Cheapest way to paint an airplane?

[Blueangel]

So I found nice plane that needs a new paint job. One local aircraft painter in Corona quoted me 12K for a full strip and repaint. Is there a cheaper place and way to do this? Can you have an auto body shop paint a plane for much less money than an aircraft paint shop? My friend said this is possible and costs thousands less than the huge massive markup that aircraft paint shops charge.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Well, you could do it the Army way with push brooms and buckets of paint like they did to all the commercial DC-3s that were drafted into service when the war broke out.

On a more serious not, $12k doesn't sound too unreasonable for SoCal. I paid around $10k for my 170 4 years ago (paint shop at Chino), but I'm not sure I'd recommend them.

There is a reasonably priced shop at Big Bear. Also one down at Gillespie (SEE), but I doubt they'd be much cheaper.

 

[James331]

Talk to some automotive guys, research the paints used on aircraft, etc.

Many aircraft paint shops will hire folks with automotive paint experience, that should tell you some thing.

 

[JHW]

12k won't get you much of a paint job at an airplane shop. Prepare for upcharges and change orders, or a half-arse job.

 

[Fearless Tower]

12k won't get you much of a paint job at an airplane shop. Prepare for upcharges and change orders, or a half-arse job.

Believe it or not, Southern California is a relatively cheap place to get an airplane painted.

Just don't ask to see the green cards of the employees working in the shop.

 

[kyleb]

So I found nice plane that needs a new paint job. One local aircraft painter in Corona quoted me 12K for a full strip and repaint. Is there a cheaper place and way to do this? Can you have an auto body shop paint a plane for much less money than an aircraft paint shop? My friend said this is possible and costs thousands less than the huge massive markup that aircraft paint shops charge.

Stripping and prepping an airplane for paint is a huge job. Painting requires skill and appropriate facilities.

If you want to invest some elbow grease, you can strip it (or soda blast it) yourself, using appropriate environmental controls and protective measures for yourself and the airplane. Then you can pull the plastic bits (cowl, wingtips, fairings, etc.) and sand and patch them. After that, you could probably get someone to paint it for a much lower price than $12k, then you could reassemble it under the supervision of an A&P.

Alternately, you can do a "scuff and shoot" where you paint over the old paint job. That's a halfarsed solution, IMO since it adds weight and also because you're never sure of how well that old layer of paint is attached.

As to automotive shops, how are you going to get the airplane there? Is it a model where the wings come off easily? Are you going to disassemble it that far? It can usually be done, but you'll need a lot of A&P support.

 

[Unit74]

A wrap might be cheaper. And they will come to you! Clean up an corrosion, wrap the fuselage and then paint the airfoils. Just a thought.

 

[Blueangel]

True and that is good to know. Seller told me that the cowl needs painting the soonest but the rest of the plane can wait a year or two before it really needs a full strip and repainting. I figure that I can do a touchup for the cowl and immediate areas and next year get the rest done when I am away on vacation.

 

[Phoenix]

Ugly or flaking? If it is just ugly, well you can't see the horse's ass when you are in the saddle. Buy n fly, screw the looks.

 

[Blueangel]

Well the paint is getting worn on the upper cowl and has a paint bubble with some corrosion on the canopy top of the cockpit area.

 

[Phoenix]

Well the paint is getting worn on the upper cowl and has a paint bubble with some corrosion on the canopy top of the cockpit area.

Treat the corrosion, spot repaint, and fly. No it won't match, no one can tell from the ground. Unless you have a polished P-51 you can easily be out-planed at any airport at anytime. These things are for flying not looking at. 12K plus a few months out of service, that is a lot of missed flying.

 

[JoseCuervo]

I was told to just paint the whole thing Matterhorn White, and then buy stickers with all the swoops, curves, and accents like the new factory planes come out with.

Does that work, and, If so, where is a source for the stickers/vinyls?

 

[Blueangel]

Why not just paint all gun metal grey primer base then add decals and flame stickers for a Warbird look? I'm trying to do this for under 10k all in. The spot paint quick job would be the easiest least expensive and less downtime route for under 3k in a day.

 

[Tom-D]

12K is pretty cheap, but the money is not what is important. what you get is..

 

[Vance Breese]

I have seen some nice paint jobs come out of Art-Craft in Santa Maria, California (KSMX).
I feel it is a mistake to shop for a cheap paint job.

