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Thread: Touching up fabric paint

  1. #1
    Hockeystud87's Avatar
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    Default Touching up fabric paint

    My KF got a little hangar rash (Sorry Grandpa) and I'm wondering what options there are to touch up the paint?

    If I paint over it will it blend well or is it going to be obviously touched up?

    30 year old paint but still looks sharp.

  2. #2

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    Smile Re: Touching up fabric paint

    the only way to know is to do it-might have to mix up several times to get the right shade

  3. #3
    Hockeystud87's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    Quote Originally Posted by ddalme View Post
    the only way to know is to do it-might have to mix up several times to get the right shade
    I'm just worried there won't be any way to match cause the paint will have been faded. I guess you just lighten it up.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Dave S's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    Al,


    Other than matching the potentially faded color, the big issue will be exactly what kind of paint was used. If you have polytone - count your blessings as is can be feathered and blended well. Extra points if you have the polyfiber manual in that case as it covers repairs quite well.



    If it is urethane - it's hard to do a partial panel and get it to look right because the urethane polymerizes on curing and does not re-dissolve in the solvents for a good blending.


    One way to figure out if you have polytone is to dampen a rag with MEK and wipe on some small hidden area you won't notice - lacquer thinner will likely work too. Polytone will dissolve on the rag and urethane will not.
    Dave S
    Kitfox 7 Trigear (Flying since 2009)
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    St Paul, MN

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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    Even quicker way to look for poly fiber is look at the inside of the fabric. If it's pink, you are seeing the first poly brush coat. Poly brush can come in clear as well, but I don't think it's used very often. I think the MEK will desolve the Randolf's finishes as well. JImChuk

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    and if it is Polytone, and a colour (other than white) you wil need to use white first I believe, as a base for any colour. Polyfibre manual explains it all.
    r
    Ross
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  7. #7
    Senior Member aviator79's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    Quote Originally Posted by avidflyer View Post
    Even quicker way to look for poly fiber is look at the inside of the fabric. If it's pink, you are seeing the first poly brush coat. Poly brush can come in clear as well, but I don't think it's used very often. I think the MEK will desolve the Randolf's finishes as well. JImChuk
    True, but Poly Fiber often has a urethane top coat, so you still need to know what's on top before you spray it.

    If the rash isn't too bad, you might be able to touch it up with a brush and unthinned or minimally thinned paint. If it's urethane, there's really no good way to make an invisible repair without painting the entire surface. If it's not a show plane though, you can make it good enough. One way is to "back mask" the area to be painted. On each side of the repair area, cover THE REPAIR AREA with masking paper and tape the edge. Then fold (but don't crease) the masking paper away from the repair area so that instead of a hard line , your mask line is curved away from the surface. This will make a soft feathered edge around the area.
    --Brian
    Flying - S7SS

  8. #8
    Senior Member fastfred's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    This question is also a fabric repair question.
    I noticed on my plane there several air bubbles in the fabric over the fuel tank. Some as large as 6 inches in diameter . Has anyone ever seen this and can it be repaired? I has always been hangered

  9. #9
    Senior Member Esser's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    I think so most planes are covered and painted ona rotisserie they can Take a slightly different shape when mounted to the plane. Hit it with an iron with Teflon paper and see if you get the bubble down. You could take a large gauge syringe and try to inject some poly brush underneath it first too
    ------------------
    Josh Esser
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  10. #10
    Senior Member aviator79's Avatar
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    Default Re: Touching up fabric paint

    Maybe a small hole to let air out, and then an iron like Josh suggests. The iron might mar the finish, but you could then repair the finish. I would probably not inject polybrush underneath it on top of the fuel tank. Being underneath the top coat, the solvent won't have anywhere to evaporate to, and you might actually make the bubble worse.

    Full disclosure: I'm not a covering expert; I'm just thinking about what I might or might not do. Rather than taking my advice, you should probably call Consolidated Aircraft Coatings and ask them. I called them for tech support once and they were very helpful.
    --Brian
    Flying - S7SS

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