No one seems to be going into the plastic paint booth method. A frame work built large enough to cover the plane, made from plastic pipe and fittings (Friction fit or screws used to hold things together) or from 2X4s. Draped, stapled and duct taped with 6 mill clear plastic (big roll from Home Depot) .. Overlap slit for a door works OK. We actually installed a spring closed framed door with gasket seals around and edge flange (door opened inward so pressure didn't blow it open...gasket also worked better that way)

Booth is pressure fed with duct fan or ventilation fan ducted and  blowing through two layers of furnace filters to eliminate dust. Booth exhausts through duct that exits the hangar (or the large doors are kept open) through two or three furnace filters to eliminate paint mist.

Floor of booth is mopped down before painting and/or floor is covered with a damp painters cotton drop cloth. Many florescent lights or halogen placed OUTSIDE of the booth illuminating through the clear plastic. Tyvec suit with disposable shoe covers.

Fan does not have to be anything special because it never sees any paint solvent vapors. And with good ventilation vapor concentrations never reach anything close to explosive levels. Use good organic filtered (carbon) respirator or (better) fresh air mask from remote supply source.

The plastic paint boot was a permanent part of our winter hangar and was pressurized with a "torpedo" propane heater controlled by a thermostat. After the day's work we retired to, if no plane was present, the heated  "cabana" for cold beer.

The heater helped to force dry many projects by our running the thermostat up once the paint was shot. Some people ran the heater, cut it off, shot the paint, then turned the heater/blower back on to reduce chance of any dust flying about. Our booth produced many a dust free paint job.

Bruce A. Frank
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jls wrote: I just saw a beautiful Lancair 320 painted in the hangar.  It looks
great until you get up close.  The polyurethane paint is very glossy,
but there is dust particles and trash all over it.  Even a few insects
in the middle of our NC winter.

Not to worry, says the painter, who runs an autobody repair shop.  He
says he'll use 600 grit and water sand it all out and you'll never see
a bit of trash in the paint.  Well, I hope.  What do you think?

We had another builder here rent a booth in a fancy car painting shop,
and the paint job on his Zenair Zodiac looked flawless.

In Greenville, SC they used to transport plastic airplanes with the
wings off to a nice filtered booth at an auto paint shop down White
Horse Rd. and paint them there.  The pressure air used for the spray
system was freeze-dried to take out water and other impurities.  The
painter was a real pro who instructed in the auto body section at
Greenville Tech.   The ships always came back to the hangar looking
great.

How's about it?  Do you paint in the hangar or in a paint shop booth?
We have two more to do and want clean glossy finishes without flaws.
TIA.