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Rag painting / faux finish on Fabric plane

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K.M.

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Feb 7, 2001, 9:51:07 PM2/7/01
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Has anyone ever rag painted their plane to achieve a faux finish? Is it
even possible? I was thinking about a complete WHITE BASE coat then doing
this on certain sections. I think a nice blend of Navy blue, Hunter green,
and Maroon [faux] could look cool with white.

Problems? Concerns? Just wondering.

Thanx.

Scrappman

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Feb 7, 2001, 10:09:29 PM2/7/01
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Done many a wall, even marbleized a bunch of collums, fireplaces.Did a fax
latex finish on the floor of my skyraider. The real problem if ya use
poly-fiber , is that it tends to melt into the previous coat. You might be able
to do it with a base coat clear coat,,,,but you would have to find a very
flexable clear coat.
Maybe if ya went with the latex finish it would work fine, personally I
have never finished the exterior of an aircraft with latex. Let us know what ya
come up with.
Scrappman

Flightstar357

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Feb 8, 2001, 10:18:14 PM2/8/01
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>Has anyone ever rag painted their plane to achieve a faux finish? Is it
>even possible? I was thinking about a complete WHITE BASE coat then doing
>this on certain sections. I think a nice blend of Navy blue, Hunter green,
>and Maroon [faux] could look cool with white.
>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a faux finish rough? If so it may disturb
the airflow over the wings and reduce lift. You want the wing surfaces as
smooth as possible to lessen drag and increase lift.
Tony Flesia

C.D.Damron

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Feb 7, 2001, 7:15:42 AM2/7/01
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Flightstar357 wrote in message <20010208221814.07403.00000085@ng-

Disturbing the airflow over the wings often decreases drag without affecting
lift. A pebble-finish has been tested on my military designs, but I don't
think it has been used operationally.

So to answer your question, a rough finish has the potential to increase or
decrease drag.

K.M.

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Feb 8, 2001, 10:50:35 PM2/8/01
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That thought actually hit me last night while I was reading an ultralight
flight manual.

My other thought was to add enough clear coat (with sanding) to fill the
valleys and allow for a smooth final surface. However, is this more work
than it's worth?

IT'S DIFFICULT COMING UP WITH A COOL SCHEME! ;-)

"C.D.Damron" <dam...@lex.infi.net> wrote in message
news:95vnrs$bo3$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net...

Russell Millar

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Feb 9, 2001, 4:58:14 AM2/9/01
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"C.D.Damron" wrote:
>
> Flightstar357 wrote in message <20010208221814.07403.00000085@ng-
>
> Disturbing the airflow over the wings often decreases drag without affecting
> lift. A pebble-finish has been tested on my military designs, but I don't
> think it has been used operationally.
>
> So to answer your question, a rough finish has the potential to increase or
> decrease drag.
>
Isn't that the theory behind the dimples in a golf ball? They actually
go further than if they were smooth?

Cheers
Russell

Mark Smith

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Feb 9, 2001, 6:21:36 AM2/9/01
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You may be comparing apples to oranges here.

SOME airfoils like an exceptionally smooth surface. They are designed to
increase lift by having a perfect surface, even within .010 inches, and
VERY smooth. Even too many bugs or even rain drops will greatly affect
the lift.

Other surfaces are less prone to the surface and such small
imperfections don't hurt the lift.

I'm sure you have seen the small metal tabs placed on such planes as
Lear jets to turbulate the air, reduce the adgerance of the air to the
wings surface and thus, reduce the drag.

However a plane such as the small composite Quickie with the onan engine
will require very clean wings to fly well,,,,,,,,,,

--


Mark Smith
Tri-State Kite Sales http://www.trikite.com
1121 N Locust St
Mt Vernon, IN 47620 mailto:ma...@trikite.com

C.D.Damron

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Feb 7, 2001, 6:16:15 PM2/7/01
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I agree. I was just taking this opportunity to share a little with the great
unwashed. :)

You are right, this technique is used primarily on high-performance aircraft
with extreme airfoils.

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Steve Danielson

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Feb 14, 2001, 6:28:54 PM2/14/01
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This isn't an ultralight, and is a metal plane, but check out the faux paint
job on this one:

(Faux wooden oak pattern on a zenair zodiac)

http://www.zenithair.com/zodiac/6-photo-woody.html

--

Steve Danielson
http://home.nc.rr.com/danielson


David Glauser

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Mar 14, 2001, 10:11:50 AM3/14/01
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Kim Prout (http://www.kpaviation.com) used sponges when painting his
Europa to get that particular stippled effect that sponges give, for
his stripes. His email address is on his web site, if desired.

David

On Wed, 7 Feb 2001 19:51:07 -0700, "K.M." <kmo...@REMOVEexcite.com>
wrote:

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