Hi everyone. A question.

For a plane with a dulled shine, would the best way to renew it be to use an automotive polish and an orbital buffer? Has anyone done this who might comment? What about wet sanding? It's metalized of course. I'm considering a repaint in the future, but for now I'd like to do something, even if it's labor intensive, to make my baby more beautiful.

Thanks!

~Justine

Justine,
I have never tried this on aircraft paint but It does work on tractors. You might try it on an underside area first to see how it does. Its not necessary to spray on you can just rub it on with a rag.
Vivilon Restores Faded Paint, Metal or Fiberglass
http://www.vivilon.com/
Also it would be good to check if this will make it more difficult to prepare for paint later. On an old tractor its not an issue.

I have had absolutely stupendous good results with a product called "SuperCoat" which was sold by Aircraft Spruce. Someone told me it is hard to find now. The stuff is incredible.

I had an old beater J-3 Cub one year. Someone painted it with automotive enamel, which had faded (among other things). One application of this SuperCoat turned a 4 into a 6 in one day.

On metal airplanes, and/or catalyzed paint is is absolutely the best I've ever used. You will not be disapppointed if you try it. It has a rubbing compound mixed with a whiz-bang space age polymer sealer and wax. So it will buff out the paint first (abrasive) and then the whiz-bang stuff makes it shine like all get-out.

justine wrote:Hi everyone. A question.

For a plane with a dulled shine, would the best way to renew it be to use an automotive polish and an orbital buffer? Has anyone done this who might comment? What about wet sanding? It's metalized of course. I'm considering a repaint in the future, but for now I'd like to do something, even if it's labor intensive, to make my baby more beautiful.

Thanks!

~Justine

Uggg! Rivets no like sanding. Sanding bad. Gentle buffer good. Polyurethane wax good.

Here's what Kevbert means when he says rivets don't like sanding: rivets have a little dimple on the head. If that dimple is removed by sanding, the rivet is considered no good, and needs to be replaced. I've seen planes fail pre-buy inspections because someone went wild while prepping the plane for paint.

As you probably already know, polishes contain abrasives designed to remove oxidized paint. It's common to remove the oxidized paint, halos left from bird poop, and bug residue using a polish, and then follow that with a wax.

A shop that sells automotive paint and detailing supplies will have a broad range of polishes, from very aggressive to very mild. You could buy a range and experiment to find the one that works best, but be careful: the paint on the upper surfaces will have oxidized the most, the layer of good paint will likely be very thin, so it will be easy to polish right down to bare aluminum.

Be very careful to keep the polish off plexiglass. Some polishes contain solvents that will react with plexiglass, and you don't want to create a second time-consuming chore!

Waxes (true waxes) don't contain any abrasives, so they aren't designed to remove oxidation. However, on badly oxidized paint the action of applying and buffing off the wax will definitely remove some of the oxidation. You can skip the polishing step and go right to waxing if you like. On badly oxidized paint you won't get a super shiny result, but it will improve the looks. In my experience if you skip the polishing step the wax doesn't seem to stay shiny as long, so you might find yourself waxing again sooner than you'd like.

An electric or pneumatic buffer will definitely speed up the chore. Don't spin it too fast, be very, very careful working near corners and edges (where it is very easy to remove all the paint), and don't bear down too hard. With a buffer you will almost always create some bare spots - it's almost impossible to avoid.

After buffing off the oxidation be sure to follow with a good coating of wax. The final step is to carefully remove the excess wax from the creases and crevices, a task that seems to go on forever.

Detailing a plane is a long, tedious job, but it is rewarding when you step back for a look and see the whole thing shining like new!

Justine,
Go to a local autobody shop that specializes in higher-end paint jobs or a detail shop and pose your questions to them. They will know the good from the bad products.
I have retored cars and the last stuff I used was called Miracle-Glaze. Not sure if it is still available or not but it was great for situations such as you are asking about.
Good Luck,
Keith

So is the Stinson officially yours now? Last I'd heard you had a security deposit down and were waiting on the seller.
If so then, CONGRATULATIONS!

Justine, Post a picture so we can see later how well you did??

... or you could just put big tires on it, and it will look cool even dull and dirty??

Only consistent advise I have been given is to never use a product with silicon in it if you intend to ever re-paint. Seems the silicon has a bad effect when it comes to trying to paint over it.
Hope someone else can give a more detailed report or prove I am all wrong.
Maybe Piperpainter will pop up.

Chris C

Justine,
I just used a product called Aero Glaze by Arrow Magnolia. This stuff was awesome for my oxidized paint. It is a dry wash system. Spray it on and wipe wet. Then come back and wipe it off once it dries. It worked well on fabric and metal. This stuff even made the surface of my plane slick. It is easy (not very labor intensive) and seems to work well. I did my whole plane with about a half quart of this stuff and that is after I diluted the concentrate by half. So I really only used about a 1/4 quart.

Kneel
1974 Maule M5

Wow, thank you everyone for the responses. Very very helpful!

Wirsig, not yet. About 2 1/2 months to go. Just gearing up. I go down to the airport for regular "visits", so I can't help asking questions like this!

Patrol guy, I will definitely post pics once I do it. Big tires? , yeah, eventually, I think. The Stinson looks so good with wheel pants, though.

justine wrote:The Stinson looks so good with wheel pants, though.

Bzzzzztt!!! You're going to have a really hard time finding pants for those bushwheels!

GroundLooper wrote:

justine wrote:The Stinson looks so good with wheel pants, though.

Bzzzzztt!!!

whadya mean bzzzztt? Your rides got panties....

hahaha

whee wrote:

GroundLooper wrote:

justine wrote:The Stinson looks so good with wheel pants, though.

Bzzzzztt!!!

whadya mean bzzzztt? Your rides got panties....

hahaha

Ha! And they're covering up my beautiful bushwheels.

Actually, if I owned the plane outright, I'd rake them off.

They don't add much and make it hard to examine or inflate the tires. Plus they add 17lbs of precious weight.

Do we have any new items to add to this thread?

I am looking at lots of old-oxidized paint jobs in my quest for the right plane. What works best for breathing new life into old paint on an aluminum airframe?

Crzyivan13 wrote:Do we have any new items to add to this thread?

I am looking at lots of old-oxidized paint jobs in my quest for the right plane. What works best for breathing new life into old paint on an aluminum airframe?

I had very pleasing results with a product not previously mentioned. Prism Metal Polish. Advertised for metal and fiberglass and such. I was turned onto it at my local woodworking supply. I used it on a very chalky airplane paint job and it brought it right back to shiny. (Imron paint, IIRC). I had good results with both hand polishing, and with a Festool random orbital sander with polishing and buffing pads. I've used it to clean lots of other stuff since, including grimy computer monitors.
Also, I don't think RW2's product line was mentioned here, but you might check with him about Plane Perfect offerings.
-DP

I use Klasse ALL-IN-ONE Polish and really love it.
it's brought back quite a few paint jobs.
It's a polymer cleaner (NOT abrasive) that simply does wonders.

Wax as needed after using it as it doesnt have any real protective elements.

http://www.amazon.com/Klasse-ALL-IN-ONE ... B00CZD7QOS

If the coverage is still good and the paint is just oxidized, I start with a wash of Tide (the laundry detergent) and hot water. Lots of good scrubbing an a very thorough rinse. Amazing what that will do!! Then go with some good Carnuba wax and you're good to go.
John