House paint on my airplane.

[N8053H]

Looks like the way to go.

http://home.comcast.net/~mmorrison123/Latex.htm

Tony

 

[dcstrng]

Good deal, thanks for posting – I knew some of the Piet folks had used the method, but was leery because I don’t know how they went about it – looks like something to try on the rudder and then further if it goes well.

The notion of exterior house paint doesn’t really raise my eyebrows (the watermen around here often use house paint of one flavor or another -- topsides on workboats), rather than pricy “marine” paint, but I had no notion how it might go on aircraft fabric…

 

[EricM]

I wonder how much house paint weighs compared to the other coatings available.

 

[dcstrng]

I wonder how much house paint weighs compared to the other coatings available.

Looks like more here: http://www.flysquirrel.net/piets/paint/paint.html

The test coupons were cut out of the frame after measuring 24" squares as carefully as possible with steel square and Sharpie. The coupons were then rolled into tubes to allow weighing.

The bare, stretched dacron equates to a weight of 7.7 lbs. of dacron for the estimated 570 sq. ft. of fabric to cover an average Air Camper (not including tapes, stitching, doilies, etc. etc.) and this was the tare weight that was deducted from the weights of the other three coupons to derive the weight of the finishes.

Finishing the fabric through Poly-Spray ("silver") added a calculated 16.87 lbs. to the estimated total of an Air Camper and is considered the minimum finish for the Poly-Fiber cover method.

Finishing the fabric through Poly-Tone ("color") added a calculated 26.45 lbs. to the estimated total of an Air Camper and is the basis for my comparison to latex paint.

Finishing the fabric with exterior latex house paint added a calculated 14.83 lbs. to the estimated total of an Air Camper and came as quite a surprise since I had always heard that latex paint would add excess weight over an equivalent conventional cover finish. However, read on....

Looking through the back of the test frame one can see that while the two Poly-Fiber panels (both with silver) pass zero light, the latex finished panel has quite a bit of light showing through. True, my brush application method resulted in strokes and streaks, but it is my opinion that rather than a single coat over the thinned "grip" coat, a second coat or a heavy cross-coat should be considered the minimum application of latex needed. If visible light is seen to pass through the paint coat, surely UV is passing through as well. However, at worst with two coats of latex over the thinned grip coat, the weight of the latex finish will be quite close to that of conventional Poly-Fiber. I'm convinced that weight is no longer an issue when considering the use of latex house paint for airplane finishes.

 

[Flim63]

If visible light is seen to pass through the paint coat, surely UV is passing through as well.

This quote from the original experiment is not necessarily correct. UV could still be blocked while passing visible light. Latex is considered a good UV blocker but further tests could determine if enough UV was blocked even if visible light was passed.

 

[wbpace]

There was an article some years ago, in Sport Aviation, I think, that described a homebuilt that was painted with latex house paint. You might be able to find it on eaa.org or with google.

But the idea of painting an airplane with latex paint just seems wrong to me. Kinda like riveting an RV with all pop rivets (I saw one of those at Oshkosh some 15 years ago).

The Other Bill

 

[N8053H]

There was an article some years ago, in Sport Aviation, I think, that described a homebuilt that was painted with latex house paint. You might be able to find it on eaa.org or with google.

But the idea of painting an airplane with latex paint just seems wrong to me. Kinda like riveting an RV with all pop rivets (I saw one of those at Oshkosh some 15 years ago).

The Other Bill

I posted an article all about this, tells what equipment to use and how it turns out. I will use this method. Those planes in this article look better then most painted with aviation paint. Its all in knowing how to do it.


Tony

 

[N8053H]

When I used the stewards system there is an ash type of product that gets brushed on. This man missed that step. I would use this for the UV protection. Not sure why he missed or skipped that step.
On one of my airplanes there was no paint applied, just this gray uv protection. Worked fine and did not look real bad. Was done this way for weight savings. You do not use the paint to protect against UV rays. Its the gray ash stuff that does it. Again not sure why he skipped this step.

Tony

 

[Raceair]

With the amount of Fabric on a Sonerai being very low, I would not use latex to try to save weight or cost….I have experience with Stits Poly Fiber poly-tone, and aerothane, as well as Randolph dopes, and Randthane. And, I have covered a few ultralights with uncertified light dacron, and painted with Latex. Latex 'works', but I do not recommend it on a Sonerai. For one thing, I don't trust its adhesion quality on all the fiberglass and aluminum that makes up a Sonerai. Getting Latex on the fabric to match Enamel on the aluminum and fiberglass will be a problem….ED

 

[N8053H]

Like the person whom did the video, I do not like the health issue's associated to the systems like Poly or any of the others. I will use house paint and post my pics. when I do this. This will be months from know.

I bet you dollars to doughnuts that if you use the gray ash over the fabric and prime the wings gray, everything comes out the same color with no orange peel.

One must remember, I rattle caned a show car and it won more then one first place trophies, with one being the nationals held in Peoria IL.

It can be done if done correctly, with minimal cost, look at the pics in that video I posted and tell me those are not some nice looking airplanes. If he would have not told you he painted these with house paint, you never would have known the difference.

Tony

 

[oahupilot]

Looks like the way to go.

http://home.comcast.net/~mmorrison123/Latex.htm

Tony

Looking at the photos its obvious he is not using latex paint, he is using enamel. Its clearly printed on the can in the photo. Latex and enamel are two different animals. How ever there is a latex-enamel hybrid that is supposed to be a blend of both, but that is not what the author indicates. I have used enamel to paint all sort of stuff and it is cheap and easy to spray, however its resistance to solvents is not great. Like any paint system your sealer/primer does all the real work of protecting the substrate, the top stuff is for color and chip resistance.

Not everything on the internet is true so be careful and do your homework.

 

[Bil4381]

The big issue is flexibility. Recently a nice Citabria's paint was damaged by hail. It was painted with Ranthane. The paint had say a dozen circular and radial cracks. It didn't drive me insane but the owner recovered it. Probably cost $7000 or more.
With Poly Tone colour paint, the workshop guys cut out a piece of painted fabric and bunch it up to the size of a golf ball and squeeze it hard. When unfolded the paint has no cracks. That sold me. Bill E

 

[n3480h1]

Ok, so if house latex is as good as aircraft paint, why do they still make and sell paint made specifically for aircraft? Can someone refer me to a house paint that looks and performs like Jetglow or Superflite, and one that I can pick up at Lowe's or Ace Hardware? I could probably shoot the plane with a Wagner Power Painter, yes?

Tom

 

[N8053H]

Ok, so if house latex is as good as aircraft paint, why do they still make and sell paint made specifically for aircraft? Can someone refer me to a house paint that looks and performs like Jetglow or Superflite, and one that I can pick up at Lowe's or Ace Hardware? I could probably shoot the plane with a Wagner Power Painter, yes?

Tom

Tom here you go....

http://home.comcast.net/~mmorrison123/Latex.htm

 

[N8053H]

That Titan tornado looks really nice with that Sherman Williams High Gloss Latex.

Tony

 

[n3480h1]

Tony, thank you for posting that. I have to admit, it looks pretty good. I'm about to recover my Skylite and may use this method. My Sonerai is in silver, and I will still go with Aerothane or one of the other conventional finishes.

Tom

 

[ncam]

Not wanting to be booed, but I painted a Cub with a Vacuum Cleaner spray painter that came with old electrolux cleaners, was OK.
Neville