Folks
I recall sometime back somebody asked for recommendations regarding paint. I am only getting around to this now. Hope it is of some value to somebody. Starting out as a novice I had whole lot of questions and no experience with colour coating. It took me until the last wing surface on the entire plane where I could say I mastered applying WLS primer with a smooth thin finish
So I recognized I had to make up for lack of skill by studying all that I could find on the net about techniques, products and equipment. You can find a great deal of information in the public domain eg LML, YouTube, VAF forums (sorry!) and various custom car forums.
I settled on a single stage system because I wanted the majority of the plane to be white and i did not want to deal with two steps. The paint also needed to have very high gloss and be easily repairable. With these criteria I began to "interview" manufacturer for the few major suppliers out there. What I was looking for was a willing and knowledgable technical service rep that knew their products and their idiosyncrasies inside and out. In the end I selected Sherwin Williams' aerospace products because their representation was the most patient and responsive and the products are top notch. Sw has literally held my hand through my trials and tribulations in my attempt to become a proficient painter and I cant say enough good things about their support and product.
The jetglo express poly is a little unusual in that it needs to go on quite wet relative to automotive products and it takes some time for orange peel to flow out (usually hours). Using the techniques shown in the video links below it was pretty easy to make localized repairs to cured paint without any discernible edges. I also like their epoxy primer which lays down flat with a slight gloss that comes off after sanding thus eliminating the beef for a guide coat. Both paints tend to be a little thick when mixed to the spec sheet minimum thinner ratio and benefit greatly by increasing the reducer level closer to the max allowed (VOC regs not withstanding)
I did find that I could shoot primer pretty well with a low end gun but the investment in a decent high end gun made a considerable difference on the color coat
It goes without saying that cleanliness of the paint area is vital to obtaining quality results and that te air supply is clean, dry and ample for the job at hand. I coupled two single phase compressors together and a reservoir tank to give me 55 gals, 15cfm at 90 psi. This was just good enough to keep my devilbiss TEKNA gun running at constant pressure (approx 24 psi)
A word of warning when shooting these particular products you need a forced air respirator and a lot of air flow to remove fumes from your paint booth
Hope this little excerpt from my painting odyssey helps
Thanks
Tom
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
Tom, per our conversation,
below is videos of paint processes.
there is another
one about Fill Bond (filler putty) On you tube pull up Alliance
Coatings Fill Bond.
let me know if
this helps -
http://www.youtube.com/user/swaerospace1?ob=0&feature=results_main
Also - training dates -
best,
Steve Voisin
Technical Service Representative
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace
415 E. Commerce St.
Andover, KS 67002
Phone (316) 733-7576 ext.624
Cell (316) 680-9715
Fax (316) 733-1348