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Need Help on Stewart’s paint....cracks/chips/blisters

Hi Charlie, if you ever get back here your welcome to fly it. If a little under powered has a O-320-160 and would like it better with a o-360, but it’s big fun even to just ride around.
 
There is the guy you need to learn from. Tutorials and videos don't work - you have to successfully do an entire wing.

If you cannot do somebody else's wing, then before you cover the entire aircraft, finish a wing or fuselage to Algonquin's standard. Then you still have the option . . .

I have not tried shooting the finish coat on anything. I have watched. Painful.

Bob,
As you have said, you have no experience shooting Stewart Systems top coat. Video's are like any tool, you have to get your hands on it to see how things actually work; not sure what you mean by "Painful". I would invite you try shooting some of our paint, under instruction, from someone experienced in the system. The seminars we do are exactly that, hands on to see how the system works. I would simply ask that, before you criticize our system, that you get some training and than make an educated decision if the system is for you.

There are currently three options to cover an aircraft, solvent based systems, pre-finished fabric (Oratex) or waterborne (Stewart Systems). Each system has its place, each has pluses and minuses. Each system requires training and practice to perfect and use safely. In my seminars, I recommend that participants try each of the three systems and research each system. From that information, choose the system that best fits one's needs, budget, and facilities available then become proficient in it before diving into a large project. I have seen great work produced by guys who learned to use the system at a seminar or from the video's and their first plane looked great.

What we are trying to do here is determine what went wrong on Adam's plane and come up with some solutions for him. It is obvious that the builder either did not follow the manual, used a different top coat, or used materials that were subjected to freezing before being applied. The sample that Adam has sent us may shed some light on the issues.

Marty
 
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The seminars we do are exactly that, hands on to see how the system works. I would simply ask that, before you criticize our system, that you get some training and than make an educated decision if the system is for you.

Marty - I have seen the test panels from seminars. They look good. They are only about three feet square. I have not seen, in person, an entire aircraft done to the standards of those test panels. I am not spraying iso-cyanates, so personally I shall stick with dope.

My comments are based on my buddy’s J3 restoration. He bought the exact equipment Stewarts recommended, including the gun, nozzle, and high capacity compressor. He built a huge spray booth with intake and exhaust fans. He went all the way to central California to get tips from an expert.

He is a hobbyist, like me, but a better engineer - when he measures your top coat he does it exactly the way you recommend. He carefully times and shoots. He pays attention to ambient temperature and humidity. I could never do any of those things - maybe that was why he was VP of a major engineering firm and I was a lowly engineer.

Results are mixed. Some areas glossed out and others didn’t. He sanded and tried again. Better, but still my Cub is glossier, having been sprayed with a Binks 37 in my driveway in 1981. I have seen a glider he painted in solvent based paint, and it was impressive.

I think that a hobbyist should spray an entire wing before electing the Stewarts System. That is just an opinion based on watching my buddy’s struggles. A pro shop may not need to do that.
 
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