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dhonabach
Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 13
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 Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:56 pm Post subject: Time to paint ? |
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I just finished flying off my 40 hours on my 601HDS and everything is performing well. I'm starting to seriously think about painting and while I understand the core processes (from reading), it is hard to just get a straight answer on what paint brands and products to use with a HVLP gun that is geared for our 6061-T6 planes.
For those that painted, do you have any product recommendations? Also, any tips?
Thanks!
Don Honabach
601HDS - N601DX
Tempe, AZ
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Afterfxllc(at)aol.com
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psm(at)att.net
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| Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:59 am Post subject: Time to paint ? |
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Hi Don,
I feel your pain.
Painting aluminum is a very tricky process. The problem is the oxide
that forms almost immediately when the aluminum is exposed to
air. It will keep any paint from sticking.
There are a couple of ways to successfully get paint on
aluminum. Both are reasonably expensive and require a bit of
skill. No matter which way you go you should get some practice on
some aluminum which is less important to you than your airplane
before tackling the big job. Just like painting steel, several very
thin coats work better than one thick one.
The classic approach is to use two products called (I hope) Alumiprep
and Alodine. These are chemical treatments that remove the oxide and
leave a thin layer of ceramic material suitable for holding paint.
The other way to start is to use a self-etch primer. This is a paint
that includes an acid to etch its way through the oxide. It is
generally easy to use but a bit expensive. The stuff I used is about
$20 per quart. I haven't done my whole plane yet but probably would
need about a gallon of the stuff to cover it.
After either of the above processes you need a separate primer and
top coat. The primer used these days is a two part epoxy based
material the runs about $100 per gallon. It is very easy to use and
covers very nicely. I use this stuff to protect steel parts without
any top coat.
For the top coat you can use either acrylic or polyurethane based
product which also is a two part system. For any two part system you
must mix carefully measured paint and hardener and let them sit for
about 20 minutes before use. I have been using the acrylic for many
reasons including cost and safety. The polyurethane is capable of
producing a higher luster and is offered in more colors, but it is
extremely toxic and has a reputation for being difficult to
apply. The acrylic is more of an industrial grade automotive paint
that is relatively easy to use. It is used by most paint shops for
utility grade jobs, while the urethane is used for the expensive fancy jobs.
You need to find the automotive paint store in your area that
supplies all the good paint shops.
In any case these are industrial grade materials which are way too
dangerous for casual use. They require safety equipment including
masks and gloves and careful handling. Read and heed the MSDSs. If
you approach this task casually you could end up crippled or dead.
You can use either a normal or HVLP spray system for this job. The
HVLP is preferred because of higher paint percentage on your project
while the overspray from the older systems wastes a lot of paint.
Good luck,
Paul
XL getting close
At 08:56 PM 1/19/2009, you wrote:
| Quote: |
I just finished flying off my 40 hours on my 601HDS and everything
is performing well. I'm starting to seriously think about painting
and while I understand the core process (from reading), it is hard
to just get a straight answer on what paint brands and produts to
use with an HVLP gun that is geared for our 6061-T6 planes.
For those that painted, do you have any product recommendations?
Also, any tips?
Thanks!
Don Honabach
601HDS - N601DX
Tempe, AZ
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larry(at)macsmachine.com
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| Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:31 am Post subject: Time to paint ? |
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Hi Don,
I painted my HDS after flying for a year and it was a long process
getting it clean enough to paint.
The paints most likely to serve best are acrylic enamel or urethane. The
acrylic enamel is the least costly
and easiest to do. Certainly closest to the urethane paints that
dominate most of the high end aircraft.
I did a water base urethane that required a lot of process and took from
April thru November to complete.
It's flame proof and the water captures the binders that would otherwise
seek out your lungs and suffocate you.
The paint has held up well with a small exception where a fuel fitting
leaked and took a bit of paint with it.
This also makes the point that touch up is just as complicated and
painful with urethane as the original process.
You need a lot of control to duplicate the original work.
The acrylic enamel is a simpler process, recommended by the Bingilis
books and sticks to anything. It also
isn't as fussy about process so long as you concern yourself about
flammability of this kind of paint.
