Roll on paint job?? Anyone tried this?

[Ewalk02]

I was cruising around the EAA website when I came across this article about rolling on your paint:

http://members.eaa.org/home/homebuilder ... #TopOfPage

Has anyone done this (or heard of this done) with any kind of success? I plan on using the Stewarts System paint and if good results can come from rolling it on I may consider it.

[957DK]

There's a fella at our local airport that recently finished some sort of Zenith. Most of it is polished aluminium but where it was painted he used a roller. It looks really nice as long as it's moving at least 50mph and you're at leat 100 feet away. I won't be using that approach, but then that's just my slanted view.

Dan

[donRNO]

If I remember correctly, you are using Stewart's products. Ask them. Also you can make up a test panel with rib stitching/rivets and tapes. Then try it out. I saw a Kit Fox years ago that was painted using a roller, and it looked great.

I had a Cub painted with the Blue River system (very similar to Stewart's), and I repaired a wingtip ding (about 6 square inches) by applying the BR finish coat with a brush and smoothing it out with a finger dipped in water. It blended perfectly. The water-thinned paint can be quite forgiving.

Don

[User GDS]

I used Stewarts and painted the interior kick panels with a roller. the trouble is that with the Stewarts system, whether sprayed or rolled, those first couple of coats have to be very light scratch coats. It's hard to apply a super thin coat with a roller. If the first coat is too thick, it kinda beads up on top of the primer and the finished product has the look and texture of a cantaloupe skin. I ended up sanding it smooth and re-doing it with the sprayer.

[danerazz]

That is good to know. I am planning Stewart's and had thought of shortcutting the interior paint a bit, but I guess I will go all the way with it.

[Robert Dingus]

if you are using a latex paint you can thin it with windshield washer fluid, its better than water, if you roll it on you can have slight fisheyes but it can be sprayed in an HVLP air gun. after some wet sanding with 1200 to 1500 grit you can wax it and it will last as long as the original paints.

been reading up on this a lot lately, there was a demo of this at Oshkosh 2 weeks ago.

robert (spent 1 day at the show, not enough time there)

[danerazz]

If you use the bug remove washer fluid does it keep the bugs off? (Just kidding, couldn't help it)

[Ewalk02]

If you use the bug remove washer fluid does it keep the bugs off? (Just kidding, couldn't help it)

For that matter if you use the de-ice washer fluid can we stop worrying about ice build up??

[SheepdogRD]

Maybe if we used de-ice washer fluid in our fuel, we wouldn't have to worry about carburetor ice.

[cluttonfred]

I have not tried it, but I understand that the purpose-made Floetrol product can help latex paint go on smoothly. I'd be tempted to try it with a Wagner Power Painter or equivalent cheap sprayer.

[Aeroprakt]

I got a MiniMax for very few dollars that had a damaged tail, and after fixing and covering the tail, I decided to try house paint. I did a lot of research and then got a paint match from our local paint supply store. Put on many coats with Floetrol, paint very thin and flowy, with a roller. The rest of the plane has Aerothane. You cannot tell the difference, in color or texture. There was some glue on the surface where I had patched the H Stab and it didn't do well over the glue. The glue has aged and you can see where it was. I guess I didn't get enough polybrush there.

[Gary H]

I saw one that was painted with a roller , it looked like sH>#
At 20 yards, won't even tell you what it looked like at 10 feet.
I'll stick with the sprayer!!

[Ewalk02]

I've pretty much ruled this out, seemed too good to be true.