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We have a little experience with Poly-fiber water borne paint.  Just
completed painting the underside of our 0-200 (Yes very early kit fitted
with original 0-200 engine). Decided to use their paint as the undercoats
etc went on with a roller and there are no toxic fumes. After attending a
workshop we reckoned that we could handle the job and get a good finish.
Our plane is located inside our electronics assembly factory and we needed
to keep the fumes and over-spray to a minimum. Basically after a little
getting used to the undercoats we found they are excellent for filling
pinholes and very small marks- use micro for larger blemishes. The coats are
easy to put on section at a time using a fine cell paint roller. The whole
process is more time consuming then solvent based systems that dry more
rapidly. Need overnight in general between undercoats and UV shield coats as
well as the top coats. So all in all there are about 12 or more coats
including the top coat which is sprayed on. We found the application and
sanding easy and straight forward to achieve the required finish (sometimes
we did an extra undercoat over slightly rougher areas) before applying the
top coat. Undercoat rubbing is done with 200 and 300 grit paper.  The water
borne top coat we sprayed with a standard suction type spray gun, no
thinning just added the measured amount of cross-linker.  There was very
little over-spray. We were quite surprised at how well the white colour
(which is really off-white) covered even though we did have a few very small
areas of the grey silver shield still exposed.  Finish of the top coat off
the gun is smooth but not shiny. Actual spraying takes a little getting used
to but the instructions are good and if you start on the rudder or similar
it leads into the bigger areas without making too many droodles (paint
runs). We waited about one month, while we were doing other things, before
giving a final rub with 1500 grit and 2500 grit and then buffing.  The final
finish is quite hard and shiny like glass.  We are very pleased with the end
result.  I hope this helps with your decision Dan and I also wonder what
others experience has been.  The big plus is you can do it yourself without
shifting the plane and any small part you forget can be done latter with no
drama (its amazing how many small parts there are). As I said earlier we
have completely finished painting the bottom before were turned the plane
over thus obviating the need to paint from underneath or turn the machine
over. Hoping to finish in the next six months after 4 long years.

Chris Moore

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