Dupont for the acrylic enamel and Aircraft Finishing Systems is for
water-based urethane. I believe they have
revised and simplified the process for painting the water-base urethane
since I painted.
If you need process and paint history, I've a long bit in my journal
part 10, April thru November and a page that
describes a home made paint booth and page on part handling wings and
things in process.
See link,
www.macsmachine.com/html/paint.htm
Good luck,
Larry McFarland 601HDS at www.macsmachine.com
dhonabach wrote:
| Quote: |
I just finished flying off my 40 hours on my 601HDS and everything is performing well. I'm starting to seriously think about painting and while I understand the core process (from reading), it is hard to just get a straight answer on what paint brands and produts to use with an HVLP gun that is geared for our 6061-T6 planes.
For those that painted, do you have any product recommendations? Also, any tips?
Thanks!
Don Honabach
601HDS - N601DX
Tempe, AZ
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p 25817#225817
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pavel569
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:52 am Post subject: Re: Time to paint ? |
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No tips here, but congratulations, Don.
| dhonabach wrote: | I just finished flying off my 40 hours on my 601HDS and everything is performing well. I'm starting to seriously think about painting and while I understand the core processes (from reading), it is hard to just get a straight answer on what paint brands and products to use with a HVLP gun that is geared for our 6061-T6 planes.
For those that painted, do you have any product recommendations? Also, any tips?
Thanks!
Don Honabach
601HDS - N601DX
Tempe, AZ |
| | - The Matronics Zenith601-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Zenith601-List |
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_________________
Pavel
CA
Zodiac 601XL
Stratus Subaru EA-81
Tail, flaps, ailerons, wings, fuselage, canopy done ...
"do not archive" |
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jimandmandy(at)yahoo.com
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| Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:19 pm Post subject: Time to paint ? |
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I have painted many cars with acrylic enamel. It does take a little practice but is simple to use and the skills are not that difficult to master. Dupont Centari without the toxic optional urethane conversion hardener is my paint of choice. As long as you stick to solid colors and not metallic, pearl, mica, etc. it is very forgiving.
Etching primer seems like the simple way to go as far as adhesion is concerned. Acid + chromic wash on a completed structure could leak chemicals inside closed structure and, if a water based topcoat is not used, risk moisture under rivets and seams, causing problems with the topcoat.
Jim
--- On Tue, 1/20/09, LarryMcFarland <larry(at)macsmachine.com> wrote:
[quote]From: LarryMcFarland <larry(at)macsmachine.com>
Subject: Re: Time to paint ?
To: zenith601-list(at)matronics.com
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 7:14 AM
[quote]--> Zenith601-List message posted by: LarryMcFarland
<larry(at)macsmachine.com>
Hi Don,
I painted my HDS after flying for a year and it was a long process getting it
clean enough to paint.
The paints most likely to serve best are acrylic enamel or urethane. The
acrylic enamel is the least costly
and easiest to do. Certainly closest to the urethane paints that dominate most
of the high end aircraft.
I did a water base urethane that required a lot of process and took from April
thru November to complete.
It's flame proof and the water captures the binders that would otherwise
seek out your lungs and suffocate you.
The paint has held up well with a small exception where a fuel fitting leaked
and took a bit of paint with it.
This also makes the point that touch up is just as complicated and painful with
urethane as the original process.
You need a lot of control to duplicate the original work.
The acrylic enamel is a simpler process, recommended by the Bingilis books and
sticks to anything. It also
isn't as fussy about process so long as you concern yourself about
flammability of this kind of paint.
Dupont for the acrylic enamel and Aircraft Finishing Systems is for water-based
urethane. I believe they have
revised and simplified the process for painting the water-base urethane since I
painted.
If you need process and paint history, I've a long bit in my journal part
10, April thru November and a page that
describes a home made paint booth and page on part handling wings and things in
process.
See link,
www.macsmachine.com/html/paint.htm
Good luck,
Larry McFarland 601HDS at www.macsmachine.com
dhonabach [quote][b]
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