 

[Jay Honeck]

When Amelia (our RV-8A) needs paint, I will be doing a fully vinyl wrap.

Cheaper, durable, easy to redo. You can do any pattern, any color -- let your imagination run wild.

 

[AKBill]

I just painted a stabalatior. It took 8 hours to strip, 2 hours to acid etch and alodine, 2 hours to prime and 2 hours to paint.

I don't do a lot of painting but do a good job. So 14 hours to paint the stabalator, paint a hole plane is time consuming.

14 hours at say $40 per hour for the stab don't think you want me to paint your plane.

 

[iflyifr]

Absolutely agree. A good paint job is very labor intensive and with paint jobs you get what you pay for. It can add value and protection to your aircraft for years to come ... a bad paint job can, at the very least, devalue your investment; at the most, make your aircraft unairworthy.

Make your A&P your new BFF and remember they don't work for nothing; their time and signature is worth something. Painting an aircraft properly would be taking it beyond Part 91 or 43 for the do-it-yourselfer. Without proper disassembly/assembly, you cannot adequately get into the hidden parts of the control surfaces and may even compromise their proper function.

Weight (paint & primer) subtract from useful load. Can add anywhere from 20-40 lbs depending on type of pain and thickness applied. On some airplanes the difference is your wife bringing her purse or not.

An airplane is not an auto. Preparation to paint an aircraft is not the same as an auto. If you plan to sand and paint, sanding rivets and skin incorrectly could compromise the structural integrity of an airplane. Even sanding carefully or lightly will remove portions/thickness of the alcor primer.

Stripping is a messy, laborious process that involves EPA guidelines for collection and disposal of the stripper waste. The typical local body shop would not have the knowledge to prepare an aircraft properly, although they could have very good painting talents. But the prep is 98% of the job.

As an airplane owner, you can do anything you want to devalue your airplane or make it unairworthy, but common consideration should be given to other airplanes and their owners. Short of disassembling and hauling to the nearest auto garage, nothing will PO aircraft owners faster than overspray coming from other hangars or shared space, not to mention if the local airport even allows such activity within aircraft storage facilities. A hangar is not a paint booth. That stuff hangs in the air for hours regardless of how much plastic you hang and tends to creep into places you would never imagine. Also without adequate ventilation it poses a serious health risk and a fire hazard.

There is a reason paint shops charge what they do - because of the paperwork and regs they need to comply with to simply be in business. I guess if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.

 

[bflynn]

When Amelia (our RV-8A) needs paint, I will be doing a fully vinyl wrap.

Cheaper, durable, easy to redo. You can do any pattern, any color -- let your imagination run wild.

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?

 

[Jay Honeck]

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?

Actually, every new plane coming out of the factory has vinyl to some degree nowadays, usually over a (boring) base white coat.

I can attest to its durability. We put a vinyl wrap/applique of our hotel name on the nose of our plane two years ago, and it looks new.

Vinyl has become quite the norm in the experimental world.

 

[Henning]

So I found nice plane that needs a new paint job. One local aircraft painter in Corona quoted me 12K for a full strip and repaint. Is there a cheaper place and way to do this? Can you have an auto body shop paint a plane for much less money than an aircraft paint shop? My friend said this is possible and costs thousands less than the huge massive markup that aircraft paint shops charge.

Cheapest way to get a good paint job is to use AwlGrip and roll and tip using foam rollers and a badger brush just damp with retarder, just clean all chip edges and fill with spot putty, wipe down with wax remover, smooth and scuff the paint, then roll on a new coat. Thing is if you don't strip it, you add the weight of a second paint job.

The biggest cost of a quality paint job is the prep work. If you strip it yourself in a hangar, then use plastic sheeting to create a spray booth, you can get a good gun man from a body shop to come in and shoot it all for a couple hundred bucks in a night. I would go with Alexseal paint (same guys who formulated Awl Grip created this as an improved product) and I would figure to spend about $1000-$1500 all in in materials. What you will spend a lot of is labor taking off the control surfaces, stripping paint, detail cleaning after stripping, taking care of little dings and such. Cleaning after stripping is at least a 4 stage process before you come near it with primer.

 

[Jeff Oslick]

I have seen some nice paint jobs come out of Art-Craft in Santa Maria, California (KSMX).
I feel it is a mistake to shop for a cheap paint job.

and



Art Craft is a very good operation, and worth the travel and price.

