Need to get plane painted

[Clint466]

Hey everyone,

Tried looking through some of the discussions in the past about paint shops and hadn't seen anything recent.  Shockingly, several of the links from discussions just a couple of years ago no longer work!  

If you've had your plane painted or know someone who has in the last year or so, please let me know where you went and how satisfied you are with the result.  I'm more concerned about the quality of work and them sticking to getting the plane finished on time (I fly my Mooney about 200 hours a year) than I am about price.  I can't have my plane down for 5 or 6 months like some of the folks commented on.  

Thanks for the advice! 

[PeteMc]

If you're looking for quality work, then it is going to take as long as it takes.  A lot of shops, so I'm assuming also paint shops, are having time getting qualified staff.  So that may mean it takes longer if the owner isn't going to just hire someone to get the plane pushed out the door.  And it sounds like that's really what you want. 

As far as cost, again, if you find a shop you like, the cost is the cost.  

And you didn't say what part of the country, so I don't know if my recommendation is going to help or not.  And it has been a LOT more than a year.   But I took my plane to Prestige Aircraft way up in northern VT at KFSO.  I went to them because 10-15 years before I got my plane painted I knew someone that used them and the plane came out looking great.  Another 5+ years and someone else I knew went there, and again the plane came out great.  3rd plane came out some time before I went there and yet again, looked great.  I think mine came out looking just as good as the ones I had seen over the prior 20 years or so.  To me, that's a much better reputation than one plane that came out a year ago.  So if you're anywhere close to VT, you might talk to Walt and see if it's a fit for you. 

http://www.paintaircraft.com/

[wombat]

My plane is in the paint shop (ArtCraft paint) in Santa Maria California right now.  Dropped it off on September 12th.

They are doing both paint and interior.  I'll make a thread with progress and pictures.   But for now:  

[Thedude]

I went to artcraft in smx earlier this year. I had a vague idea for what I wanted and they did a great job. Part of the time was in dealing with some light hail dents. It took two months, and I think they were maybe a week or two over the expected time. They accomadated me dropping in randomly and were quick to answer questions. On pickup I noticed they mounted one of the main brake lines different than the other, not sure if it would have been an issue, they also painted over the static system drain buttons under the plane, but I'm glad I checked everything thoroughly and they fixed all the issues quickly. I'd highly recommend going to them. 

[PT20J]

I had mine done this past spring at Sunquest in Everett WA. It took about 8 weeks. They do 40+ planes a year and do caravans for FedEx, Kenmore Air Harbor’s seaplane fleet, historic aircraft for museums and the Nordstrom family’s fleet among others. It wasn’t for CBs, but they took great care with the prep, layout, spraying and especially the touch up afterwards. 

My advice is to find a quality shop with a backlog of business and get on their schedule. They cannot afford to do a crappy job and screw up their reputation, and they cannot afford to take too much time since it screws up their throughput. Then, be prepared to pay what they want and ignore the posts that talk about how they got their airplane painted for $30K.

[McMooney]

i'm calling around now, i'm trying to decide between crider, corona or the guys in miami.  

[201Mooniac]

I also used Artcraft and have nothing but good reports.  Mine was done 16 years ago and still looks great.  I have a few chips that they have touched up over the years and have always had great service.  Highly recommended.

[ArtVandelay]

Mine took 4 weeks, but the fuel tanks had a couple of leaks after the stripping process (inspection plates) so it had to be moved to the AP shop to have the tanks patched. There’s no way it should take longer than a month unless they are mismanaged. I had to wait 2-3 months for an opening.

[MooneyMitch]

1 hour ago, 201Mooniac said:

I also used Artcraft and have nothing but good reports.  Mine was done 16 years ago and still looks great.  I have a few chips that they have touched up over the years and have always had great service.  Highly recommended.

I sent 3 Mooneys through ArtCraft!  The first one was 2009, still looks beautiful!  The other 2 also continue to be beautiful!

I highly recommend ArtCraft! 

[Clint466]

Thank you guys!  Really appreciate the help!  I am going to reach out to ArtCraft.  I had briefly spoken to them earlier this year, and I fly out to Cali a few times a year, so dropping it off won't be an issue.  

 

 

[DCarlton]

13 hours ago, PT20J said:

I had mine done this past spring at Sunquest in Everett WA. It took about 8 weeks. They do 40+ planes a year and do caravans for FedEx, Kenmore Air Harbor’s seaplane fleet, historic aircraft for museums and the Nordstrom family’s fleet among others. It wasn’t for CBs, but they took great care with the prep, layout, spraying and especially the touch up afterwards. 

My advice is to find a quality shop with a backlog of business and get on their schedule. They cannot afford to do a crappy job and screw up their reputation, and they cannot afford to take too much time since it screws up their throughput. Then, be prepared to pay what they want and ignore the posts that talk about how they got their airplane painted for $30K.

What's a top quality whatever they want paint job for a mid body costing these days?  When I painted mine years ago, it was 12k.  I'm considering a 5k touch up mostly to the landing gear which sounds like a great deal given the cost of new paint.  

[Jackk]

With the exchange rate look into getting it done in Canada eh

[jamesyql]

With the exchange rate look into getting it done in Canada eh

We use exclusive maple syrup primer for corrosion resistance up here b’ys!

[PT20J]

5 hours ago, DCarlton said:

What's a top quality whatever they want paint job for a mid body costing these days?  When I painted mine years ago, it was 12k.  I'm considering a 5k touch up mostly to the landing gear which sounds like a great deal given the cost of new paint.  

Sunquest’s standard charge for a simple design (one day layout), three colors is $32K. But my layout was more complex and took 2.4 additional days at $2500/ day. There was a $2500 up charge for the red paint I chose and a $2500 charge for alodine. So, $43K before sales tax. 

[Mark89114]

Need or WANT to get airplane painted......

[DCarlton]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

Sunquest’s standard charge for a simple design (one day layout), three colors is $32K. But my layout was more complex and took 2.4 additional days at $2500/ day. There was a $2500 up charge for the red paint I chose and a $2500 charge alodine. So, $43K before sales tax. 

Maroon and white.  Perfect.  My college colors.  I doubt I'll ever do it now, but I've had an ongoing dream of buying a run out J, and restoring it from the ground up.  Engine, prop, paint, avionics, interior.  Of course that alone would cost you 150-200k.  Not sure I have enough flying years left to justify it.