Color At Last!

I got a call from the painter yesterday telling me that all the colors were on the plane and did I want to see it?  I went out this morning at 7:00 just as he was pulling the last of the tape and plastic off. Here is a shot of it as I first saw it.

This was a moment I had waited on for years.  You plan and draw a scheme, choose colors, change and revise until you finally come down to what you hope will be exactly what you want. No matter how much work you put into the plane, the paint layer is all anyone will ever see. Nothing else can personalize it like a paint scheme. Also, painting an aircraft is obscenely expensive, so you'd better be sure you are happy with the colors and scheme before it goes on.

I was sure about the scheme, but worried about the color. I wanted a metallic look, but couldn't use it because it would block the antennas hidden in the winglets. Dave from Lancaster Aero worked with me to formulate a custom color using pearl instead of metal flake. It looked great on small test panels, but I could only hope it would work on the plane.

As you can see above it turned out great. Dave did a terrific job laying out a very difficult paint scheme with 4 colors, drop shadows and base coat clear coat - a very high degree of difficulty.

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I really like the way the pearl in the gold gives almost a fade effect on the curve of the cowling. When viewed in person, the stripes seem to float about an inch above the plane.

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I love the way the winglets turned out too. As for the finish, check out the reflection of the N numbers on the bottom surface of the wing. Remember, this is only the base color, before clear coat.

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Dave said that the pearl colors would really light up and show their true look when the plane was viewed outdoors in the sun ..... so I helped him unmask the wheels and roll her outside. He was right. I like it even better in the sun. Wow!

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I really think I got the cool corporate jet look I was trying for. The colors are exciting, but still classy.

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Here are a few more shots. I warned earlier that I would post too many.

The guys were starting to wet sand when I left. Next week it gets clear coat and a new roof liner and should be finished on Friday. On Saturday, I'm going out early to mass balance the control surfaces again, put everything back together and, hopefully, fly her back home.

After that, the plan is to fly, fly and fly some more to get ready for our trip to the Bahamas.

The final pictures should be up by next weekend.

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