Micro paint repair

James331

James331

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James331
With how simple aircraft paint is compared to the crazy pearl, metallics and whatnot on cars, why don't we see more shops offering this? Or a mobile guy with enough basic paints and a scanner to do it out of his van???


Seems little aircraft paint issues go one of three ways
1 just leave it

2 touch it up with a brush to cover the metal, kinda like people do on jalopy cars

3 spend 20k to re paint the whole damn plane


Seems like this would work even better on the solid type aircraft colors.


http://thedingking.com/paint-chip-bumper-repair-training/
 
I wonder how that would hold up to rain @ 150mph?

And I've seen plenty of aircraft with pearls, metallics, etc - my plane is all metallic paint, for example.
 
If it's the same paint system, don't see why it would have trouble
 
Probably lack of customer volume and/or lack of understanding of need and crossover to aviation. I'd be a customer.
 
Most Airport authorities don't alloe "station waggon" mechanics.

Then there is always EPA issues
 
bnt83 said:
Most Airport authorities don't alloe "station waggon" mechanics.

Then there is always EPA issues
Click to expand...

Unless you're trying to roll a fleet of vans or whatever, that's easy enough to get around
 
Why not do it yourself ?. It is very easy to do with minimal tool cost. I removed the tail cone on my cherokee and a local paint supplier matched the 3 colors by computer and made me up a quart of each in a single stage urethane. With hardener, reducer and fish eye preventer about $300. A harbor freight gun #47016 and an airbrushes for less than $50. I have been able to strip and paint one aileron, my firewall, and numerous chips and still have paint left over. For chips the airbrush turns you into a pro. It works fantastically. Touched up a chip on the top of my flap about the size of a dime and went to show it to someone a week later and cannott find it. I am not a great painter, but the tools make the difference.
 
Exactly, my point was as a business, lots of people don't even change their own oil, figure there is money to be made :)
 
Ever tried touching up single stage catalyzed paint with a sprayer? it usually looks worse than the damage did. The demo showed a color coat and clear coat. Not many airplanes I know use clear coat.

Touching up urethane paints is best done with a micro brush and leftover original paint. Mixing 3 to one is simple enough with small mixing cups but you need fresh activator so don't use your old can that's been on the shelf for a few years. Use the dabber to "fill" the chips and minimize the sharp edges of chipped areas. For bigger repairs prep and paint the panel from seam to seam. Anything else will show.
 
Vaflier said:
Why not do it yourself ?. It is very easy to do with minimal tool cost. I removed the tail cone on my cherokee and a local paint supplier matched the 3 colors by computer and made me up a quart of each in a single stage urethane. With hardener, reducer and fish eye preventer about $300. A harbor freight gun #47016 and an airbrushes for less than $50. I have been able to strip and paint one aileron, my firewall, and numerous chips and still have paint left over. For chips the airbrush turns you into a pro. It works fantastically. Touched up a chip on the top of my flap about the size of a dime and went to show it to someone a week later and cannott find it. I am not a great painter, but the tools make the difference.
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Not to be a FAR hammer, but you painted an aileron? Did you have an A&P re-balance it after? I believe (and someone will be along to correct me) you cannot legally (and more importantly safely) repaint a balanced control surface without getting the balance checked.

John
 
ChiefPilot said:
I wonder how that would hold up to rain @ 150mph?
Click to expand...
Here is what rain, propelled at aircraft speeds, can do to paint.


images

https://www.google.com/search?q=key...i=i3POWdekJMmxmQGu1omwCg#imgrc=g6i4fnSODqRA_M:
 
 
 
James331 said:
Ooook, well if we're going there

Here's what 120mph winds can do and why you should never fly over 120mph lol

tornado-800.jpg
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Nice picture, but you missed the point. The point was that it takes a special paint to be able to withstand those forces.
And your picture was not the result of a 120 mph wind. Perhaps a tornado spawned by those winds though.
 
So use the proper paint, just as you use exterior home paint for the exterior of your home, or aircraft paint for your plane, bottom paint for under the water line of your boat.

This isn't really the topic.


The topic was offering a good microtouch up service to the GA scene, OF COURSE using correct paints...
 
James331 said:
So use the proper paint, just as you use exterior home paint for the exterior of your home, or aircraft paint for your plane, bottom paint for under the water line of your boat.

This isn't really the topic.


The topic was offering a good microtouch up service to the GA scene, OF COURSE using correct paints...
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Fair enough. And if I ever hear of such a service, I have several spots on my plane that could us it.
 
Stewartb said:
Ever tried touching up single stage catalyzed paint with a sprayer? it usually looks worse than the damage did. The demo showed a color coat and clear coat. Not many airplanes I know use clear coat.

Touching up urethane paints is best done with a micro brush and leftover original paint. Mixing 3 to one is simple enough with small mixing cups but you need fresh activator so don't use your old can that's been on the shelf for a few years. Use the dabber to "fill" the chips and minimize the sharp edges of chipped areas. For bigger repairs prep and paint the panel from seam to seam. Anything else will show.
Click to expand...
I just finished a little job like that with a metallic single stage. Spraying worked really well but I used the same equipment that was used for original paint. A small brush works fine too. However I didn't go seam to seam and so that line shows, not that anyone except me will notice.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
A friend of mine runs a business where he travels and does touch up work on aircraft. Most of his business is in the Atlanta area, but he's traveled as far as Alaska.

