Hi Bruce,
we used a pure white primer when painting white boats (99% of boats were
white). Flash off was within a couple of minutes so I could go over it
pretty quickly. But full cure took 4 hours. I quickly learnt to apply the
flow coat till just a slight orange peel was left, then over the cure time,
it would flow out to glass....Sometimes! But painting white outdoors
usually meant an aching neck at the end of the day from looking at the paint
from as many angles as possible.
I was recently asked to paint a Cessna but I declined. They wanted some
paint I'd never used and like you said, the rivets were scary. I don't
fancy cutting back an entire plane. I faced that problem the first time I
sprayed a GRP hull with fake planking grooves.
I shoulda known about the moisture thing.... so many times I've had to
polish work because of rain (the weather here is so unpredictable). For my
current project, I think I'll let the stuff cure in a wet box since the
painting is done at the end of the day. I'll try and let you know what
happens.
I'll take a look at the devilbiss. Its about time I got a good set since I
sold the business with all the gear.
Once again, thank you.

Arnold

"Bruce McCampbell" wrote in message
...

Wow that is some skinny paint. I bet you had to put on three or four
coats. When I am training a new painter, I like to keep it at 17 to
17.5 sec and accept the orange peel instead of the runs. When an
aircraft is painted, unlike boats, we have to worry about sagging around
rivet heads... so you need the paint a little stiffer. Our paint is high
solids so after you get accustomed to the paint, you can paint at about
16.5 sec and get total coverage in two coats. On another note, I tried
the new 414 aircap on the Devilviss Plus gun and was amazed at the
atomization it did. Try one out and you will be blown away by the
finish...it looked like a sheet of glass.