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Looking for tips on preparing for paint during the build

Everwild

Well Known Member
If you are a professional aircraft painter, what do you want to see done before the plane enters your shop? What prep details make for a great paint job over a good one?

Hoping to start a thread to collect best practice tips when it comes to prepping for a great paint job as you progress through the build.

It would seem to me properly prepping for paint begins during assembly. Guessing the order of steps and advice will also depend on whether you are priming or not.

For example, I have decided to prime with two part epoxy primer.

Should I prime all faying surfaces?

Specifically places like:
-overlap of closeout tabs
-overlapping skins
-where piano hinges are attached to the elevators and pitch trim tabs.
-Should I prime hinges or leave them alone? I've seen some painted and some not.

-etc, etc. etc.

When is the best time to paint the interior?

Should interior cabin parts use the same two part epoxy for priming or a different primer designed to go under the chosen interior finish?

Do you like to see powder coated parts like brackets scuffed and primed, or just scuffed before riveting to aid future application of primer and paint?

How much bodywork do you like done before it comes to you? Would you rather do the bulk of the filling and fairing to eliminate builder induced issues?

Some other opinions I've read. If you plan to have your plane painted, don't lubricate hinges before paint for fear it could interfere with adhesion. Don't use corrosion inhibitor until it's painted. Don't polish skins as the compounds can get in the crevices and cause possible adhesion problems.
Properly deburring the edges of skins can help to eliminate paint failure along edges.

What else?

Looking forward to hearing everyone's experience/opinion on this subject.
 
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The biggest thing I like to see is a nicely built airplane. Don’t have pokey bits that can hurt an unexpected finger.

Give some thought to future maintenance. If something is removable, it should stay removable.

It’s really nice to see a relatively clean airplane come into the shop. If your plane blows oil out the breather, please give it a wash. Nothing worse than the belly looking like the Exxon Valdez was there.

Like you mentioned, please DO NOT spray corrosion inhibitors in the plane before paint. That stuff will seep out the seams for years after application.

Also like you mentioned, please do not polish until after any paint work is completed. Traces of compound get in the seams and around the rivets. You may not be able to see it but there is enough there to cause separation issues in the paint.

Be careful with die grinders and cut off wheels. They can easily put big scratches or gouges in the metal or fiberglass.

Be careful what you clean your windows with. Some cleaners contain silicone. That’s super bad news in any paint shop.

Silicone sealant is also bad news.

The easiest time to paint the interior is when it’s just a tub. Try to paint just the visible interior areas. No need to paint under the floor or aft of the rear bulkhead.

Some builders like to prime all inner surfaces. Nothing wrong with that. If you prime the exterior, it’s going to get removed as a first step. Your painter can’t warranty the work unless they can control the whole process from beginning to end.

That’s all I can think of right now.
 
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I don't think any professional painter would accept prep work done by the owner, outside of the stuff mentioned above. No painter will warranty his work unless he does the prep. Painting is easy. it is the prep that is hard and makes the difference in longevity of the paint job. If you prime it, expect the painter to charge you to sand it off and re do it. It is unlikely you can lay down filler flat enough to be good, so best to let the painter do it instead of him having to sand off your work. Unless you have painted before, you likely don't have an eye for what is acceptable once the paint goes on. Filler can look perfect without paint and utterly horrific once the paint goes on if you don't know how to look at it. This is a tough lesson learner by painters early in their career.

Larry
 
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