Username Protected wrote:
Great post Dan. You're in PA?
I have another question..... My PC12 is a 2008 and the paint is perfect. I have friends with newer PC12's and their paint is chipped and scratched and they're already repainting parts. Is there a "paint quality" issue?
I'm afraid of repainting mine that the new paint will look awful in a year.
Yes In PA just west of Philadelphia. Regarding paint quality, when you say "chipped and scratched" paint doesn't just chip and scratch all by itself. Something has physically scratch it, something has to be impacting the paint to chip it.
Flying hard IFR in rain, crossing fronts, etc. can be hard on the paint. Are your friends doing this a lot?
A quality paint job is all about the prep. It's 80% prep, 20% painting. If corners are cut during prep you can have a good looking paint job rolling out of the booth that won't hold up. Also how the paint is mixed and applied can affect quality. For example you could put a primer coat on, and then put a top coat on that has too much activator and have your top coat dry quicker than your primer coat. This can cause bad paint adhesion between the primer and top coat.
You can also do things that extend the life of a paint job such as choosing an overall clearcoat option. This especially helps keep the paint looking new if you polish and buff your plane a lot. Without a clearcoat when you buff a paint job you are actually cutting into the color. Over time the paint will begin to look chalky. With a clearcoat you are not cutting into the color, you are polishing a clear protective surface instead of the pigment. The clearcoat gives the airplane a wet, glossy look and deepens the color, smooths edge lines between accent stripes, seals the placards, and it also provides a more durable and cleanable finish.
Doing an overall clearcoat looks like you are destroying a perfectly good paint job because the entire aircraft is sanded after it is painted. If you read my Mooney thread
here after we went through the paint process it looks like we destroyed it in this pic:
But then the picture right after it you can see a deep glossy finish.
Bottom line, pick a reputable shop that knows your airframe, you don't have to fear a bad paint job.