"John S" wrote in message
hlink.net...
How does one decide whether to paint an airplane with laquer, enamel,
polyurethane, or two-part epoxy? I've read all the Ron Alexander articles
about painting in Sport Aviation, and I still don't know. (It's an
aluminum
floatplane.) Thanks to all those with strong opinions and the will to
express them.

John

Let's see..

Laquer is easy to spray, but is brittle. Even the smallest rocks will chip
the paint. Laquer will also fail faster if there is any oil canning. This
is probably the least expensive paint system.

I used a catalyzed enamel on my RV. There are several good choices out
there. Some are single stage paints and some are two stage (i.e. you clear
coat them). The two stage paints tend to add a little weight due to the
extra coat of material. Enamels (particularly the catalyzed ones) hold up
well to chemical and phyisical abuse. This is a mid-priced paint system.
These products have top notch gloss and color retention. These products are
somewhat flexible, and will hold up to oil canning and flexing much better
than laquer.

Polyurethanes have the best gloss and color retention, and are more
chemically resistant than the other products. Polyurethanes are very
flexible, and are the least likely to crack when used on surfaces that flex
or oil can. They are the most expensive solution.

All of these are generalizations, and are subject to proper mixing and
application of the paint type. Also, there are high and low quality brands
of each of these types of paint. Earl Scheib ain't spraying the same poly
paint that goes on at the Porsche factory...

Here's a link that I googled up. It might give you a better idea of the
difference between catalyzed enamel and poly paints. Personally, I think
those are the only two alternatives that make sense today.