step on, just paint it and put small amount sand on it (and another coat of paint). Wipline does this with the tops of its floats. Works great.
 
Why not just spray paint the area on the top canopy after treating it for corrosion and then remove the cowl and spray paint that for cheap until I can spend the 12K for the whole strip and paint in a year or two? That looks to be the best short term low cost method.
 
Blueangel said:
Why not just spray paint the area on the top canopy after treating it for corrosion and then remove the cowl and spray paint that for cheap until I can spend the 12K for the whole strip and paint in a year or two? That looks to be the best short term low cost method.
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No problem spot repairing areas, considering how poorly paint adheres to aluminum, it a process most planes under go a couple of times between paint jobs. Really the aluminum doesn't mind being left bare either, it's just ugly when it's patchy and not polished.
 
I saw a picture some time ago where a guy painted his whole BMW with a Sharpie it looked really cool I can't imagine it held up.:dunno:

Found it looks like there is a Lamborghini now too!

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I had my sonex painted by a business that did custom autobody work. We had lots of talk about prep, weight, sanding, etc. They posted daily pictures of the progress on their Facebook page and had me stop by to review the masking lines once they laid them down. Total cost was a little over $5000. With that being said I had another auto painter that was supposed to do the plane. He took three months just to to the wings and the quality was horrible. There were runs all over the place, dirt in the paint, and if you put masking tape over the accent colors the paint pulled up off the underlying white because they didn't scuff or do any prep between colors. I pulled the plug on that guy and ended up having to strip the wings back to metal. The point is that you can get a good deal using an auto painter but you have to be careful who you choose.

Keith
 
kmacht said:
I had my sonex painted by a business that did custom autobody work. We had lots of talk about prep, weight, sanding, etc. They posted daily pictures of the progress on their Facebook page and had me stop by to review the masking lines once they laid them down. Total cost was a little over $5000. With that being said I had another auto painter that was supposed to do the plane. He took three months just to to the wings and the quality was horrible. There were runs all over the place, dirt in the paint, and if you put masking tape over the accent colors the paint pulled up off the underlying white because they didn't scuff or do any prep between colors. I pulled the plug on that guy and ended up having to strip the wings back to metal. The point is that you can get a good deal using an auto painter but you have to be careful who you choose.

Keith
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Indeed.

It's all in the applicator.
 
It's a mega job if done right.

We as owners don't see the process when we drop them off and then pick them up all shiney and new.

A proper paint booth setup can run into the hundreds of thousands with evacuation fans, positive pressure areas, and environmental mitigation.
 
MotoFlier said:
I saw a picture some time ago where a guy painted his whole BMW with a Sharpie it looked really cool I can't imagine it held up.:dunno:

Found it looks like there is a Lamborghini now too!

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Terrible idea. Sharpie comes off easy and fades fast. If those guys ever start washing those cars, or leaving them outside, they will seriously regret it. To preserve this work, these cars need to be kept indoors and UV protected 24/7. They also need to be protected against skanky women like the one in the photos.
 
Blueangel said:
Well

Code: 
Sell your airplane and buy one that doesn't need to be painted

I don't own the plane it is a purchase consideration.
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Then buy it cheap and don't paint it.... Then when you want a pretty one to fly sell it and replace.

The cost of paint is just like radios and most anything else on an airplane. The cost of doing the work is not a 100% transfer to the value of the airplane. Buy what you want, its way cheaper than buying something less and fixing it up to be what you want.
 
Dav8or said:
Terrible idea. Sharpie comes off easy and fades fast. If those guys ever start washing those cars, or leaving them outside, they will seriously regret it. To preserve this work, these cars need to be kept indoors and UV protected 24/7. They also need to be protected against skanky women like the one in the photos.
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You can also shoot over it with a coat of clear with UV filters.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Then buy it cheap and don't paint it.... Then when you want a pretty one to fly sell it and replace.

The cost of paint is just like radios and most anything else on an airplane. The cost of doing the work is not a 100% transfer to the value of the airplane. Buy what you want, its way cheaper than buying something less and fixing it up to be what you want.
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This is exactly it. You only repaint a plane if the plane is your pride and joy and you want it to be the way you want it and don't care about the money. Just like avionics, glass panels, all new interiors, speed mods, etc. The full cost of these is never reflected in the resale value, so if you're putting a $12-15k paint job on a Cherokee 140, you had better really like that Cherokee and plane to keep it a good long while.

Personally, if the OP's plane is not exactly pride and joy, but can't be tolerated as is, then I would opt to just patch up the existing paint here and there where it's needed. It's something I need to do to as there is no 5 figure paint work in my plane's future anytime soon.
 
True it is either pay now or pay later for airplane ownership costs :)
 
Careful with buying aircraft with fresh paintjobs. There are lots of corners you can cut and a poorly done paintjob that covered over corrosion damage is going to be worse than no paintjob at all. If you buy a freshly painted plane, have someone who knows paint inspect it to tell you whether this was a quick spray-over and whether there are suprises lurking under the surface.

As for the value a paintjob ads to the plane, it is actually one of the few things that does. A friend of mine used to trade and refurbish aircraft, he bid the paintjobs 5 at a time and got a good price. There are some aircraft on the market whose ghastly paintjobs depress the price even below FMV. In an ugly duckling like that, if purchased at the right price, an economical paintjob can have a positive return on investment.
 
Agree in fact the first thing I would do next year is get a decent paint job on the plane if the purchase moves forward. I had the chance to fly it today and very sweet plane! That IO-550 is serious power and super smooth engine that is fairly low time. I can delay the paint until late next year to budget for the first annual, basic mx, hangar and fuel budget. The autopilot and GPS are very basic old ones but function ok. So long term putting a Garmin 750 with STEC 55x autopilot and new ADSB transponder would be the way to go with it. Even if I put 50-100k into it, much less than a used Cirrus or Diamond and just as fast!
 
Blueangel said:
next year to budget for the first annual, basic mx, hangar and fuel budget. The autopilot and GPS are very basic old ones but function ok. So long term putting a Garmin 750 with STEC 55x autopilot and new ADSB transponder would be the way to go with it. Even if I put 50-100k into it, much less than a used Cirrus or Diamond and just as fast!
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Big avionics upgrade in combination with paint is a good way to end up upside down in an aircraft. Unless your time-value of money is unusually high, you may be better off finding a plane with avionics already updated, even if that requires borrowing more money.
 
True and I am not rushing anything. The plane has dual nav/com with dual VOR and an old functional B4 autopilot with ILS so it can be used for IFR training. I flew it yesterday for a couple of hours and its a fast plane with the IO-550. Even if I bought it for a song and added 50K to the plane since it has low time engine, good bones and as long as the liens/loans are cleared on the title then it could be a good plane. The B4 autopilot tracks heading ok and holds altitude BUT we noticed that the autopilot bounces around 100-200' for holding altitude so its not a set and forget autopilot for flying approaches.
 
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