Latex House Paint Covering method.

Big milestone today. I started finishing the fabric. I decided a while ago after some research that the Latex house paint system was the lightest covering method I could use. The major covering methods are mostly dissolved thermoplastic. All of these processes are heavy. The latex system I believe is also similar to the Stewart covering system,  http://www.stewartsystems.aero/default.aspx    in fact I am using their adhesive called Eco Bond. There has been a ton of research done on using Latex House paint. A friend of mine in Wichita, Duane Life covered  his J3 Kitten and I have always been impressed with the finish. A lot of good work and research has been done on this process, the most impressive is Drew Fidoe's blog http://www.bowersflybaby.com/tech/latex.html, other good sites are the reprint of Charles Threewit's article http://www.lazair.com/housepaint.htm   and this article in Ultralight News http://www.ultralightnews.ca/articles/housepaint.htm

Fresh Bloom

The process starts with a good base latex Acrylic latex enamel. I am using Sherwin Williams D-100 gloss exterior enamel The base color of my Robin based on my Friend Bills design is Gun Metal Grey. This may be too dark, so after the base UV coat is applied I may pick another lighter color if Bill decides I need it. The formula for using latex involves adding a viscosity modifying agent called Floetrol. This smooths out all brush and roller marks. Each coat is additionally thinned with standard windshield wiper fluid. The links give the ratios. 

The day started nicely with a fresh bloom in the flower box.  We had a few  85 degree days last week. Like I said earlier, Texas is wonderful in the spring, winter and fall!!!



  
I started with the ailerons. I figured they were the easiest to recover if I screwed up.

Single coat on Ailerons

 The procedure for finishing goes like this. After the paint is well thinned and mixed with Floetrol. it is rolled on with a foam roller. Right behind the roller you follow up with a foam  brush and push the first coat into the open weave. Let that dry and and complete the same process on the opposite side of the part you are working on. The second coat is put on with only the roller and is rolled 45 degrees in the opposite direction of the first coat.

Ed doing the Brushing duties

 Its amazing how well this covers. By the end of the day, all of the control surfaces and Horizontal were finished and I had used less than a quart of paint. The beautiful thing about that is its mostly water and it evaporates away.

Ailerons with second coat

 Depending if Bill likes this color, the next step will be a spray over coat at Eds house in his spray booth. At this point the fabric on the surfaces sounds like  a snare drum when you tap it. Its pretty exciting seeing it at this stage. 








 

Coating the elevator

 This is me doing the elevator. I tried to measure the weight gain at this point, but I found that my scales were not sensitive enough to measure the difference. I will know exactly when I reassemble everything an re weigh, but from the looks of it my weight gain will be measured in ounces. My estimate of the paint weight was 12 lbs. Based on that I was going to be 10 lbs over weight. 

Finished Rudder

 The Rudder was recovered after the trailing edge was replaced. Again, I could not measure any weight gain.

Wings

 This is another view that shows the wings. They came out beautiful!! Over weight , but very clean and smooth.

Horizontal with one coat

 The Horizontal came out beautiful. Its very smooth and very clean. I can hardly wait to fly this thing.