Micah,

 

I painted my 320 with Dupont Imron 6000.  6000 is the base/clear which I'm told is a new technology over the old Imron.  It came out AWESOME BUT, there was a HUGE learning curve.  You have to use a 2 quart pressure pot and the temp and humidity must be perfect. 

 

I tried HVLP and conventional guns and nothing worked as good as the Pressure pot.  I used a pressure pot and a Devilbiss gun JGA503 I think.  It has hoses and you can paint upside-down or at any angle perfectly.  You can control the pressure, the gun, and the paint flow.  Also, do not use a charcoal breather, you MUST use a positive pressure system FULL face mask like a Hobby Air breathing system.  Also, get a lot of extra face pealers because mist will fill up your mask and you can peal it off the clear protective layer.  You must protect all your skin - it's nasty stuff but WELL worth the effort.  Also, plan your paint booth carefully to circulate air.  I prefer to make the fan blowing IN instead of sucking out so if there are any leaks, they are leaks OUT and not leaks IN so dust or link won't get sucked in.

 

Also, my brother used Sikkens paint base/clear and it came out just as nice.  He will tell you Sikkens is the best.  Some people will tell you PPG is the best.  I'd say visit all your local paint shops and talk to them and go with the one that is nicest to you and knows the most stuff.  They will be excellent teachers as you go along.

 

The nicest thing about base/clear is that you can fix mistakes before you clear.  Imron 6000 can be color sanded and then cleared but there are some time restrictions before you clear unless you sand with 400 grit.  All that technical info can be found on Dupont's website.  I prefer the Imron but that's only because I went through the learning curve.  If you decide to do 6000, I will send you all the pressure settings that worked best for me.

 

Painting is a LOT of fun.  I know everyone farms it out, but I preferred to learn it and do it myself.  It's a LOT of work but when you're done, you can't stop looking and feeling it and then it's amazing that YOU did it!  Some people wouldn't touch a paint sprayer for a million bucks and say it's not worth the headaches.  If you want to save yourself $5-10,000 do it yourself.  Practice over and over before you paint the plane.  Also, there must be primer on every single spot.  If you sand the primer off a little too low where plane is showing, the paint will absorb different there and most likely will find itself into a pin hole.  Prep is 90% of the work. 

 

It's all up to you but I believe you can do it and it is such an awesome sense of accomplishment to see that you painted your own pride and joy.  When people ask, it's awesome to tell people you painted it yourself.    

 

Then again, if you have the $$, paying someone GOOD will get the job done a lot faster.

 

Paint it white with some sexy swooshes.  I don't believe straight lines should be on such a sexy curvey plane.   Just my opinion.

 

Good luck!

 

Matt Reeves

Rochester, NY