I read where you said no paint, but my friend refreshed his arrow with black rustoleum paint recently. He used a brush and painters tape. I watched him do it on his old cherokee also. It seems to hold up well and was a easy quick job.
Define luster? Most premade products are flat or semi-gloss at best. And is your wing-walk the stick-on type or painted type?
That's a good point; I over looked purchasing just a quart of black paint and putting a coat on it via paint brush. In my head I was stuck on a rattle can and really wanted NO part in that (overspray, etc.).
Good question; I am not looking for shiny or anything specific other than a uniform/consistent black finish. Right now, I have some lightly faded areas (presumably sun faded).
Do you wax or coat your wings? Any finish product that gets on wing walk will leave a whitish, chalky stain that is a bear to remove. Isopropyl Alcohol and water (50/50%) can help with that. It will remove anything on the wing itself, so be sure to mask off the paint adjacent.
Maybe I'll start there as I do have some of that going on. We've had the plane about the year and I've tried to be careful (for that reason) but it looks like the prior waxing (owner) got a little carried away in that regard. Thanks for the tip!!
If its the rubberized stick-on WW you can sometimes clean it as mentioned and get more color consistency. If its the grit stick-on or paint on grit variety not many options outside of paint touch up or reapplication. Also if the grit is worn off in places it will change its appearance. To cover both issues, we would thin out some standard WW paint with toulene/MEK and apply a very thin top coat. If the grit was not worn we'd paint just a thin coat of flat black enamel paint to spruce things up.
Can you buy this stuff in a quart can and then just brush it on? I'm guessing so?! I don't really want anything of the aerosol type.Cheap......Fast.......Good
I'll have to check into this a little more and see what the options are in the quart size. Thanks for the suggestion.
I ended up buying a quart of the Randolf. Figured do it once, do it right.
Already decided on a solution
FYI: Be sure to mix it well from the bottom up and dont apply it direct from the can. Pull a well mixed portion into a non-plastic container and thin it with some toulene preferably. Another trick is to cut the bristles down on 2 inch paint brush and dab the new WW onto the old vs "paint" it back and forth.
Thanks for the tips. Is the reason for not applying direct from the can so it will stay mixed and consistent? Do you pour some in a paint tray or what have you found works best?
Many polishes have silicone in them. Makes a nice, long-lasting shine. But silicone, if not entirely removed, will cause serious "fisheye" in any paint applied over a surface. It's a painter's nightmare. It repels paint. It takes a lot of scrubbing to remove silicone.
Do you have some.suggestion on cleaning prior to reapplying some wing walk? Denatured alcohol?
If mixed properly most quality wingwalk like Randolfs is very thick. So if you dont thin it you end up putting too thick a layer on the aircraft. Its easier to thin a portion in its own container than in the can unless the can is almost empty.
If mixed completely it tends to not to pour well in my experience. I had an old metal turbine oil can I kept in my toolbox to thin WW in but any small chem-proof container will work. Mask the edges to protect the paint and the toluene or MEK you use to thin the mix can be used to clean the area beforehand. Just be sure to exercise common sense with these chemicals like gloves, glasses, etc.
Anything that might work will likely be flammable, and some of it could damage the paint as well, so it gets a bit risky. We used to strip all the paint off airplanes before painting, and scrubbed them down with thinners and really fine Scotchbrite. That polish would sometimes hide around rivet heads and along seams, too. Nasty stuff.
That makes sense. I'm just using it to freshen the look, not really put an entirely new wing walk on. What consistency are you looking for, more like regular paint so it is more user friendly? Or is thinner than that ok since I'm just looking for a thin coat?
If just top coating thin to where it doesnt readily run off the brush. If applying a new base coat thicker. Key is mixing it fully as the sand or grit settles to the bottom.
If it was mine I'd be using more wing-walk paint. The grit in the old stuff tends to wear off, and just applying paint over it can leave a slicker surface.
That's the plan... I ordered more wing-walk coating. Plan on thinning it a bit and applying over the existing just to freshen it up.
I'm not planning to remove the exiting WW. Just planning to clean it up and then apply a thin cost of new WW coating to freshen it up.
Thanks for pointing that out and sharing the link... just saved me $20. I was gonna stop by West Marine today and pick up some MEK. I've already got a gallon of Mineral Spirits at the hangar. The Randolf WW won't be in till next week, so I'm just getting things together and ready in advance. Thanks a ton @Pinecone!
I was REALLY close to just freshening it up with paint. Hadn't thought about the rain/wet factor - great point. I've got a quart of Randolf WW inbound and will plan to work on it later next week. Thanks for sharing the experience - great info!
If you want to damage the existing stuff, MEK is the way to do it. Mix it with the new paint and put it on, and the old stuff might debond and give you a really classy mess.
Thanks, I was already suggested not to use that as well. Definitely not looking for a small project to turn into a big one.
Nice! I've already got the existing prepped... cleaned and taped off. Just waiting on the product to show up.This is a VERY simple job. Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Don't complicate things!!