Paint bid for Ovation

[NewMoon]

Looking at getting a paint job, even though I said I would never do it.

What pricing are we seeing these days? 

Awl Grip or PPG

[Mark89114]

All of it......

My friend had his ovation painted by the guy town in Florida, Hawk I think?

With new windows, reasonably fancy paint scheme he was out $30K.

[BlueSky247]

Is there not a maaco nearby? 

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, Mark89114 said:

All of it......

My friend had his ovation painted by the guy town in Florida, Hawk I think?

With new windows, reasonably fancy paint scheme he was out $30K.

Yeah I think across the country if you want something that will last it will be between $25k-$30k depending on how many colors and the scheme and any extras you have done. You can spend a lot more if you go to a specialty shop. It seems like you can plan on a couple of months from when you drop it off. Any less than that is a nice surprise.

[ArtVandelay]

Paint jobs need to be quoted, depends on which color (red is $), number of colors, metallic or not, etc.

[Skates97]

Where are you located? Art Craft in Santa Maria KSMX does an incredible job.

https://intothesky.com/2023/01/17/art-craft-paint-review/

[MikeOH]

Every time I hear how much a paint job costs, my plane looks even more shiny than the last time I saw it

[wombat]

@Skates97I've been contacting them about my plane because I'd been planning on having them paint it next year but I'm having trouble getting some answers back from them.

Did you do any pre-work to fix minor skin issues prior to painting?   I've got a few things that I'd like fixed first like the oxygen door that was shoved too far open and is now bent out away from the fuselage by 1/4".  And where the paint has popped off of some of the rivets, I can't tell if there is an underlying issue that needs to be fixed or if just a new paint job will last another 40 years.

[Paul Thomas]

I contacted Mena Aircraft Painting earlier this year when I wasI was looking at an airplane located close to them that needed paint. Their quote was 18k for a basic 2 tone job.

[jetdriven]

And they will sand all the alclad off of your plane and paint it with alumigrip and Napa thinner for that. 

[Fritz1]

Friend of mine had his bird painted at Hawk with good results, price within the range quoted above. Like in many other endeavors price is secondary in the end if you plan to hold on to the plane, how thorough is the disassembly, does the guy vaporize the stripper, how is the stripper removed, is there any temperature and/or humidity control in the hangar, do separation lines between colors get sanded or buffed, is there a clear coat over everything in the end, will the tanks be resealed first, does the painter know how to deal with Mooney tanks, i.e. not make them leak again. Besides the stripper going where it is not supposed to go the big question is adhesion, does anything come off 3-5 years down the road. Ask me how I know.

Doing it again, I would visit several shops, discuss the project, get quotes and lead times, talk to guys that had work done at that shop and last not least plan to visit once a week to check on progress, bring gifts and encouragement, pay extra down the road for stuff that has not been discussed, this is kinda like building a house, after you have built three you have an idea how to do it, for a really good paint job plan 2-3 months downtime and never ever rush the paint guy, choose wisely and then it takes whatever it takes, hard to extract a disassembled semi painted airplane 

[jetdriven]

My hanger mate just had his plane painted at Hawk and it looks  really good but out of the gun. I think it was upper 20s, but he had some extra things like stainless hardware and some stripes and stuff. I called Joe. He still remembers me. I’m the guy that showed up with 33 pounds of vinyl to make 33 stripes.

[Skates97]

20 hours ago, wombat said:

@Skates97I've been contacting them about my plane because I'd been planning on having them paint it next year but I'm having trouble getting some answers back from them.

Did you do any pre-work to fix minor skin issues prior to painting?   I've got a few things that I'd like fixed first like the oxygen door that was shoved too far open and is now bent out away from the fuselage by 1/4".  And where the paint has popped off of some of the rivets, I can't tell if there is an underlying issue that needs to be fixed or if just a new paint job will last another 40 years.

I wouldn't spend time trying to fix minor skin issues. Once it is stripped they will send you a quote with pictures showing the repairs they recommend. You could always go by and go over it in person with them. It was a bit of a drive so I just did everything through email and phone calls. The post strip inspection report was 12 pages and 47 photos. If you want to PM me an email I'm happy to send it to you to see what the report looks like.

[glenn reynolds]

my vote is take the plane to a  shop and have them do the repairs for which they are really good at; then take the plane to the paint shop and they can do what they are really good at.  West Coast Wings in Ukiah California is one example of a shop that specializes in sheet metal.  Sea Land in Campbell River BC is another.  this assumes that the metal work you need is more than just simple stuff.    I have not repaired an oxygen fill door, but I do know that the Mooney ovation door hinge is a very specialized bit of repair work and you really want it done by someone who has lots of experience with Mooney door hinges.  When shopping for a paint shop I found that the prices were competitive about $23,000 but the waiting list to get in and then the down time to do the paint were the MAJOR differences in the shops.  I learned a great deal by visiting four different paint shops, mostly be looking at their facilities and seeing how they approached a paint job.  

[tony]

On 7/3/2024 at 11:16 AM, jetdriven said:

My hanger mate just had his plane painted at Hawk and it looks  really good but out of the gun. I think it was upper 20s, but he had some extra things like stainless hardware and some stripes and stuff. I called Joe. He still remembers me. I’m the guy that showed up with 33 pounds of vinyl to make 33 stripes.

I had mine airplane painted at hawk three years ago. Joey did an amazing job.  Lots of attention to little details.  I can not recommend him enough.