Paint and PolyFiber Coatings

[JoeRuscito]

I need to place an order for more poly-brush, Poly-Spray, and top coats. Im wondering if anyone has a good estimate of how much you need to complete the job. So far Ive gone through 3 gallons of poly-brush (3 spray coats on horizontal and elevator and two on one wing). Fuselage hasn't been started but the other wing has a brushed on coat.

Also Im planning on painting my plane with Ranthane Bahama blue, black, and orange yellow. Ive been told its a good practice to put down a white base coat, so I plan on using poly-tone insignia white for this since its cheaper. Any estimates on how many gallons of white the base coat will take? And how many gallons to cover the plane after white in Ranthane?

Thanks!

[efwd]

Im not certain I recall correctly but I would verify that you can mix product lines. Ranthane and Poly Tone primer.

[JoeRuscito]

Thanks Eddie, I was told at the poly fiber class that ranthane can go over polyfiber products but I will double check with consolidated just in case. I was told it was easier to shoot than aerothane.

[JoeRuscito]

Confirmed by Waldo at consolidated that ranthane can be painted over polytone and polyfiber primer.

[aviator79]

The Poly Fiber manual overestimates how much stuff you need in the table. Depending on your scheme's distribution of colors, you probably only need 3-4 gallons of Ranthane or Aerothane. Maybe even Two gallons and a quart for trim if you're really good at spraying it. I think I used about 2.5 gal total across two colors, but I bought 4 gallons. I have a lot of paint left in the second cans of each of my two main colors. One quart was plenty for all my blue trim.

[JoeRuscito]

Did you use a white base coat?

[JoeRuscito]

Wow! It looks like your whole wing is yellow and you did that with a quart of white. Must go a long way!

Any estimates on polybrush and polyspray. I’ve gotten one estimate at 4 gallons of each. I’m going through it WAY faster than that. Would love some other data points.

Thanks!

[aviator79]

I did white Poly Tone under my orange Aerothane. I didn't use much. I just did a very light dust/tack coat, followed by a light coat for some fill. Just enough to cover the Poly Brush. It makes a big difference in how vibrant bright colors look. I did not do it under my Gray.

[Dave S]

Joe,

Only the bottom and LE is yellow - top is all white aerothane.

What Brian said is precisely true - only takes a thin coat to do it.

Been so long I no longer recollect how much polybrush and polyspray I used - sorry the product does have a lot lower % solids than other types of paint - a gallon has more solvent in it than anything else. Being accustomed to car paint technology, I was surprised how much it took.

[JoeRuscito]

Did you transition from white to yellow right at the trailing edge? I’ve been considering different too and bottom colors but thought the transition may look strange.