Hatz Biplane Association

Now THAT got a good laugh! What a picture it painted in my mind...

Shaken, not stirred..... If it's good enough for 007, it's good enough for me.

I used to use a drywall stirring blade that I shortened and would chuck on my drill press. I'd set the can on the table, turn it on, and let it just slowly stir for 15 or 20 minutes while I was doing other things, prep, tack, etc. Worked great until one day I set the can in there and turned it on having forgotten that the last time I'd used the drill press was with a router bit, cutting a groove in something or another. 3630 rpm. Anyway, as soon as flipped the switch, I knew I was in trouble but it was too late. An entire gallon of Polybrush climbed up the stirring bit and up the chuck in a what can only be described as a Polybrush water spout. Everything within 5 feet was covered in Polybrush including me. If you haven't had Polybrush in your ears, you haven't lived. I wanted to get mad but couldn't. It was just too damned funny, even though I was the idiot covered in pink.

I bought a paint shaker the next day.

Mark

Update!!!!

I used a new can of Poly Tone, had it shaken at the local hardware store, bought a new air/oil separator, was very careful straining, etc., etc. My fuselage now looks great! Nice rich finish with no grit in the finish. FINALLY, I'm on to assembling the airplane! Still don't know what my problem was, but if I had to guess, I'd say the difference was having the can shook well.

I know that when spraying metal parts with Poly-tone that you have to spray the parts with color while the epoxy primer is still drying and tacky. Is it possible that you have to do the same with Aerothane?

Noooooooooooooo- I hangar with some Stearman guys - They think I have gone off the deep end. But I am actually copying a Stearman I saw at a show. I only have a few red accents left on the wings and fuselage and I am done with the red. I failed to mention that the problems with the red Aerothane only occur over aluminum (Epoxy primer) and not over fabric (Poly Spray). I am about 90% convinced that Aerothane does not work well with Epoxy Primer. I wonder if there is a better primer?

On a spring day in 2012 - The PHOENIX (N838MM) will rise. Started March 3, 2003.

Michael
N838MM

Hey mmcgrew, you're gonna pinstripe aren't ya !!!! mtaylor, I don't know how rough your green is, but green is always alot rougher and duller then most colors, not just in Poly Tone but Dope also. Put on two more coats or one "cross coat" of the new stuff. If it isn't any better you'll have to polish the roughness out. Poly Tone is real easy to polish so don't worry to much about it, it's real soft and polishes almost too easy, you've got to worry about polishing thru the color finish. Good Luck.

Well, while we're on the subject, let me run this by y'all. I covered and shot my Hatz with the Poly Fiber process using the Poly Tone. Wings are daytona white and came out very nice. But when I shot forest green on the fuselage, I got a finish that feels like there was grit in the paint. I wet sanded, cleaned my equipment, prepped and painted and again, grit in the finish. I filtered as I always do, used the same equiptment as on the wings. The project has been on hold for two years while I relocated to a flying community, rehabbed the house and built a hangar. This past summer I brought the project home from storage, wet sanded the fuselage and re shot the fuselage. Guess what...same thing. The grit in the paint sands out easily, so it can't be bead blast glass or sand. Now, I've ordered and received a new gallon of Poly Tone and am wondering if maybe the other can wasn't stirred well enough. I plan to take it to the local hardware store and put it in their paint shaker. I've talked to my supplier and he kinda acted like I was either making this up or I did something wrong because Poly Tone just DOESN't DO this. It never has for me, till now. I've talked to other people who have heard of other people having the same problem. I'm tired of wet sanding and painting. I should be ASSEMBLING! Besides, the Poly Fiber manual says not to get too many coats of Poly Tone on the fabric. I always try to get a good amount of paint off when I wet sand. I'm open for suggestions!

At this point there is a lot to be said about a one color airplane!!!!

Michael
N838MM

Mark made all good points on painting, I know the book says you'll do a better job then a guy who paints all the time, but that's just wrong. Hanging wings and tail surfaces more then doubles the speed of painting them, and it's way easier to do the edges. I'm sure you'd have alot of people at your seminars Mark, but man they are not easy to plan, put on, or handle all the phone questions after they start painting. But if you can deal with all that, and charge enough, you can help alot of people and be doing something else instead of being in the shop working all day.

I'm located at Flabob right next to the factory, so I'm dealing with them every day. I brought it up at the breakfast table this morning and here's the deal.
The two polyurethane topcoat paints are formulated differently. They were developed separately and independently, although now both are made and sold by the same parent company.
The reducing ratios are simply a starting point, but either paint should be reduced as needed for flow out.
All the products are designed to be applied by amateurs and pros alike, but most amateurs don't have access to the equipment necessary to measure specific gravity. Besides reducing, there are many other variables involved. Temperature, humidity, air pressure, work orientation, fan width, gun distance, gun speed, etc.
It's a little like trying to explain every step necessary to make a good crosswind landing. You can give the basics, but it takes practice and experience. Someone telling you the manifold pressure setting they used isn't going to ensure that the next landing will be a good one. You have to adapt.
Always spray out some practice passes before pointing the gun at your work. Most guys are afraid of running the paint, so they end up putting it on too dry. For the same reason, most guys prefer the work to be flat. In other words the work is on saw horses and they're spraying down at it.
We like to hang the work and spray vertical surfaces. It's a lot easier to see, easier to reach, easier to keep debris free, easier to get good flow out and gloss, and a lot faster since you can get both sides in one session.
I've been batting around the idea of developing a 2 day hands-on workshop on painting, specifically as a follow on to the covering seminars that are available. Does that sound like something that anyone would be interested in?
Mark