Anyone in midwest finish/paint for $$$?

[Matt Brown]

I can tell at this point that I’m not going to have time to paint both planes I’m working on before the Nats. I have an RSM Pathfinder LE mostly framed up that I could get ready for finishing in 4-6 weeks. I was just curious what it would cost for someone to take my rough sanded Pathfinder LE and do the finish from there. I’m not looking for a 19-20 pointer, just something that looks decent. If it’s out of my price range I’ll probably just go to a plastic fantastic finish. I want paint for its durability but time is running out for it to make the Nats this year.

Thanks, Matt

[kevin king]

 Maybe ask a member of your flying club?

[Craig Beswick]

Mark I am not in the US so I am not familiar with all the BOM rules. So I am only asking a question!

If someone else does the painting do you still get appearance points?

All the best
Craig

[Matt Brown]

The way I understand it is I would have to build the wing or fuselage and assemble them setting the alignments. This is the minimum required to qualify for BOM and get appearance points.
This isn’t what I wanted but I’m running out of time and talent. I haven’t painted a plane since my Ringmaster back in the early ’70’s. I’m starting the finish process on a Vector. It’s my learning to paint airframe.

Matt

[Perry Rose]

In 2.1 Builder of the model 3/4 of the way down is another sentence that applies here. "The pilot must be the person who applies the finish"  There are ways around it "if your careful". Too late now.

[Matt Brown]

In 2.1 Builder of the model 3/4 of the way down is another sentence that applies here. "The pilot must be the person who applies the finish"  There are ways around it "if your careful". Too late now.

I’d never read that! I guess if I want to fly it this year, it’s gonna get Monokote/Ultracote finish.

Matt

[Brett Buck]

I’d never read that! I guess if I want to fly it this year, it’s gonna get Monokote/Ultracote finish.

Matt

   Which Class/category are you going to enter?  The (official) Advanced has no BOM, and the (unofficial) Beginner/Intermediate have no BOM. You can fly, just without appearance points, and that it pretty easy to overcome in Beginner and Intermediate. Gonna have a problem trying to *win* without appearance points in NATS Advanced, but qualifying should certainly be possible.  Only Junior/Senior/Open require BOM to enter.

   That having been said, it is entirely possible (although not desirable)  to put on a complete 18-point finish in about a week (since I have done it, 3 times now, due to generalized sloth) and about a 13-14 point Monokote/paint fuselage finish in about 2-3 days.  Unless you use dope, there is no reason to have it sit around for any length of time. Dope, you might want to let things outgas for a while at various points, but that depends on your desired results. This is early March, the NATs is in late July. You should have plenty of time.

    Brett

[Matt Brown]

   Which Class/category are you going to enter?  The (official) Advanced has no BOM, and the (unofficial) Beginner/Intermediate have no BOM. You can fly, just without appearance points, and that it pretty easy to overcome in Beginner and Intermediate. Gonna have a problem trying to *win* without appearance points in NATS Advanced, but qualifying should certainly be possible.  Only Junior/Senior/Open require BOM to enter.

   That having been said, it is entirely possible (although not desirable)  to put on a complete 18-point finish in about a week (since I have done it, 3 times now, due to generalized sloth) and about a 13-14 point Monokote/paint fuselage finish in about 2-3 days.  Unless you use dope, there is no reason to have it sit around for any length of time. Dope, you might want to let things outgas for a while at various points, but that depends on your desired results. This is early March, the NATs is in late July. You should have plenty of time.

    Brett

I might have plenty of time if I knew what I was doing!

I’ve flown Advanced the last 3 years at the Nats with SV11 ARFs. If I can quit screwing up my morning flight, I should make the cutoff reasonably easy. Winning is currently out of the question but I can foresee getting very close over the next 3-4 years.
I’m working on the Vector with Sig dope now. Dope is all I’ve ever painted with on airplanes. I’ve used a few other finishes on guitars but was never 100% happy with them.

Matt

[Brett Buck]

I might have plenty of time if I knew what I was doing!

I’ve flown Advanced the last 3 years at the Nats with SV11 ARFs. If I can quit screwing up my morning flight, I should make the cutoff reasonably easy. Winning is currently out of the question but I can foresee getting very close over the next 3-4 years.
I’m working on the Vector with Sig dope now. Dope is all I’ve ever painted with on airplanes. I’ve used a few other finishes on guitars but was never 100% happy with them.

Matt

 I am sorry, Matt, I am sure we have met or run into each other, but placing the name and the face might not always work so well any more.

   In any case, everybody starts out not knowing how to do it, and the only cure is to just try. Stunt fliers tend to have a problem with perfectionism, anything that is not perfect is unacceptable. But to make progress, sometimes you have to just do your best and it comes out how it comes out. Don't like it, learn and do better next time.

   Given the situation, I think it does make sense to try and do something pretty simple but, you should do it yourself. I am not a big fan of dope (a lot of work shrinks forever, is incredibly fragile, and also tends to be heavier than the alternatives for a given quality of finish), but moving to more conventional/modern materials might be a bit of a stretch for an entire airplane. Maybe, do the one you are doing as it you were planning, but for the monokote airplane, cover the wings and tail, and paint the fuse with Klass Kote or some modern 2-part finishes. If you just count working time (not sitting in my living room half-done for a year), I did my entire airplane with about 7-8 days of actual working and waiting for things to cure, and while I did have some high-end advice from multiple Concours winner and 20-pointer Jim Aron, I did it all from start to finish.  Just the fuse could be as little as 4-5 days for a very high-quality finish, and you can get *acceptable* results in about 48 hours. '

    At any rate, I think it is far too early to wave the white flag, I am sure you can manage it in the time available and it will get you at least another 13-18 points. In NATS Advanced, that is maybe 10 or more positions, so don't concede just yet...

    Brett