I have been getting jealous of the marvelous work you all do here with building and painting models. Some of the work is just stunning.


Anyway, I decided to post the painting of my 1/1 scale Cessna 177 Cardinal .


My sweet girl is getting her spa beauty treatment.







It’s amazing to see her stripped to bare metal. Where the stripper has been cleaned off the aluminum glistens. Some of the disassembly has been done, but there is more. The whole stabilator and rudder will come off. Also the flaps and aelerons. They will replace all the hardware with new stainless nuts, screws, bolts, plates, etc. New bearings and actuators. So it is a major external refurbishment as well as painting. Still a month to go.


This is the color scheme I chose. Going to do some very slight change to how the wheel pants are done and couple small touches.

Cool!

I thought you'd bought an 177 r/g when I saw the first pic before reading.

Too bad bare metal is such a huge PIA to keep looking good...

Awesome looking new scheme though!

"Too bad bare metal is such a huge PIA to keep looking good..."

Oh brother! My SONEX was bare metal. I would never do that again.

I bet...it is so gorgeous when super polished.

Then you walk away, have lunch, and when you come back it's already oxidizing!

I once Captained a 30 year old WORKBOAT with aluminum deck plates that looked that good...for awhile. I wish I still had a picture ( from back in the "back up what?, my computer won't fail." days), it was amazing.

Looks indeed great in bare metal. I hope it won't cost you two arms and two legs (for sure it's going to cost one arm and a leg?)

Somehow I don't think he's going to tackle the job with some rollers and household exterior latex.

1:1, we're gonna need a bigger spraybrush guys! Should look smart when painted up Grog. Nothing beats that feeling when you walk out to your toy for the first time ready to use it when she has a brand spanker paintjob!

LOL Ajay, was just thinking of you. Want to practice your skills?

Think of this: the second flying B-29 (after CAF Fifi) is in polished aluminum finish.

That is a LOT of upkeep.

That's gonna look sweet, OG!

I don't think Grog would let me and my paint anywhere near his machine

Progress. All the parts are off and chemical stripping complete. Big difference from preceding pictures.








You can see how they clean and prep all the interior parts and angles.







And everything gets a physical cleaning and scouring to remove any signs of corrosion or blemishes. They pay particular attention to rivets since they are repositories of corrosion and imperfections. Then they will buff everything to get a consistent finish. It’s amazing how good 60 year old aluminum looks.









Next is anodyne the metal and prep for primer painting. May be primered when I check on Saturday.

Too bad the new paint won't magically convert your 177 into a Me-109 or a Spitfire.

I do like the new paint scheme you chose.


Wheels

Looks like you found people who take pride in their work to do the job.

Here are the parts treated with alodine.







And now with first primer.








Tomorrow I will see it after corrections and second primer.

Looking nice. Looking forward to the next stage OG.


Wheels

I'm guessing the alodine is a protective coating before priming or is it a pre primer, primer?

It is actually both.

https://www.besttechnologyinc.com/s...e-chem-film-chromate-conversion-coating/

Looks like she is getting the full professional job, you must be happy Grog. Makes me wish i was back in a workshop surrounded by cars in various states of repair.

Here she is in primer. They took her out to look for any problems or flaws in natural light.












It is always sad to go my hangar and not see her in there.






But it won’t be long now.

Is the paint shop on the same airfield as your hangar?


Wheels

No.

It is about 30 minute flight away. Fortunately I have buddies that I can fly over with.

Grog, is this the first repaint of your Cardinal? If so then I'm amazed how long those last. 60 years?

Yes, this is the first repaint. Original 1969. It was still in relatively good shape overall, but had places where it was needing repaint. Places like leading edge of wings, door edges, front part of cowl, and landing gear legs and wheel pants. If it weren’t for those areas she could have gone a good while longer. I was never happy with the original paint color. I wanted something more modern and fresh.

It is more than just paint. I am having a whole external refurbishment. Every little fault and blemish fixed. After 50 years, some of the screws and connectors have gotten worn and needed different screws or pins. All those will be addressed so I will not have to pay attention which fits where. This is particularly true on the cowl where I had three different screws because of wear. Hated hanging the cowl and then doing the “which one goes here” game. Also the leading part of the cowl is molded fiberglass. It developed some cracks and wear areas that will be repaired. Prop will be stripped, smoothed, repainted and decals. Window seals redone with a better filler than the old putty. All the connectors and actuators on the flaps, aelerons, rudder, and stabilator will be redone with stainless. New swivels and bearings. Everything that can be repaired or improved will be done. Since I will go to fly-ins with grass fields, they will put protective film on the lower front parts of the wheel pants to protect the paint.

