viper21

My Feedback: (9)

Hi guy's, I have some jets and warbirds that will need to be painted pretty soon and I cant spray at home because I have no place to do it and I am unfortunately in a situation at this time that I have to abide by the rules of no painting. I realize I need to prime my planes several times and fill them as some are fiberglass fuselages and the wings will be fiberglassed as well they will need to be painted. I will have some wood built up planes my Top Flight 1/5 P51 kit will be one and a couple of wood electric ducted fans that will get fiberglassed and then I will need to paint them. At this point nothing is ready to prime so I very lucky and the first plane I will need to paint will be my EDF Jepe F16 but its all composite with the panel lines molded in so I wont prime it and as its already white I will spray a coat of Thunderbird white PPG Lacquer and Thunderbird red and blue also in PPG Lacquer. So I am just going to need to take it to the spray booth and paint the color and I can bring it home and put the decals on and when its ready I can go back and spray the 2 part auto gloss clear. I have about 4 planes I can do this with maybe a couple of others. But I am at the stage where the need to be built first so I will do that and give it a few months and I can probably get away with primering the planes and filling and wetsanding to get them ready for color.

Now I just need to find a body shop owner that will rent me time in his booth? Have any of you guys done that before?

Thank goodness for ARF's I have plenty of them to keep me building without needing to paint for at least 6 months. I will be doing some mods to one plane that will require a little Ultracote work(Something I really suck at hence the reason for painting) and I will need a can of the new Ultracote paint but its water based so it may not smell and I might get away with it since it would only be a small part that would need the paint.
And I guess I will need to learn to use covering and an iron[:'(]
Thanks Viper

The Ghost

I have never had to pay as I know a panel shop owner. I would suggest that you talk to the owners of the shops and let them know what you want to do. It don't hurt to ask! Some may and some may not want to talk to you. As I said. It don't hurt or cost anything to ASK.

Cheers.

chet-RCU

I would suggest, checking with the local high schools,

A few years ago, I signed up for an adult education class for auto body repair,

just to have use of their paint booth for a few evenings.

chet

viper21

My Feedback: (9)

Chet, thats a great idea I know that the high schools near me have no auto body classes this being California they shut all that kind of stuff down. However a local Junior College would have classes in auto body repair. That would gain me access to a spray booth and for one class its cheap because I am a CA resident. I would need to talk the instructor into allowing me just to come and use the facilities and not work on cars as I cant physically and dont want to anyway. I will let you know what the outcome is of your idea I am pretty sure one JC not too far away still has a program got auto body repair.
Thanks for all the great answers guys you made my weekend I was worried that I was never going to be able to paint a plane again and since I don't cover very well thats serious[:@] I will however learn to cover I figure after almost 20 years of building and flying I should learn[] I bought the Video Tape on How TO Monokote so I will watch it and see if it works but I will use Ultracote I seem to have better luck with it.
Thanks Again
Viper

Deadstik

My Feedback: (8)

Viper,

I solved that problem the easy way.. I built my mechanic (who also has a very nice paint booth) a small 3 channel electric trainer. Free plane.. free time.. GREAT DEAL.....As others have suggested.. all you have to do is ask... and.. offer to help in whatever way you can around the shop. I have found most people respond favorably to this type of inquiry. Good luck w/your painting....

PS.. make SURE to have rotating jigs ready to paint your fuses and wings BEFORE you get the paint time. When you do get it.. make certain you have ALL your supplies before you even set foot in the door. It goes w/o saying that all of your sanding/prep should be done before you get there. I usually have it so all I do when I get there is walk in.. mix paint.. wipe down the plane one more time.. and shoot. I also usually do this on a Saturday morning when the owner is NOT working and just opens up the shop for me...

Have fun,

Dan

viper21

My Feedback: (9)

All great ideas, I will let you know how it works out when I am ready to paint.
THanks All
Viper

DMyer

My Feedback: (2)

Must suck to live in CA and have all those rules... will someone turn you in if you did it in your back yard or is there a huge fine? In your situation I would would go non-toxic like latex.... some people are doing great stuff with latex these days. Good luck.

clr2cont

My Feedback: (1)

You cant have great weather and everything else too!