He also has a full-on paint shop at the local airport.
 
kyleb said:
A friend of mine runs a business where he travels and does touch up work on aircraft. Most of his business is in the Atlanta area, but he's traveled as far as Alaska.

He also has a full-on paint shop at the local airport.
Click to expand...


Care to describe his mobile touch up service a little?
 
jsstevens said:
Not to be a FAR hammer, but you painted an aileron? Did you have an A&P re-balance it after? I believe (and someone will be along to correct me) you cannot legally (and more importantly safely) repaint a balanced control surface without getting the balance checked.

John
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John, you are correct and yes we did recheck balance and it was well wihin specs.
 
James331 said:
Care to describe his mobile touch up service a little?
Click to expand...

Sure. He has a trailer he tows to your location. The trailer contains his supplies and equipment. He generally sprays in your hangar, and apparently takes enough precautions to avoid problems with the neighbors and the airport gendarmes.

I know he's done work at PDK, which is probably the biggest bug up the arse GA field for 500 miles in any direction.
 
kyleb said:
Sure. He has a trailer he tows to your location. The trailer contains his supplies and equipment. He generally sprays in your hangar, and apparently takes enough precautions to avoid problems with the neighbors and the airport gendarmes.

I know he's done work at PDK, which is probably the biggest bug up the arse GA field for 500 miles in any direction.
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Where is his base of operations, in case I wanted to come up and visit family or friends for a few days and have some work done while there?
 
JOhnH said:
Where is his base of operations, in case I wanted to come up and visit family or friends for a few days and have some work done while there?
Click to expand...

Cartersville GA. VPC. His name is Don Smith, but I forget the business name. Call early - he stays busy.
 
jsstevens said:
Not to be a FAR hammer, but you painted an aileron? Did you have an A&P re-balance it after? I believe (and someone will be along to correct me) you cannot legally (and more importantly safely) repaint a balanced control surface without getting the balance checked.

John
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Hmm. Doesn't seem that would be a big deal. Paint is paint. But then I remembered being told at a tour of the Boeing factory that some airlines order white airplanes because white weighs less than colors. This is on Boeing Seven big mo fo's. It makes a difference. On something as small as a control surface on an LBF, little bitty fo, I suppose it could make difference. Probably just to very fast airplanes because of 'flutter'
 
One trick when doing this kind of touchup is to make sure the lighting is right when you do the "after" photographs.

Seeing as I ain't no A&P and don't know diddlypoop about this, the other question is, do the FARs require you to re-balance the surfaces if the paint gets a chip in it?
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
One trick when doing this kind of touchup is to make sure the lighting is right when you do the "after" photographs.

Seeing as I ain't no A&P and don't know diddlypoop about this, the other question is, do the FARs require you to re-balance the surfaces if the paint gets a chip in it?
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A touch up of a chip would not require rebalancing. Stripping completely and repainting does. On my Cherokee there is a wide range it has to be within. You would have to lay it on like peanut butter to be out of range. Other aircraft likely have smaller tolerances. The service manual explains the tools and the process.
 
Stewartb said:
Ever tried touching up single stage catalyzed paint with a sprayer? it usually looks worse than the damage did. The demo showed a color coat and clear coat. Not many airplanes I know use clear coat.

Touching up urethane paints is best done with a micro brush and leftover original paint. Mixing 3 to one is simple enough with small mixing cups but you need fresh activator so don't use your old can that's been on the shelf for a few years. Use the dabber to "fill" the chips and minimize the sharp edges of chipped areas. For bigger repairs prep and paint the panel from seam to seam. Anything else will show.
Click to expand...

I've been doing spot repairs on urethane , enamel, laquer, etc. for about 30 years now. A seamless blend is not hard, but it takes the experience and "care about what you do", to do it properly.
Painting "seam to seam" is what shows. As nothing is a perfect butt shoot match. Even the same paint, same gun, will show different sometimes.
A properly done blend will be seamless, and not show.
 
bluerooster said:
I've been doing spot repairs on urethane , enamel, laquer, etc. for about 30 years now. A seamless blend is not hard, but it takes the experience and "care about what you do", to do it properly.
Painting "seam to seam" is what shows. As nothing is a perfect butt shoot match. Even the same paint, same gun, will show different sometimes.
A properly done blend will be seamless, and not show.
Click to expand...

Hi Bluerooster, I've been fixing some spots with filiform corrosion by stripping, cleaning, and alodine. The problem with stripping is it leaves a hard edge between paint and bare aluminum that subsequent painting won't hide.

How does one smooth or fade the edge of the old paint so it's not so prominent? I think I could do it on steel with a variety of abrasives but feel I need to be very cautious on aluminum skins.

Feathering paint is an art for sure, and not something I'm up to but I've been lucky so far with patching 5yo single stage urethane, except for the ridge line.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Bluerooster, since I think most of us like to learn, please consider doing a video to show us the best way to go about doing a small spot repair on our aircraft.
 
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