On Fri, 02 Apr 2004 21:54:38 -0600, Paul Folbrecht
wrote:

The paint shop nearest me wants $7K to do a 152 (2 colors). I can't
justify that for a $20K bird; the current paint isn't that bad. Is
there any way at all to get a real paint job done for, say, closer to
half that??

Paul -

Painting an aircraft is not difficult, but requires a lot of
speciality stuff that 99% of us don't have access. Nor is it cost
effective to acquire and assemble the material.

I'd recommend shopping the job around and having the paint done by
professional. It would be a shame to spend a few $K on your own
paintjob only to have it turn out poorly, or start peeling 1-2 years
later. Alternatively - you might be able to talk a paint shop into
doing a reduced rate if you do all the prep work in their shop under
their guidance.

Also, $7k seems high for a 152. I bet you can get $5k if you shop it
around.

Other concerns with doing the job yourself:
1. Stripping and prepping the aircraft - what will you do with the
waste? Airports and the EPA are serious about this stuff.

2. Do you have an HVLP gun with breathing rig? Imron can kill you if
you don't have a good O2 supply. Most setups go for about $1k.

3. Do you have a paint booth/clean room for the painting? How will
you keep bugs/dirt off of the paint while drying? If not - how will
you keep overspray off of the rest of the airport? This is a non
trivial concern. You definitely do NOT want to ruin a $20k paintjob
on the 421 in the hangar next to yours!

-Nathan