Painting a Eagle Model 10

DoubleEagle · March 31, 2016, 07:17:04 PM

I am in the process of planning to paint my Model 10 within a few months, and I would like to hear from those have painted their own coach no matter what make it is. I have painted other large vehicles before, but not a whole bus. I am going to use urethane two-part, but have not decided on the color or whether to clear coat or not. I realize white is cooler & cheaper, but there are many wonderful colors out there. Black can be classy, but it shows every ripple that will increase in the heat of the sun. By my rough estimate, I will need approximately 2 Gallons of paint mix per coat, does that sound correct? My 40' coach is a former entertainer with three windows in the front, and two in the rear, each side. The roof is not raised. The entire coach will be sanded or stripped, and sandblasted where needed. My spray gun is a DeVilbiss ProLite that is about 65% efficient, with 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 tips. I will be painting outside with full suit and mask, and I envision walking on the roof to paint it (is there any other practical way)? Any opinions would be appreciated.

bottomacher · April 01, 2016, 04:09:40 AM

I did exactly what you are doing. I taped off the bottom below the drip rail to prime and then paint the roof, then taped off the roof to prime and paint the sides. I used a paint pot for the roof so I didnt have to climb the ladder a dozen times, but handheld gun on the sides. Hard part was waiting for a still, halfway dry day in Georgia. No, hard part was climbing the ladder... I used a little over 5 gallons of white two part urethane, no clear.

Scott & Heather · April 01, 2016, 04:39:34 AM

We are all set to paint our MCI 102 this summer (August 7 to be exact) but I'm flying in a friend who is a professional auto body painter and historic vehicle restorer. The guy is literally a michaelangelo with automotive paint. He has experience painting semi truck too so we are in his realm. We are painting indoors in a shop thankfully, but he is suggesting rolling scaffold, pressure pot for sure, and the scaffold should be high enough you can spray the roof. Walking on it and spraying would work too I suppose. Or a cherry picker if you have access to one. I really think 2 gallons mixed is not going to be near enough paint. If you're saying two gallons plus catalyst then that would be 4 gallons of material which is closer to what you'll likely need.

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Tom Y · April 01, 2016, 04:56:31 AM

I painted mine, did the roof from the side in 2 parts left-right. Never got on roof but mine is rounded. Layout took a while, painted 1 side at a time also. So 4 sections I painted using a commercial paint (Cardinal) It is a 15' paint job, get much closer and you can see what a crappy painter I am. This is a pic of the side I did not like and changed color. Good Luck

DoubleEagle · April 01, 2016, 06:49:20 AM

The reason I plan on being on the roof is the fact that my spray gun is a gravity feed type and a HVLP which requires holding it about 6" above the surface to spray correctly. Whether on a scaffold or a ladder it would be very difficult to do the roof in the same quality without being on it. With the older type guns you can shoot across at some distance with higher pressure, but it wastes a lot of paint. Quantity wise, I had figured up to 2 Gal. per coat, therefore 3 coats would be 6 Gal., etc. The number of coats will vary depending on the color and brand of paint. I considered getting a pressure pot system, but a good one costs serious money. I plan on refilling the 34 oz. cup while on the roof to avoid the up and downs, using the DeKupps system with disposable liners. It is easy to see why the professional painters want so much money, its just that I do not want to give it to them.

buswarrior · April 01, 2016, 08:34:25 AM

Be sure to position everything you regard as valuable UP WIND...

There is no sufficient downwind distance that is enough that there won't be paint spots on it...

happy coaching!
buswarrior

DoubleEagle · April 01, 2016, 03:20:59 PM

Quote from: bottomacher on April 01, 2016, 04:09:40 AM
I did exactly what you are doing. I taped off the bottom below the drip rail to prime and then paint the roof, then taped off the roof to prime and paint the sides. I used a paint pot for the roof so I didnt have to climb the ladder a dozen times, but handheld gun on the sides. Hard part was waiting for a still, halfway dry day in Georgia. No, hard part was climbing the ladder... I used a little over 5 gallons of white two part urethane, no clear.

Was that 5 Gal. of mix, or 5 Gal. of paint plus hardener/solvent? How many coats, and what model bus do you have? I am just trying to get assurance that my estimate is in the ballpark. Getting everything ready for the right weather day is a challenge alright, but at least I have a building to put it in if it rained.

oltrunt · April 01, 2016, 06:32:55 PM

I find it hard to believe that a true HVLP gun would deliver such low transfer efficiency. I have an old Acuspray HVLP which is in the neighborhood of 90% transfer efficiency. The gun was in the $600 range when I bought it many years ago. I recently painted a 37' Bounder complete with two coats (single stage catalyzed with hardener) and used 6 quarts of mixed paint. Granted it would take half again that much to do a quality job if it was to be metallic.

Look into renting or buying a higher quality gun. It will pay for itself in short order. Jack

DoubleEagle · April 01, 2016, 07:55:43 PM

Quote from: oltrunt on April 01, 2016, 06:32:55 PM
I find it hard to believe that a true HVLP gun would deliver such low transfer efficiency. I have an old Acuspray HVLP which is in the neighborhood of 90% transfer efficiency. The gun was in the $600 range when I bought it many years ago. I recently painted a 37' Bounder complete with two coats (single stage catalyzed with hardener) and used 6 quarts of mixed paint. Granted it would take half again that much to do a quality job if it was to be metallic.

Look into renting or buying a higher quality gun. It will pay for itself in short order. Jack

The range for current HVLP, LVLP, or Reduced Pressure/Compliant guns is about 50-75% with good technique. As far as I have been able to find out, it appears that only the very expensive electrostatic gun systems achieve results in the 90% and above range. The 3M Accuspray guns are good quality and are used in many industries, but 90% efficiency might be a misinterpretation. The gun I have is a DeVilbiss Tekna ProLite which is among the better spray guns in the world, comparable to the Japanese Iwata LPH400 and the German SATAjet 4000B RP. The older model guns like the Binks #7 siphon feed (which has been copied many times) had an efficiency of 30-35%, so getting a practical 65% application rate is good. (All of the owners of Iwata's and SATA's may jump in now).

bottomacher · April 02, 2016, 06:21:43 AM

Mine was about 5 gallons total; I used aircraft paint in one-quart,one-pint units, mixed three at a time, and I lost count after a while. My best guess is about 14 units; all i remember is that i was in no mood to count empty cans after the painting. I sprayed close and at pretty low pressure. There is more orange peel that I normally leave, but I also didn't paint the neighborhood with wasted overspray. Higher pressure would have been great, but very expensive in terms of material and cleanup.

bottomacher · April 02, 2016, 06:24:53 AM

Forgot to add- mine is an MC9, 8 peninsula windows and everything stainless is polished, so not a whole lot of painted metal.

oltrunt · April 02, 2016, 08:54:55 AM

Just a note. My accuspray pre dates 3M's version by about ten years. Somehow I doubt 3M improved on the design of the origional. In fact the new version is barley recognizable as same gun though I'm sure it is still better than a roller

. Good luck with your paint job and it will be interesting to hear how much paint you actually use. Jack