Original Posted By: Steve Eldredge
Steve, Could you please tell me which issue of SPORT AVIAYION had the articleon latex finishing of fabric?Somehow I must have missed that one, and would like to know how it worked for you. With the sky-high prices of traditional finishes foraircraft, an affordable alternative would be most welcome.Graham Hansen________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: Steve Eldredge
grhans(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca wrote: Steve, Could you please tell me which issue of SPORT AVIAYION had the article on latex finishing of fabric? Somehow I must have missed that one, and would like to know how it worked for you. With the sky-high prices of traditional finishes for aircraft, an affordable alternative would be most welcome. Graham Hansen Hang on. I'll get my copy from home during lunch and post it.Stevee________________________________________________________________________________
grhans(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca wrote: Steve, Could you please tell me which issue of SPORT AVIAYION had the article on latex finishing of fabric? Somehow I must have missed that one, and would like to know how it worked for you. With the sky-high prices of traditional finishes for aircraft, an affordable alternative would be most welcome. Graham Hansen Hang on. I'll get my copy from home during lunch and post it.Stevee________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: Michael D Cuy
Hang on. I'll get my copy from home during lunch and post it. SteveeOk here it is. It was Experimenter, not SA.Sept 1996 Issue. Just in case you don't have it the following is areaders digest version.1st. Cover the airframe using the poly fiber process. Their "spiralbound classroom" ie covering manual is worth the $5 (now $10 as of thelast ad I saw in sport aviation). But do not poly brush the wholesurface of the fabric.2nd After covering, shrinking, taping, stiching, etc, seal the fabricwith two coats of high quality flat black exterior latex paint. MikeFisher recommends TRU-TEST, I used Sherman Williams. Apply with aquality brush or 4" wide foam brush. 1st coat perpendicular to airflow,second parallel to it. Brush marks can be minimized by adding a paintconditioner such as FLOETROL. My recommendation here is to not use apaint conditioner on the first coat, because those area's that alreadyhave the weave of the fabric filled, ie over tapes and access holes, thelatex has a tendency to crawl rather than stick if your paint is tothin. I brushed the first coat and plan to spray the second with anairless sprayer.3rd Sand entire surface with 600 being careful not to damage thefabric. Fisher recommends sanding between coats.4th Apply a light coat of white latex over the black where light colorswill be applied.5th The final finish Fisher used was Dupont DULUX Automotive Enamel ofyour choice of colors. Apply with an HVLP system for best results.I'm done with the first coat of black on my fuse at this point and havereassembled my airplane to make sure everything is correct beforecovering the wings. I know that Craig Aho has done a similar job on hisairplane that one an award in Arlington(?) It would be great to knowmore details about his finish job.STevee________________________________________________________________________________
Hang on. I'll get my copy from home during lunch and post it. SteveeOk here it is. It was Experimenter, not SA.Sept 1996 Issue. Just in case you don't have it the following is areaders digest version.1st. Cover the airframe using the poly fiber process. Their "spiralbound classroom" ie covering manual is worth the $5 (now $10 as of thelast ad I saw in sport aviation). But do not poly brush the wholesurface of the fabric.2nd After covering, shrinking, taping, stiching, etc, seal the fabricwith two coats of high quality flat black exterior latex paint. MikeFisher recommends TRU-TEST, I used Sherman Williams. Apply with aquality brush or 4" wide foam brush. 1st coat perpendicular to airflow,second parallel to it. Brush marks can be minimized by adding a paintconditioner such as FLOETROL. My recommendation here is to not use apaint conditioner on the first coat, because those area's that alreadyhave the weave of the fabric filled, ie over tapes and access holes, thelatex has a tendency to crawl rather than stick if your paint is tothin. I brushed the first coat and plan to spray the second with anairless sprayer.3rd Sand entire surface with 600 being careful not to damage thefabric. Fisher recommends sanding between coats.4th Apply a light coat of white latex over the black where light colorswill be applied.5th The final finish Fisher used was Dupont DULUX Automotive Enamel ofyour choice of colors. Apply with an HVLP system for best results.I'm done with the first coat of black on my fuse at this point and havereassembled my airplane to make sure everything is correct beforecovering the wings. I know that Craig Aho has done a similar job on hisairplane that one an award in Arlington(?) It would be great to knowmore details about his finish job.STevee________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: Richard Winkel
