"There is No Such Thing as a Simple and Cheap Paint Job"

That quote was from the counter man at my local paint supply shop, as I returned to buy yet another $100 quart of paint to fix yet another of my screw-ups.

The week of prepping, primer and painting was an exhausting marathon. As I write this, Rob is on the train on his way back to house and family.

Some of the good things were: getting to spend time with my brother, getting the benefit of his years of experience, getting to use the SIU Aviation Technology paint booth, getting help from some of the SIU students, getting rid of all of all that old cracked paint and filler, having Sandy provide critically needed logistics support, and finally, getting paint on the bird.

Some of the not-so-good things were; having the wrong tip on his new HVLP gun for the DuPont Centari and getting runs on the vertical stab, sticker shock at the paint store, and me mis-mixing the paint used on the main fuselage resulting in excessive orange peel which will require extra wet sanding after everything cures.

I really didn't want to repaint the thing, but now that I have, I'm sure I will be happy with it. But, oh man! What a job!