The guy in Corona is ok, but not at the same level as Art Craft.

The other thing to consider is that I would not have a non-flyable aircraft at Corona until late next spring. There will be big rains this year, and I can almost promise that airport will flood again, with everyone trying to cram into the small "high" area on the east side.

 

[Bob Noel]

I feel it is a mistake to shop for a cheap paint job.

A previous owner did a scruff and spray on the 140 I had.

It looked like crap (not to mention that stupid company didn't revise the W&B).

I have to say "cheap" and "paint an airplane" just don't go together... at least if you are going to properly paint the plane.

 

[weilke]

Cheapest ? Bucket of paint and foam rollers. Saw a cherokee that got that treatment in navy blue.

12k if done right sounds like a good price.

As for letting an auto painter do it:

- One of the insurance auction companies had a newish King Air 300 in their inventory which had a substantial number of rivets sanded down during a paint job. It looked nice and shiny, but the plane was salvage, only good for things like control rods, landing gear etc.

- Local pilot had a leading edge of a piper stabilator re-painted. Automotive painter was nice enough to fix a couple of dings with bondo, and then the holes he sanded into the leading edge by building it back up with glass mat, resin and some more bondo.

There is little difference in the actual painting part between a car and a plane. Any good bodyshop painter could apply the paint itself. Whoever does the paint prep needs to know what to do.

Out of all the areas where you can spend money on a plane, paint is the one where you have good choices and a couple of honest craftsmen competing for the work.

 

[Checkout_my_Six]

Do it yourself?


mask off the glass....and just do it....you still might have $2-3,000 into it.

 

[rbridges]

and



Art Craft is a very good operation, and worth the travel and price.

The guy in Corona is ok, but not at the same level as Art Craft.

The other thing to consider is that I would not have a non-flyable aircraft at Corona until late next spring. There will be big rains this year, and I can almost promise that airport will flood again, with everyone trying to cram into the small "high" area on the east side.

someone on mooneyspace had it done there, and she absolutely loved it. I figured 12k was a good price, but I didn't realize it was low end out west. In my case, I would pay to have it stripped and prepped properly. My useful load is already pretty sad. Adding another 30 lbs of paint or whatever is not a good thing.

 

[ejensen]

A dozen rattle cans from Home Depot and the far corner of the ramp on a nice day Folks explained why it costs so much.

 

[Clark1961]

A dozen rattle cans from Home Depot and the far corner of the ramp on a nice day Folks explained why it costs so much.

I know a guy who rattle canned a good bit of a 172...

When he got a Bo he did have the leading edges repainted by a pro...who didn't match the colors...

 

[Luvrv8]

someone on mooneyspace had it done there, and she absolutely loved it. I figured 12k was a good price, but I didn't realize it was low end out west. In my case, I would pay to have it stripped and prepped properly. My useful load is already pretty sad. Adding another 30 lbs of paint or whatever is not a good thing.

I have been involved with a few planes that went to Art Craft. The paint work is very nice, the time, well it was not as what we were told. The last plane that went there had a delivery date on the contract with a per day late fee added. It was only a week late. One plane was 4 months late, no late fee in the contract.

 

[Henning]

someone on mooneyspace had it done there, and she absolutely loved it. I figured 12k was a good price, but I didn't realize it was low end out west. In my case, I would pay to have it stripped and prepped properly. My useful load is already pretty sad. Adding another 30 lbs of paint or whatever is not a good thing.

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.

 

[Dav8or]

Another option is to not paint it at all, but rather strip and polish it. It takes forever, it's a lot of physical labor, but the materials and tools are cheap in comparison. Your plane will be lighter and some claim you will gain a few knots with a polished plane, although I think this is BS.

There is a guy on MooneySpace that is polishing his Mooney by himself. Way too much work for me and if you paid somebody to do it for you, it would likely cost more than a paint job. Still if you have time and no money, it is an option.

 

[Henning]

Another option is to not paint it at all, but rather strip and polish it. It takes forever, it's a lot of physical labor, but the materials and tools are cheap in comparison. Your plane will be lighter and some claim you will gain a few knots with a polished plane, although I think this is BS.

There is a guy on MooneySpace that is polishing his Mooney by himself. Way too much work for me and if you paid somebody to do it for you, it would likely cost more than a paint job. Still if you have time and no money, it is an option.

