Advice on choosing Poly fiber or Stewart System

[PapuaPilot]

I am getting ready for the paint job on my KF5. The covering is done, except just a few more tapes (YEAH)! Up to this point I have used the Poly Fiber process. The next step is the UV coat/primer.

At one point I was considering trying Latex house paint. After more research I decided I really don't want to do this. It appears there are a lot of opinions, a few success stories, but not enough hard facts and data on longevity, repairability, etc. to risk it. Nada on the Latex.

BTW, please don't turn this thread into a rabbit trail on Latex paint. :(

Now I am bouncing between using Poly-Tone (I don't want to use Areo-Thane because of the difficulties with making repairs) or the Stewart System. I contacted the Stewart Systems reps and they said it would be OK to use their products to finish my plane.

I am very interested in the Stewart products because of the shiny finish and use of non-toxic products. I have heard that it can be a real pain to get good results though.

What advice do you have (who have actually used these products) as far as total costs (materials & equipment), ease of use, final product, spraying equipment required, etc?

[BigJohn]

I have done Polyfiber but watched a friend use Stewarts and I will go with Stewarts any time in the future, Much easier and cleaner to work with.

[Av8r3400]

If you've gone this far with Poly Fiber, why change?

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Stewarts paint due to the high content of isocyanates (extremely toxic) and the lack of repairability.

I guess I'm old school, but I like the Stits (Poly Fiber) system.

[jamesmil]

we used stewart system on our model 7, love there glue and primers but the top coat turned into a disaster. if you do not have a controlled paint booth to paint in as we didn't ie. temperature, humidity, and air flow your chances of a good paint job are very slim. we lost over 100 man hours just on the wings alone to peel and sand and reprime and sand and prime so that we didn't have to recover the wings.
on my next build I will use there glue and primers but have decided to use a good automotive paint for the top coat. just my 2 ct, worth.
also be aware the stewarts glue while very easy to work with and very strong will dissolve if saturated with auto gas.

[jiott]

jamesmil, don't use automotive paint for the top coat. It doesn't have the long term flexibility needed for fabric.

[kmach]

be aware the stewarts glue while very easy to work with and very strong will dissolve if saturated with auto gas.

I do 100 % believe this.

On my model 5 it was done with the stewart system, I had small hairline cracks form in the topcoat at the wing tank to rib area seam. the glue and fabric underneath delaminated. What I thought was going to be a small touch up of the paint turned out to be larger !

I used polyfiber system to fix , and added the gas cap fairings at the same time . shouldn't be anymore problems , but only time will tell

[HansLab]

I used Poly for my first time, and would do it again and again.
I'm no painter, and no sprayer either, but the easiness Poly gave me, resulted in the plane I have right now. Nothing went wrong (working form the book), nothing had to be re-painted.

It just was born under my very hands: MAGIC.
One has to be careful with the fumes, though, but a good respirator (I used 3M) and a paper spray-suit made lots of difference. Great fun to work with.

[Paul Z]

Hans you did an excellent job, it is a beautiful plane.
Any pictures of the instrument panel?

[HansLab]

..Thanx for asking ;-))

Any father loves his daughter, doesn't he?
Just a tiny peek: the hole up right is now filled with S-mode transponder (obliged, here).

[rosslr]

G'day Hans, what a lovely job! You say you are no painter but you have achieved a very nice finish! and the panel looks great too. OUt of interest, what transponder did you fit? I am waiting in hope they drop in price as the mandatory move to mode s comes in to affect.

And the photo of your your plane against the background is very nice too.

thanks for posting the pics. And I hope you and your girlfriend are still happy sleeping together .........

cheers

ross
Mt Beauty
OZ

[kitfoxnick]

I've considered doing it the other way cover in Stewarts and paint in Poly tone. Stewarts has had top coat problems in the past. I hear its better, but is still finicky. The Poly tone is easy to get good results from.

[HighWing]

....and a paper spray-suit made lots of difference. Great fun to work with.

Caught my eye. I still wear one of the green T-shirt I wore when I painted the yellow on my IV. It looks like the front is all faded to yellow.

I agree that the paint job and the color scheme are both top notch. I agree with the "Magic".

[jrevens]

Yes! It looks very nice, Hans... both the paint and the panel!

[Danh]

Very nice job

[HansLab]

My cheeks blush.....
All I did was following the manual and doing things like they said. Thank you for your very kind compliments, though.
Speaking of which I would never use a system like Steward or Poly combined with some other product: a system is what it IS: all layers of the Poly should become one single fabric. That' show I did it, for sure.