Original paint was lacquer, but because of health and environmental issues it is no longer used. Now they use a special aircraft Imron. The paint shop says the lacquer was a bit harder to do right, but was a slightly better paint if done right. The Imron is easier and the best of the new paints.

I am thinking about the wheel pants. I have been thinking of painting them a little different than the picture. First thought was to do a teardrop with the thick part on the front with a swooping taper to the rear. Problem is that it clashes with the fuselage which is larger at the rear and tapers to the front. So, if any of you have an idea I’d love to hear it.




Something like this was my first thought. This is pretty poor since I just did it on my iPad and the editor is limited and I had to use my finger. Of course the front pant would be similar.




Ok, you all are more talented than I am as evidenced with your modeling skills displayed in this forum. I would love to see your ideas.

I have that same fear. I hope that when my life flashes bye. I wont want to get up and leave because I was bored.

First try, I can't draw with a mouse at all, but you might get the idea.



Colors are wrong, and maybe slant the stripes a little more. That black blob is the tire.

Kinda matches the wing tips also.

Wow, quite the refurbishment project. Amazing to think how common 50 year old aircraft are, compared to 50yo cars... thanks for sharing your stories btw, always entertaining.

I'm not good at classic designs... maybe go inverted on the wheelpants. Make white the main color and red on the edges, then taper a (white) diamond from the front to the back.

At least it wasn't in the 1970's beige-on-beige. We have a 172 on our field that doesn't have wheel pants so much as bell bottoms.

I've seen some pretty atrocious "improvements" to paint schemes, especially the ones where they add metallic flakes and they turn out looking like bass boats.

Dart, what do you think of my hangar ?

Something like this line of thinking? Matching the wingtips like Nixer said might be cool.





The more i look at it them, the more i dislike it




edit-

Did you mean more like this?






Since i have no shame ...i also stole Nixers awesome wheel and plonked it on .

^Swap the red with the white (and maybe the gold and black) and that's what I had in mind.

Although... you can always make them pure white, put a big yellow smiley on the front wheel, a yellow "how's my flying" on the left and "my other aircraft is an A-10" on the right. Just sayin'...

Ajay, nicely done. I like yours better than the original picture. Thanks. At least I have something I like better than the original.

Can you do one with a tear drop with a quicker taper than your drawing ?

LOL You are quite welcome to use my high res wheel Ajay.

Too clean. Too organized.

How do you find anything in there?

I also find the lack of oil stains on the floor distressing.

The floor is epoxy painted so oil doesn’t penetrate. Just wipe it up.

And speaking of organization. The whiteboard on the left has all my info on it. Date of engine overhaul, time on engine, date of last annual, date of medical, date of semi-annual flight review, hours at oil change, date of avionics certification, date of ELT, etc. that way with a quick glance I can see what is due. If not, some of the dates would be out of mind.

I knew you would get a kick at discussing hangars. Refrigerator, microwave, music, etc all make it more inviting to hang around at. I will have to post pictures of some of my neighbor hangars. They have quite expensive furniture and decor. We have friendly group that socialize as well as fly.

Maybe this?

It looks like mouths now, just the eyes missing

...don't tempt me Colonel..i've already resisted adding ordnance, mg's and schrage musik as it is

Go ahead, you know you want to put a Shark on the front wheel. OG wants too

Actually, Ajay’s first effort seems to get the nod from me and my friends. Tomorrow I will be going to see the plane. It is supposed to be done all white.

Thanks to those who have made the effort at wheel pant schemes.

Yeah, I like Ajay's first effort better, too.

BTW, you left off some important reminders from your white board... The wedding anniversary and the wife's birthday.

No need CyBerkut; those are dates I don’t forget.



Saw the plane today. Painted white. Everything looks good. Monday they start putting it together and do the first color. And thanks to the suggestion by Nixer and the artwork by Ajay I am satisfied with how we are doing the wheel pants.

Looking good Grog.

I'm eager to see the new pictures each time. Looking good!

I'm eager to see the new pictures each time. Looking good!

Thanks. It is an interesting process.

It has been suggested to me to post this in Community Hall, but I’m not sure that people would care.

Just throw a link up to this thread in SH, I'm sure some would enjoy it.

yep, following along and interested in seeing the transformation.

Question, how much weight does the paint add to the airframe?

I'm enjoying it too. The outfit you hired to do the job clearly know their business; very professional.

Here is something about weight and painting.

http://www.paintcenter.org/rj/oct07n.php

I will be seeing the plane tomorrow and specifically ask. I do know that he said that if you strip the old then the new paint doesn’t add much and there is no requirement to do a weigh and balance.

