by sjmjulie » Mon Aug 07, 2017 2:24 pm
We recently completed our wings ourselves using the Poly-Fiber clear UV coat over the colored wing sleeves (white with blue leading edges and tips).
Pros: calculating the wing area meant 2 gallons-actually only used one and got a shiny finish on the wing surfaces, pleased with the finish.
Only the cost of materials vs the expense of hiring someone.
Cons: paint is a poly-isocyanate product and you need to gear up with special respirators and eye protection. No exceptions! It's nasty stuff.
Made our own paint booth but the hung wing was at the limit of my reach at the trailing edge and about 10 inches off the ground for the leading edge. I was painting the leading edge blind and even with 4 coats it is not as shiny as I would hope. That was all me and not the product. Rest of the wing had at least 7 coats. I'd recommend making either a rotating mount that is a comfortable height or hang with a pulley system to be able to see the whole wing.
The plane has 3 colors and by far the most time was taken in masking for the various colors; the painting was relatively quick. We also used a Harbor Freight compressor and multiple spray guns (one for white primer and white base coat, one for yellow, one for blue and one for clear. Even with a thorough cleaning, the color is off just a bit from the residue remaining in the spray gun).
Can't tell you the custom paint other than they look really nice but offer this as a comparison. And I have no painting experience other than watching how my neighbor did it while painting a truck. Hope this is useful.