REFLECTOR: RE: Wing Painting Jig
Bob Jackson
bobj at computer.org
Sun Jun 19 09:31:32 CDT 2005
Scott,
We don't rotate the wing while painting, it is just supported with the
leading edge up by a pipe coming from two holes in the saw horse and going
up through the hole at the seam between the winglet and the end of the wing.
This setup allowed us to paint the entire wing at one time (two or three
coats about an hour apart), and also allows you to easily reach and paint
the top and bottom surfaces. The only disadvantage is that the most
critical part, the leading edge, is pointing up which makes it a little
harder to paint but less susceptible to runs.
Bob
-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]On
Behalf Of Scott Derrick
Sent: Sunday, June 19, 2005 10:05 AM
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: RE: AWLgrip Paint Times
Bob,
I need to build a wing jig to paint my wings. What supports the end of
the wing when you rotate the jig while your painting?
Scott
Bob Jackson wrote:
> Hello Ronnie,
>
> Thanks for the idea about a two step process with walk boards over the
> strakes -- I think that might work.
>
> Concerning AWLgrip recoat times (I'm not sure why I'm capitalizing it
> that way, but I like the way it looks!) -- there are actually two
> separate key times, first what I would call the "coat continuation"
> time, and second the "recoat without sanding" time. We have found the
> "coat continuation" time to be about 1 hour (in Florida during the
> spring at least). The "recoat without sanding" time is about 24 hours.
>
> "Coat continuation" means that you could paint a portion of the a coat
> (like say the fuselage top), then remove the walk boards, clean-up,
> and then continue completing the coat onto the strakes and fuselage
> bottom, provided you don't wait more than about an hour to continue on
> with the strakes and bottom. Otherwise, the paint "seam" between the
> fuselage top and strakes will not blend together.
>
> "Recoat without sanding" means that you can paint a second coat
> anytime up to about 24 hours without having to sand between coats.
> AWLgrip experts have told us (as rookies) to take advantage of the 24
> hour recoat time (rather than trying to shoot all two or three coats
> spaced an hour or so apart) in order to minimize problems with runs.
> The weight of the second and third coats seems to be cumulative so
> that you will be more likely to get runs using quicker recoat times.
>
> We seem to get the best results by spraying a complete coat in one
> step (i.e., not relying on the coat continuation "grace period"), and
> even doing these coats in a single pass (i.e., not painting one pass,
> then a second immediate pass perpendicular to the first). This is a
> dangerous approach because you have to get the full amount of paint on
> in the single pass (and this risks putting on too much and getting
> runs), but it produces the least amount of orange peel and gives the
> "deepest" looking and shiniest result. With AWLgrip you cannot paint
> light coats (as for example you would generally think of for a first
> "tack coat") otherwise these sparse spray particles become the "seeds"
> for more prevalent orange peel on the second pass. At least in
> Florida, we've also found that you have to use a higher percentage of
> reducer (like around 30%) than advertised in order to minimize orange
> peel.
>
> With AWLgrip there is a critical balance between the "drys" (not
> getting enough paint on), too much orange peel (for the reasons
> described above), and runs (which can not be be repaired as you would
> traditionally by sanding out the run, re-top-coating in a local area,
> then buffing out the boundaries) because AWLgrip is more like a
> plastic and cannot be buffed. What this means is that if you get a
> run, you either have to live with it or resand the surface being
> painted and repaint. Of the three types of errors, the pros seem to
> consider runs as the least objectionable.
>
> I don't think you will be able to paint the bottom of the fuselage,
> let it dry, then paint the top (as you've described below) unless you
> don't mind having an obvious oversprayed, rough boundary between the
> two areas. We're doing all our painting with all parts (wings,
> fuselage, canard, etc.) disassembled. We created a jig so we can
> paint the tops and bottoms of the wings in a single pass, which has
> worked well except for the drys/orange peel/runs problems described
> above. Here's a shot of our wing painting rig (you will need to have
> your Email program setup in HTML mode to view the photo embedded in
> this message, otherwise it should appear as an attachment):
>
> AWLgrip painted wing, with a pipe through a hole in the sawhorse to
> support the wing tip
>
> Primer-painted wing, showing the wing root end of the paint jig, which
> is free to rotate in the 2x6 hole
>
> AWLgrip is used on boats and on airplanes (by Cessna and Airbus, among
> others). It is a great paint with outstanding durability and beauty,
> but because it is painted in a single step (no clear top coating
> afterwards, and no ability to patch and buff in corrections) it has
> been very hard, at least for us, to get right. We painted, sanded
> down and re-painted one wing five times and are still not really happy
> with the result, but admittedly we are rooky painters! I guess that's
> why they call us experimental/home builders! We would rather have a
> paint job that we've done ourselves -- including some imperfections --
> than a professional looking job done by someone else. At least next
> time we paint the fence it should come out looking better!
>
> Please let us know how yours goes and what new techniques you may
> discover,
> Bob Jackson
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* reflector-bounces at tvbf.org
> [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]*On Behalf Of *Ron Brown
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 18, 2005 9:44 PM
> *To:* bobj at computer.org; Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> *Subject:* Re: REFLECTOR: Set-Up to Paint (Top of) Fuselage
>
> Hi Bob,
>
> I'm also in the process of painting and I am going to use
> Awlgrip. My understanding is that you put on a second coat within
> an hour or so of the first. I was planning to use a couple of
> step ladders and a walk board over the strake, paint the top, then
> clean up the strake and paint the top of the strake and the rest
> of the fuselage. I don't think there will be any problems as long
> as the adjoining areas are painted in an hour or two of the last
> coat.
>
> The product sheet says "Recoatability - spray applications consist
> of two to three coats applied over 1-4 hours."
>
> Have you painted your wings yet?
>
> My plan is to paint the bottom of each wing, one at a time. Then
> paint the bottom of the canard and cowls. Then the fuselage
> bottom. I am planning to tilt the fuselage up and let the back of
> the engine rest on a stool so that I can paint the bottom. I
> figure I can tilt the fuselage up about 45 degrees. Then
> depending on how lousy of a shooter I am, I'll shoot or hire
> someone to shoot the tops. Then the top of the wings and top of
> the fuselage.
>
> Let me know - or I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it goes.
>
> Anybody else that has been there - done that can chime in!!!
>
> Ronnie
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Bob Jackson <mailto:bobj at computer.org>
> *To:* Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders List
> <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>
> *Cc:* Bob Jackson (Home) <mailto:bobj at computer.org>
> *Sent:* Saturday, June 18, 2005 9:10 PM
> *Subject:* REFLECTOR: Set-Up to Paint (Top of) Fuselage
>
> Could someone give us some ideas on how you painted your
> fuselage, please? We've created a 'jig' to suspend (without
> gear) our plane in a wings level, or slightly nose-up or
> down attitude, but now we're wondering what kind of
> scaffolding arrangement others have created to allow them to
> reach and cover the very top of the fuselage. We're using
> AWLgrip, which is great paint if you can get it on, but it has
> to be put on in a single pass -- once it's on, you can't go
> back, sand out runs or blemishes or blend in a patch top coat
> in small areas.
>
> Thanks,
> Bob Jackson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> _______________________________________________
> To change your email address, visit
> http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
>
> Visit the gallery! www.tvbf.org/gallery
> user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
> Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
> Check old archives:
> http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>To change your email address, visit
http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
>
>Visit the gallery! www.tvbf.org/gallery
>user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
>Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
>Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
>
_______________________________________________
To change your email address, visit
http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
Visit the gallery! www.tvbf.org/gallery
user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
Check old archives: http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html
More information about the Reflector
mailing list