Seeing as it was a full strip and repaint, I did not think it would be significantly different, just curious to what the actual weight added to the bare metal.

Thanks for the link.

Kind of a wasted trip today (other than a chance to get up in the air again) since they didn’t get the red on as they said they would. Oh well. Good takes time. Here it is taped for tomorrow.











The structure in the background is the paint booth.



About weight. He said almost the exact same thing as that link. Since it was a full strip then paint he said it would be a little under 10 pounds. The gain is because slightly thicker paint layer and paint on the inside areas of flaps, aelerons, etc.

Ah thanks for that OG, the white does look well done, looking forward to seeing her finished.

No internet for me in the middle of the North Sea yesterday, so just catching up now that I'm home in Scotland.

The red has been sprayed. Finish looks good.








Won’t be long now.

It's coming together nicely!

That red looks awesome.

Might have looked great as a main color. You'd end up being called the Red Baron quite soonish, especially if you mount the Lewis...

Wow, very snappy red!

Shiny!

Looking at again, it appears they got a really nice coat straight out of the gun. The guy who painted it knows his stuff.

Ajay, they have to get the spray right because on airplanes, unlike autos, you don’t do a cut and buff. Doing a cut would take the paint off the raised rivets. So the paint has to go on right the first time without much refining.

And, yes, this shop knows what they are doing. I looked around and did some checking before selecting them.

As Cold_Gambler said, they know their stuff and are professional.

It is getting closer. Stopped by to see it on the way to Sun n Fun and also pull one of my GPS to take with me to have the firmware and database software updated. The quality of the finish is excellent.

Should be ready to inspect and test fly on Thursday. Four more days, I can hardly wait.

OG I would sack them, someone has taken a sharpie to your reg number

looking very good, I do like the way you have chosen to have the accents done.

I spent a good bit of my teenage years in one of the paint shops of my dad's garage, and yes there are some very good spray painters out there, we had one guy that was outstanding, he could colour match and spray a perfect coat, we used to get a lot of work from other garages that needed that extra special touch, including Rolls Royces and Bentleys, Jackie Stewart used to send his cars to us to get painted too.

Not touched a spray gun in about 40 years now

Very crisp and sharp looking work.Looking pretty sporty, you must itching to get airborne and show her off

Looking really nice OG.


Wheels

In the second photo, you can see how the bottom of the wing reflects. That really shows what a nice finish they did. And it hasn’t been polished and waxed yet.

That's going to look spectacular!

Curious: With such a big disassembly of so many small nuts and bolts, linkage rods and whatever - is there any special process or method to make sure everything is in the aircraft again, at the right position?

It looks so sweet!

Well, this is the finish of my 1:1 scale Cessna 177 painting.

Oh Happy Day. She is finished. We did note a few things that need correction, but nothing of real note. After a very thorough pre-flight inspection and initial start-up and run-up, I did a second preflight inspection. Then it was time for taxi test and test flight. Here I am getting ready to go.



Again the registration number is blacked out and somehow I got a black arrow on it.

After a good taxi and pattern test flight I landed at the same field and did a post flight inspection. All was good, so I flew it to my home field.




And put her back where she belongs; safe in her nest. The hangar looks so much better with my girl in it.





Tomorrow I will take her up and give her a more thorough test. Wring her out; stalls, steep turns, slips, auto-pilot, and do some VORs. I want to do this more complete test flight before taking anyone else up.

The pictures don’t do justice to how nicely everything is finished out. Very detailed and excellent work.

Great looking job, OG. I like how the wheel covers turned out, a good match.

Very classy looking aircraft!

Congratulations OG I'll bet you feel the same joy as we all do with a new born S! to the new baby

Looking fantastic OG.

Well, that came out gorgeous. Love the T-Shirt too

I really like the classy classic looks of it!

I know I am being a bore about this, ..... but this is just a taste of how nice it came out. The seals around the windows and the new stainless steel screws, actuators, swivels, etc are just a thing of beauty. Here is the front gear. If you look closely you can see the clouds reflected on the front of the wheel pant.

So, how did they make sure every screw and rod went back where it came from?

BTW, how do you wash an aircraft to keep it so nice? All by hand?

Looks great OG!

Man....what an improvement!

Great lookin bird.

Awesome paint job.

That's a beautiful aeroplane OG. My flying days are long ago now, and I'm very envious you get to do it in such a stunning aircraft.

Your plane looks great OG!

Excellent, looks really good OG.

Just did a longer flight checking my autopilot. This was the last thing on my checklist. Everything worked just right. This was the first flight where I was flying a distance straight and level. I am just stunned. There was talk about my plane picking up some airspeed, but I had faint hope. Well la-dee-da !!! Picked up almost 8 mph. I never expected that. Guess some of the work adjusting gaps, panels, and seams along with smoothing in some things and of course a very smooth paint job eliminated some drag.

