Hi Troy,
Am hesitant to give opinions here as I am not an expert on painting. However,
here goes.
TroyMaynor@aol.com wrote:
> I am priming the fuselage. Question; is slightly less than a gallon of
> Polyfibers UV Smooth Prime about right for three coats rolled on? It seems
> like I am going through it too fast. I only thinned it enough to roll it on
> easily and to prevent it from drying too fast as temps are a little warm in
> my garage this time of year. I will sand these 3 coats and if I don't sand
> through too much maybe only one or two coats more is sufficient. I suspect I
> put it on too thick by not thinning it much.
I followed the Polyfiber instructions and rolled 6 coats of Smooth Prime. Can't
remember clearly but am pretty sure I used at least 2 gallons of Smooth Prime
for
the whole plane, maybe more. Somewhere in the archives is a paint quantity
estimate. If I had used less than 6 coats, I do not believe I could have done
a
good job of sanding it out smooth. Recommend you do not try to put it on too
thick, 6 regular coats work fine. I thinned mine just a little so that it did
not
dry and flake at the edges of the roller.
> Also, how much paint should I plan to buy for the entire aircraft? I will use
> an automotive paint like DuPont Imron or PPG polyurethane.
Recommend you let the fellow doing the spraying do that estimate. If he can't
estimate it, then it may not be a very good testimony to his abilities.
> One more; the fellow that will be spraying it suggested using some of the
> primer that is normally used under the same paint when he paints cars. What
> have others done? I have already talked to the Polyfiber folks and if I
> remember correctly they said more primer was not necessary. But I was just
> wondering what others had done down this avenue.
All manufacturers declare that you should use their primer with their topcoat.
If
you use somebody elses primer and then you have a problem with the topcoat, they
will just say : " You are on your own." Smooth Prime is an excellent primer and
is compatible with the Polyfiber 2 mix Aerothane catalysed polyurethane which is
what I used with success considering it was my first spraying job. Imron and PPG
autobody paint are 2 mix catalysed polyurethanes. By the way, by the time I had
finished the plane, I was getting pretty good !
One option is to have a hybrid primer, i.e 3 ? coats of SmoothPrime and then ?
coats of DuPont or PPG primer. Be careful though, more paint = more money = more
weight. As a plus, if you do use the automotive primer, your sprayer man does
not
have any excuse not to do a good job. Some kind of rotisserie for the fuselage
is
a definite asset, so spraying before the engine is mounted is probably easier.
I
was not that smart.
Lots of luck.
Cheers, John
|