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Hi All. I'm finishing up my paint designs and wanted to get your input. It's not a perfect layout because I only have PowerPoint to work off of. It's polished metal where the grey is.

My goal was to paint where the plane gets dirty (oil, grime, hand prints, bugs, etc). Yet leave some polish in the areas where polish traditionally stays clean. Keeps weight down from a complete paint job.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks All.

Hey Josh,

For what it's worth, I really like the scheme! I also like your idea of painting the dirty areas but using a paint/polish combination. That will keep weight gain to a minimum.

Have you considered what paint system you want to try? Urethane, Stewart Systems, etc.? Are you going to take the Sonex apart or paint it fully assembled?

Looks great Josh! But hey, nobody ever told me these things get dirty - you are kidding, right?

Looks real good to me. Keep in mind you will have to mask the paint off before you polish so make sure the tape will follow the curves easily. I have seen other Sonexs with partial paint and polished areas and think they are more interesting aesthetically than just paint or just polish. Can't wait to see it when it's done.

I haven't started my paint materials research yet. That will be coming up in the next week or so. If anyone has experience with the various types, I'm sure a lot of builders, myself included, would appreciate the input. This is definitely something I want to do only once...until my next build that is. :D

I plan to tape off the lines and start polishing the other areas to a mirror shine. That will give me an idea if 'curved' lines will be worth the looks.

Bryan - The only way to ensure your VW is running strong is if there are trace oil stains running down the entire length of the bottom fuselage and cowling. :lol:

Diggin it!

Josh,

I wrote an article for the SB&PF about a year ago regarding painting your plane yourself. PM me if you want more info or want to talk products and best practices.

Do you plan to do this yourself or hire out a professional aircraft painter?

Did the same with mine except I used vinyl wrap instead of paint. I can't say enough about the process. It's much cheaper, you can do it yourself, and you can do it without taking the airplane apart. All fiberglass parts on mine are painted and the rest is vinyl. I have about $1000 in total materials to do the vinyl and I did it all myself. Everybody that has seen it thinks it's paint, kinda fun to watch their reaction when I tell them it is vinyl.

One really big suggestion I would like to make: Paint the bottom of your airplane! One of the least enjoyable chores in maintaining a polished airplane is polishing the bottom of the wings and the belly of the airplane. On a tricycle gear airplane, no one is going to get too close of a view of the bottom of the airplane anyway. Next time it is due for a polish, I am just going to paint the bottom of the wings and the belly a light grey where it was once polished.

Thanks,

Jake

Looks great....good job.