What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Custom painted prop?

RV7A Flyer

Well Known Member
Patron
Ameritech doesn't do their "Designer Prop" custom paint jobs any more, and I was thinking of giving myself a birthday present this year by having mine done :( (especially since travel is greatly curtailed right now). Anybody know of another shop that will do a custom paint job on a Hartzell BA prop, to match the airframe?

TIA!
 
Ameritech doesn't do their "Designer Prop" custom paint jobs any more, and I was thinking of giving myself a birthday present this year by having mine done :( (especially since travel is greatly curtailed right now). Anybody know of another shop that will do a custom paint job on a Hartzell BA prop, to match the airframe?TIA!
The blades are aluminum. It is just paint. Anyone who knows paint can do it. You could paint it on plane with out removal. You could remove it, and tear down.... that will be big money. With that custom paint you will want to protect it. You might want some clear wrap on the leading edge or have a paint design where it can be touched up easy. Wrap may lose a tiny bit of prop performance?

You can go over the hartzell grey if it's in good shap. If you strip it, prop shops use media blasting. I think careful sanding might be OK... never did that. I'd keep the weight down and even from blade to blade.

My Hartzell is bare with clear and pearl. The clear was applied on a mat surface finish not polished. The pearl gave color and an iridescent look. The back was flat black. I had to refresh the black on back but the front was rock solid... leading edge had some erosion but the bare aluminum LE matched the bare aluminum prop. If a prop is painted black when the leading edge paint wears you see it. So any bright or high contrast color will show LE wear. Hartzell grey blends in with bare aluminum better. When my leading edge had wear, I refreshed the back black paint and taped off the leading edge and rattle can cleared the leading edge.... It held up well
 
Last edited:
The blades are aluminum. It is just paint. Anyone who knows paint can do it.

Not necessarily, mine is an Aero-Composites prop with (I think) nickel leading edge pieces. Mine was painted until I sent it in for O/H and they stripped. When it came back from American Prop Service in Redding they painted it with something that didn't last a month. In all fairness they offered to repaint it free if I would just send it back.....

So how do you strip a C/F prop?

-Marc
 
"Any one can paint it" Not necessarily, they painted it with something that didn't last a month.
Correction: anyone can paint it who knows what they are doing and uses the proper paint and processes.":D I'd call the manufacture and ask what product to use.

So how do you strip a C/F prop?-Marc
I don't know but I talked to a prop shop and Hartzell mothership customer service (BTW Hartzell Cust Service is excellent) and it is "media blasted" on aluminum blades out of the hub. I did not ask what kind of media, something mild I am sure, plastic or walnut? A composite prop is going to be different. Blasting does not sound right for composite from my experience, it is typically sanding.
 
Last edited:
Correction: anyone can paint it who knows what they are doing and uses the proper paint and processes.":D I'd call the manufacture and ask what product to use.

Right. That's the reason I asked the question...because *that's not me*. I don't have the equipment to do media blasting, I don't have the proper equipment to do a decent job of spraypainting, and it's the *prop*, which I don't want to screw around with.

That's why I asked if anyone knew of a shop that was doing custom prop paint jobs.
 
Back
Top