" jls" wrote in message
...
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?

I suspect that it will look better than it does now...

...
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.

I ain't never painted no airplane, but I did a 26'sailboat in polyurethane
(Awlgrip) not too long ago- does that count?

Not having a booth, I did it in a plastic "tent" outdoors (30'x14'about 15
feet at the peak). It turned out pretty darn good, if I may say so myself...

Issues:

Temperature - Linear polyurethane wants to stay warm overnight to cure.

Dirt - A plastic "tent" with a big plastic tarp for a floor worked fine for
me. But a real booth would be a lot nicer to work in and probably have
better light (that helps a LOT).

Overspray - LPU overspray stays sticky for a long time. You need to be able
to control it - if you are in typical T hanger you will probably really ****
off the guy next door.

Air - you REALLY want a source of outside air to breathe. The MSDS claims
that the paint has "poor warning qualities" - that's a euphemism for "by the
time you smell it in your mask, you are f***ed".

Da Gun - what kind of gun are you using? Plain white isn't as demanding as
metalics, but I've learned that a cheap spray gun is more trouble than it is
worth. I have an old top of the line (for it's day) Binks out in the
garage - it was worth every penny. Nowadays HVLP stuff seems to be the way
to go - on a large project you may save enough on the reduction
in waste (from overspray) to pay for the gun. I don't have any
recommendation on the modern guns though.

Prep is 99 percent of finished result. If you can feel ANYTHING when you
slide your hand across the surface you WILL see it when you spray a gloss
coat on.


--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
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