As long as there is no prior hail damage and other filler repairs, polishing indeed is a beautiful option.

 

[James331]

Stripping and prepping an airplane for paint is a huge job. Painting requires skill and appropriate facilities.

If you want to invest some elbow grease, you can strip it (or soda blast it) yourself, using appropriate environmental controls and protective measures for yourself and the airplane. Then you can pull the plastic bits (cowl, wingtips, fairings, etc.) and sand and patch them. After that, you could probably get someone to paint it for a much lower price than $12k, then you could reassemble it under the supervision of an A&P.

Alternately, you can do a "scuff and shoot" where you paint over the old paint job. That's a halfarsed solution, IMO since it adds weight and also because you're never sure of how well that old layer of paint is attached.

As to automotive shops, how are you going to get the airplane there? Is it a model where the wings come off easily? Are you going to disassemble it that far? It can usually be done, but you'll need a lot of A&P support.

Most all planes can have the wings and tail removed rather easily, rent a trailer, not a huge deal.

Any paint job worth anything should have paint codes in the logbook, I'm adding louvers to my lower cowl and will need to strip and repaint the bottom cowl, you beat the paint is going to match.

Cheap is often a term people use to rip folks off, I've seen very expensive paint and interior jobs on aircraft which wouldn't even pass for a $199 maco hooptie car paint job.

Some stuff needs to be done by aviation folks, engine overhauls, annuals, etc, some stuff you're a rich fool to have a "aviation" shop do it, mainly paint and upholstery.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Another option is to not paint it at all, but rather strip and polish it. It takes forever, it's a lot of physical labor, but the materials and tools are cheap in comparison. Your plane will be lighter and some claim you will gain a few knots with a polished plane, although I think this is BS.

There is a guy on MooneySpace that is polishing his Mooney by himself. Way too much work for me and if you paid somebody to do it for you, it would likely cost more than a paint job. Still if you have time and no money, it is an option.

Yes. The paint shop up at Big Bear specializes in polished aluminum finishes. IIRC, a polished aluminum finish runs about what a full paint job (within $1-2k) would if you have a pro shop do it.

If you want to save money, polished aluminum done by yourself is the cheapest way to go.... but a whole lot of work and depending on your location, can be an almost continuous process.

 

[UngaWunga]

My leading edges were a little scruffy looking, so I took a service panel cover to an autoparts store. They color matched it and made up a can of single stage paint for me. I used a Preval sprayer, after sanding and priming, and it looks much better. It isn't as smooth as the factory paint, as I should've thinned it more than the 4-1 I used, but it looks damn good.

I just did the wing leading edges and gear legs, and spots on the cowl and tail. Painting a whole plane that way would be a pain in the ass, but my plane doesn't need a full respray.

 

[Henning]

Yes. The paint shop up at Big Bear specializes in polished aluminum finishes. IIRC, a polished aluminum finish runs about what a full paint job (within $1-2k) would if you have a pro shop do it.

If you want to save money, polished aluminum done by yourself is the cheapest way to go.... but a whole lot of work and depending on your location, can be an almost continuous process.

If you get it finalized with Flitz, you can maintain that finish with Collenite Insulator Wax and little effort, about the same as properly maintaining paint. I maintain polished aluminum on boats that way pretty easily, occasionally breaking out some Flitz to touch up spots.

 

[murphey]

Remember that all control surfaces are critical issues when painting. And weighing the plane after is pretty well required.

As pointed out earlier - you get what you pay for. Shop at the local field is repairing a paint job. The paint shop (low cost) damaged 3 control surfaces, one has to be completely replaced. The lawyers are having a field day. And the paint job wasn't that great, either.

 

[Henning]

Yep, you need an A&P involved in reassembly. Balancing isn't really a big deal to carry out, but needs to be done properly.

 

[Blueangel]

Well Art Craft at Santa Maria quoted me 17k
Corona Aircraft Paint quoted me 12k.

 

[cessna182b]

True and that is good to know. Seller told me that the cowl needs painting the soonest but the rest of the plane can wait a year or two before it really needs a full strip and repainting. I figure that I can do a touchup for the cowl and immediate areas and next year get the rest done when I am away on vacation.

Decide on what paint you want and take the cowl (and paint) to an auto body shop. I had a touchup done cheaply that way after a blown exhaust collector scorched the paint on one side.

Dave