DavidHarris
Well Known Member
I'm a newbie painter building a Vans RV12is. I'm looking for advice about the prep and paint process. I'm at step 39-10 where Vans advises painting the canopy frame, latch, and skirts. Once I get the empennage attached and do a bit of related work, I'll come to step 38-13 advising to paint the interior. For various reasons, it may be 18 months before I get there.
I'm based inland in California and have elected not to alodine or prime any of the alclad parts while building.
A friend has half a gallon of gray Sherwin-Williams JetFlex Polane-L left over that he's offered for me to use for the canopy and interior. I asked Sherwin-Williams about the application process and got the following response:
"David per your question below, if going over direct to metal you would need to abrade the metal and clean once that's done a pretreatment is needed. Acid etch and alodine or AC131 are good pretreatments. Primer would be next, see attached. Let me know if you have any question. "
If I understand this right, the process is:
* scuff with scotchbrite
* clean with water and acetone
* acid etch
* alodine
* mask off all the access holes, nut plate holes, brakes components, and everything else that I don't want painted gray in the interior
* prime with Sherman-Williams CM0483800 two-part epoxy primer
* paint with Polane-L
I'm having a terrible time visualizing how to do this to a completed 3-dimensional interior. Section 5 of the plans isn't enough for me to understand. Would I apply acid etch with a sponge, let it sit, then wipe it up with a shop towel? Same for alodine? I've only sprayed with a rattle can, and when I used self-etching rattle can primer, I didn't etch or alodine. Is etch and alodine important for two-part epoxy primer adhesion? Is it difficult to spray the interior with a gun evenly and without getting drips, given that some surfaces point down? Is it sensible to skip some areas, such as the aft side of the firewall (to prevent fumes in the event of a fire), the underside of the avionics bay (invisible and hard to reach), the side skins just aft of the firewall (maybe not visible during normal use), or any areas that will be covered with carpet, sets, or interior panels (still getting my head around which these are). My buddy said I might experiment with applying paint with a good brush. Is that viable or hopeless? Do the ingredients hold up for 18 months stored at room temperature, or will I just be using a little on the canopy and then reordering everything when the interior comes around. Is painting an unprepared interior something beginners successfully do, or should I go find a professional shop? And will an auto body shop be accustomed to a process that works for aviation interior paint, or would I need an aviation paint shop?
I'm not looking for absolute perfection, and would like to minimize weight and total effort, but I do want an unblemished interior that holds up well.
Thank you for the advice.
David Harris
I'm based inland in California and have elected not to alodine or prime any of the alclad parts while building.
A friend has half a gallon of gray Sherwin-Williams JetFlex Polane-L left over that he's offered for me to use for the canopy and interior. I asked Sherwin-Williams about the application process and got the following response:
"David per your question below, if going over direct to metal you would need to abrade the metal and clean once that's done a pretreatment is needed. Acid etch and alodine or AC131 are good pretreatments. Primer would be next, see attached. Let me know if you have any question. "
If I understand this right, the process is:
* scuff with scotchbrite
* clean with water and acetone
* acid etch
* alodine
* mask off all the access holes, nut plate holes, brakes components, and everything else that I don't want painted gray in the interior
* prime with Sherman-Williams CM0483800 two-part epoxy primer
* paint with Polane-L
I'm having a terrible time visualizing how to do this to a completed 3-dimensional interior. Section 5 of the plans isn't enough for me to understand. Would I apply acid etch with a sponge, let it sit, then wipe it up with a shop towel? Same for alodine? I've only sprayed with a rattle can, and when I used self-etching rattle can primer, I didn't etch or alodine. Is etch and alodine important for two-part epoxy primer adhesion? Is it difficult to spray the interior with a gun evenly and without getting drips, given that some surfaces point down? Is it sensible to skip some areas, such as the aft side of the firewall (to prevent fumes in the event of a fire), the underside of the avionics bay (invisible and hard to reach), the side skins just aft of the firewall (maybe not visible during normal use), or any areas that will be covered with carpet, sets, or interior panels (still getting my head around which these are). My buddy said I might experiment with applying paint with a good brush. Is that viable or hopeless? Do the ingredients hold up for 18 months stored at room temperature, or will I just be using a little on the canopy and then reordering everything when the interior comes around. Is painting an unprepared interior something beginners successfully do, or should I go find a professional shop? And will an auto body shop be accustomed to a process that works for aviation interior paint, or would I need an aviation paint shop?
I'm not looking for absolute perfection, and would like to minimize weight and total effort, but I do want an unblemished interior that holds up well.
Thank you for the advice.
David Harris