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For a variety of reasons I made the decision to do my own prep, paint and finish work.
I simply said to myself, "Self, you cannot afford to pay someone the amount needed to
acheive the level of perfection you want, so figure out how to do it on your own."

By the time you are done, you (or someone) will have spent many hundreds of hours in
sanding, priming, filling and shaping before your plane is ready for the first ounce
of color and I suggest that if you have the skill and intestinal fortitude and are
willing to take your project to this point, (99%),  do it all.

The knowledge needed to do first rate work is basic, the learning curve for actually
acheiving the desired result can be somewhat steep. Go find someone in your community
who has a reputation for high quality auto refinishing. The odds are pretty good that
he will not want to paint your plane but, tell him what you think you want to do and
chances are he'll let you spend some hours watching him and you will quickly learn why
something is done a certain way. Offer him $100 and the odds go way up.

Water based paints sound good in theory but do you know of a single auto maker on this
planet that uses them? There may be one somewhere but...

As most of you know, it is possible to get a finish which approaches perfection on the
composite surfaces on our planes. My plane will be finished entirely with PPG products
but of course, there are many others of high quality.

Go for it.

Angier Ames

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LML website:   http://www.olsusa.com/Users/Mkaye/maillist.html
LML Builders' Bookstore:   http://www.buildersbooks.com/lancair

Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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