I am overjoyed.

What's that, like a 5%+ cruise speed increase?

If so, that is really amazing!

Actually 4%. I am pleasantly surprised. At first I didn’t believe it. I switched off autopilot, hand flew it, and went back to autopilot to be sure. Picked up a little rate of climb as well.

I am happy as a puppy with two peckers.

Looks really good. Thanks for sharing the process.

So you would also be increasing your fuel efficiency... meaning that the work will pay for itself in a "few years"

Or atleast, you can tell your wife that! LOL

Looks great, congrats!

Yes, but it would take a heck of a lot of flying time to pay for itself. By my quick approximation it would be about 1, 857 full tanks or about 9,185 hours.

I’ll not see it.

That came out as a beautiful machine, Oldgrognard!
I can understand your joy; especially with an increase in speed.
Congratulations on a great investment! very glad for you.

56 x 1,857 x $5.15 = ouch!!!

Looks brilliant Grog, very sweet ride

Krazi, It is actually 48 and $4.10. We have lower AvGas prices than you.

Still flying is expensive. Thankfully we don’t have landing, ATC, and ramp fees like many other countries. And here in the southern portion of the US, especially Florida and Texas we have a lot of airfields built during WW2.

So did California at one time but imo development has replaced way too many of them.


Wheels

Well, went on a longer flight to Fernandina Beach. Had more time to settle down the cruise speed. Sadly I found that I have only picked a touch over 3 and not the 7 or 8 I had earlier thought. Oh well, I was skeptical about speed gain anyway. I will be satisfied with the 3.

And the interior is as nice as the external. Approach into Albert Whitted airfield Saint Petersburg.






Flying buddy.

Love the wooden dash, reminds of a pommy sports car.

That is a beauty!
Congratulations again, and kudos to the shop that did the work. Congratulations to them also!

As Ajay said, love the dash.
Short story about another dash and my faux pas.

Picked up a new MB (1980) in Stuttgart, got the checkout and acceptance ride.
Never seen a 5 cylinder turbo diesel car and asking about the care, I asked about the care for the "wood veneer."
Wow! The man almost came unglued. Almost showing me how strong the suspension was, again, he almost climbed the curb as he strongly said:
"No veneer! Vood, vood!"
I realized I made a mistake and apologized.
The dash still looked great 26 years later.
Love your dash, OG, it's not a veneer.

Awesome, Love my 2002 Lexus LS430 with wooden trim. Its amazing watching it inn the morning sun when looks like a prism. Will dig up a pic soon.

Would love to get an original wood dash for my MG ZT, they didn't make them with them tho, only for the Rover 75, and in 2003 they stopped making them of wood and started making them in plastic wood. As I have the "check every box" option pack, finding a wooden dash to match has been difficult as there would be no cut-outs for the extra switches I have on mine.

Pictures taken by the same friend from his 172. We were at low level coming back from Sebring and checking out a new fly-in community that has just started.








I really like how the wingtips look. Much better than solid colored tips.

Sweet!

Looks fantastic...paintshop wallahs made a balls of the Ident. number though!
Looks as though there is a big fire seen just behind your tailplane?

That is some flat looking country Grog. Weird to see the fire when everything is so green, dry or a burn off?

BD-123, that is actually my beacon. The lighting and picture just caught it in such a manner that it really shows. The beacon is a slow flashing red light that is supposed to be on when the engine is running.

Ajay, not sure about the fire. Could be a controlled burn. Florida does controlled burns often. Yes, Florida is very flat. All the airfields are about 70 feet elevation and some near the coast are 20 feet. Actually the whole eastern coast of the US is pretty flat . Caused an “ah-ha” moment the first time I flew into the foothills of the Appalachians just northwest of Atlanta. Started my approach descent based on altitude numbers I used through all my training and several years of flying, and realized that I had failed to take note of the field elevation in my thinking. Five miles out I found I was too low and had to put in power and climb a bit then just hold it to the pattern. When that happened I was a pretty experienced pilot with over 500 hours. I had flow several long distance flights as far as from Florida to Virginia Beach, but never had to factor in field elevation before.

Seeing this grey, reminds me of a humorous entry I used to put in the Flight-plan description of the aircraft when flying to and from France from the UK. It was a largely grey Pa28, with some white features. I used to describe it as "Ocean grey and flecked with white", which would no doubt have amused the search and rescue boys if ever we ditched in the drink!

Grey ? That is Alpine white. A very white white.