RivetBangers.com

How do you find a good paint shop?

I don't even know where to start with what to look for besides cost, reputation, and availability. My paint scheme design is nearing completion and it is probably time for me to get a shop lined up. I'm in SoCal area, so close is good, but I'm willing to look further afield if the cost and timeliness is right.

Do they do the disassembly/reassembly, or is it up to the owner/builder to do this?
Do they need detailed instructions for the design? Templates? Types of paint? Color matching?
Fiberglass work is done, but do I need to clean everything up after flying 300+ hours, or will the paint shop handle that?
How much time should a good paint job take?
What else do I need to consider?

Bruce,

You should fly it out here and have the guy who painted Mike's (my hangar mate) airplane. I think you looked pretty close at it and it does better than pass muster!

He will do everything kit to kaboodle including design and up to three colors with some body work for about $9,000.

You will probably want to assist with the take apart and reassembly. He doesn't mind.

He is at Shirly/Brookhaven, NY and the place is called Ed's Aircraft. I call it Eddie's Airplane Salon and Spa. He does INCREDIBLE work!!!

CJ

NY! Jeez, that's a bit out of my area. Winter is probably not the best time for me to fly out there.

So it looks like the design is pretty much done. Just waiting on the final specs. I've got a slot at a local paint shop on March 20, 2017.
Can't wait to get some color on this bird!
Hopefully, the downtime will be minimal.

What's wrong with UNPAINTED?!?!?! I think you just offended CJ, VLAD and Myself!

Any preview pics of your paint scheme?

bullojm1 wrote:What's wrong with UNPAINTED?!?!?! I think you just offended CJ, VLAD and Myself!

Any preview pics of your paint scheme?

Don't forget about Billy, Noah and Agent Orange! They are all unpainted too!

CJ

Once I landed at Lake Placid, NY and was met by a fellow RVator Phil. He showed me his operations and his RV6. I was trying to be smart and told him it's my paint scheme and I am collecting royalties. His 6 looks brilliant. Unpainted! Phil bounced back hey I am flying for 20 years and you?... so who is collecting royalties here. I shut up...

Looks like Billy's airplane!

I shut up too!

CJ

I want it painted so it doesn't look like every other unpainted RV!

Nothing wrong with bare aluminum, especially if it is polished up a bit. Although, the glare can be annoying at times. I don't think I would ever waste any time trying to keep it polished. Wife says paint it, so you can probably guess her favorite color.

So here is the preview of the scheme. I hope it stands out just a bit in the sea of RV's at Oshkosh. I didn't want white with a stripe like so many paint schemes.



What do you think?

Bold. Will surely turn heads. I like it Bruce.

Brice,

That does look spectacular!

CJ

Nice scheme, Bruce! I love it!! Can't wait to see the finished results.

It was a one-eyed, one-horned . . .

But I like it!

Going to pick it up today!

A couple of photos from the painter.





Hopefully it won't take me too long to reassemble everything.

bruceh wrote:How do you find a good paint shop?

I can tell of one place NOT to get something painted.

Got my daughter and her friend to drive me up to Corona on Friday to reassemble the airplane. Spent most of the morning getting the tail back together. The middle bolt that connects the two elevators together is a major pain to get the washers back in between everything. Had to rewire up the trim servo. The rudder was also time consuming. A bit of overspray on the rod end bearing had to be scraped off so the ball would turn and get the bolts to line up again. Thankfully, my daughter has smaller fingers and she was able to get the nuts on those bolts. Got the tail fairings and inspection plates back on. Wing root fairings back on and the rubber strips re-glued on the ends. Then we decided to put the canopy back on. It took a while to get the holes to line up with the release pins. The bottom cowling slipped right on easily, but one of the hinge pins on the side of the top cowling just wouldn't go in. The top cowling came on and off many times trying to figure out what the problem was. The hinge pin was smooth on both halves, but when put together, no way. Even tried spinning the hinge pin in with the cordless drill. Got it almost in, but ended up short. I will need to get some undersized pins to play with. By the end of the day we were down to just the wheel pants/fairings, flaps, ailerons and wing tips. No way we were going to have enough time left for that, and the weather back home in Ramona was going IFR, so we left in in the shop and drove home. Weather this weekend has been rainy, so it will be later this week before I can get back up there to finish the reassembly.

Sure is pretty looking!