I forget how many gallons of stripper it takes to do an airplane. Many
shops spray it on to save time. This also applies a pretty thin coating
that saves material. Brushing it on does the opposite (takes a lot of
time and wastes material). At current paint job prices though, you can
buy lots of materials and still get off cheap. Most of the cost to paint
an airplane is in the labor.

I spent about $1000 in paint and material to do a scratch and paint.
Likely you would double that to do a full strip, alodine, conversion
coating, prime, and paint. Probably more like $2500 or so.

Like I said, the killer is the labor. Disassembly, masking, stripping,
cleaning, reassembly, control surface rebalancing, and repairs eat up
surprising amounts of time. I took 6 full days to do it without a strip.
2 more full days to repair and repaint the wheel pants. It would take me
an additional 4-5 days to strip, clean, chemical wash, and prime a small
plane like a Cherokee by myself.

My time killers were in removing/replacing the fuel tanks for
hose/gasket replacement, rebuilding the fuel selector, installing new
dorsal fairings, installing new wing tips, and repairing the cowling
fiberglass. Next time around, I will have all the repairs/upgrades done
in advance to save time.

Let me know how that stripper works.

Thanks,
Mike


Hey Mike,

FWIW, the cost is 60 bucks a gallon... not cheap, but if it works as
advertised, definitely worth it.

I've ordered a gallon, I am going to test it by stripping a small area
of the plane that is in desperate need of touch-up, and based on how
that experience goes I will decide whether or not I'll even consider
doing the full plane in a year or so. I'll report on my experiences
when I have a chance.

-E S Cragg