This latex paint thing sure would fit my budget. Saw Ed Snyder'sModel A powered Piet a few years ago and he used this method(Fisher Aeroplane) w/Sherwin-Williams or Sears, and it was 8 yearsold at the time and still looked like a sprayed-on finish w/ no cracks.I would enjoy hearing any comments as you guys proceed with thisprocess. Thanks ! Mike C. ________________________________________________________________________________
This latex paint thing sure would fit my budget. Saw Ed Snyder'sModel A powered Piet a few years ago and he used this method(Fisher Aeroplane) w/Sherwin-Williams or Sears, and it was 8 yearsold at the time and still looked like a sprayed-on finish w/ no cracks.I would enjoy hearing any comments as you guys proceed with thisprocess. Thanks ! Mike C. ________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: grhans(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
I am curious to know if repairs and patches can be applied to fabricthat has used the subject latex finish. Do we have any first handexperience in the group?Dick Winkel________________________________________________________________________________
I am curious to know if repairs and patches can be applied to fabricthat has used the subject latex finish. Do we have any first handexperience in the group?Dick Winkel________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: Ian Holland
Has anyone used latex combined with an enamel final coat over atraditional system which used nitrate and butyrate dopes for the initial coats, attaching tapes, etc.?I have seen some jobs where the enamel was applied directly to thedope finish and they were not particularly successful; peeling andcracking of the enamel coat often took place. Perhaps a layer of latex over the doped surface would solve these problems...I don'tknow, and was just wondering if someone has experience with this.Repairing an enameled surface has always been a problem, and I sus-pect that this system would not avoid it. While a doped surface canbe repaired relatively easily, it is always difficult to match theold color exactly due to fading, etc. Good quality enamel may not fade so much as doped finishes...particularly when exposed to a lotof sunlight.With good luck and care, one may not have to make many repairs to finished fabric throughout the life of the cover. "Hangar rash",accidents and hail storms pose the greatest threat to a fabric cover,but these will almost always cause more permanent (and expensive)damage to an aluminum-skinned aircraft.I hope somebody out there has tried this system so that the rest of us can benefit from his experience.Graham Hansen________________________________________________________________________________
Has anyone used latex combined with an enamel final coat over atraditional system which used nitrate and butyrate dopes for the initial coats, attaching tapes, etc.?I have seen some jobs where the enamel was applied directly to thedope finish and they were not particularly successful; peeling andcracking of the enamel coat often took place. Perhaps a layer of latex over the doped surface would solve these problems...I don'tknow, and was just wondering if someone has experience with this.Repairing an enameled surface has always been a problem, and I sus-pect that this system would not avoid it. While a doped surface canbe repaired relatively easily, it is always difficult to match theold color exactly due to fading, etc. Good quality enamel may not fade so much as doped finishes...particularly when exposed to a lotof sunlight.With good luck and care, one may not have to make many repairs to finished fabric throughout the life of the cover. "Hangar rash",accidents and hail storms pose the greatest threat to a fabric cover,but these will almost always cause more permanent (and expensive)damage to an aluminum-skinned aircraft.I hope somebody out there has tried this system so that the rest of us can benefit from his experience.Graham Hansen________________________________________________________________________________
Pietenpol-List: Re: Latex finish for fabric.
Original Posted By: "Craig R. Lawler"
>>Has anyone used latex combined with an enamel final coat over a>traditional system which used nitrate and butyrate dopes for the >initial coats, attaching tapes, etc.?Graham- I plan to cover a fake (read practice !) center section withsuperflight (dacron 1.8 oz) and do the latex fill/primer method, thenshoot it with Dupont Dulux automotive enamel. Just to see.Don't know anyone who's done the above combination you've described. I would also really like to hear how some of you guysare doing with this latex method. Thank you, Mike C. ________________________________________________________________________________
>>Has anyone used latex combined with an enamel final coat over a>traditional system which used nitrate and butyrate dopes for the >initial coats, attaching tapes, etc.?Graham- I plan to cover a fake (read practice !) center section withsuperflight (dacron 1.8 oz) and do the latex fill/primer method, thenshoot it with Dupont Dulux automotive enamel. Just to see.Don't know anyone who's done the above combination you've described. I would also really like to hear how some of you guysare doing with this latex method. Thank you, Mike C. ________________________________________________________________________________