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 Photo © Jeff Miller |  Photo © Ryan C. Umphrey |
 Photo © Ben Wang |  Photo © Sergio Domingos |
| Quoting 474218 (Reply 1): The randoms and cowling are interchangeable. So they have been removed from one aircraft and installed on another. |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 4): initially all painting is indexed to water line zero |
| Quoting BMI727 (Reply 2): which is how one got turned upside down and ended up on a UA plane. |
| Quoting B727LVR (Reply 6): Most if not all radomes I have worked on only go on one way, or did you mean the paint scheme was applied upside down? |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 7): Waterline & Stationline.....now we're getting somewhere. Can someone explain how painting/preparation begins at these points. Where are these points usually located? How are radomes painted seperately if, like on some liveries, you have to line up the stripes exactly? |
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| Quoting rolypolyman (Reply 10): Funny how the whole process is so mysterious. |
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| Quoting rolypolyman (Reply 10): I'm actually wondering how they get the logos, shapes, and polygons painted so precisely... do they spray against plastic stencils? |
| Quoting rolypolyman (Reply 10): I can't even picture how a painter decides exactly where to hold the stencil and at what angle. |
| Quoting rolypolyman (Reply 10): If I was given a 777 to paint, I'd take an LCD projector and cast a template against the fuselage to use as a guide and use that with stencils. |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 13): And why do we see rudders being painted seperately on new a/c? |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 15): If you can find it on Utube there was a good vid of the last Southwest state special being painted... |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 18): So it's safe to say that mis-matches occur due to different paint shops not quite starting the job at exactly the correct datum? |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 18): What do the painting instruction documents look like? |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 18): I assume they need to be carefully studied before applying a paint job? |
| Quoting rolypolyman (Reply 10): If I was given a 777 to paint, I'd take an LCD projector and cast a template against the fuselage to use as a guide and use that with stencils. Funny how the whole process is so mysterious. |
| Quoting Mender (Reply 20): Even if you were to use a laser you'd have to ensure the first aircraft was exactly as high as the second aircraft or have a trick laser. |
| Quoting Mender (Reply 20): In a manufacturing environment you could do this but it would be a lot harder painting an Airbus then a Boeing back to back. |
| Quoting boeing767mech (Reply 14): Because the rudder is balanced. So it is painted and balanced before being fitted to the airframe. Then it is masked and then the rest of the airframe is painted. Most of the time the ailerons and elevators get the same treatment. |
| Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 22): Airbus does not balance their rudders, |
| Quoting 474218 (Reply 23): How does Airbus prevent flutter in the case of multiple hydraulic system failure? |
Stay on topic. | Quoting 474218 (Reply 23): How does Airbus prevent flutter in the case of multiple hydraulic system failure? |
| Quoting boeing767mech (Reply 25): " All surfaces are actuated by irreversible hydraulically powered actuators. No surface is mass balanced." |
| Quoting boeing767mech (Reply 25): "Balancing of the primary and secondary contorl surfaces after minor or major repairs in accordance with the SRM is not required." |
| Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 24): What does that have to do with painting rudders?? Stay on topic |
| Quoting tdscanuck (Reply 27): It is on topic...it's why Airbus paints their rudders along with the rest of the plane and Boeing doesn't. This has obvious implications for paint mismatch, since Boeing paints the rudders far in advance, in a different location, and it's supposed to line up nicely with the rest of the fin livery once they paint that. |
| Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 24): What does that have to do with painting rudders?? Stay on topic. |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 30): anyone have some of tail feather mis-matches or airline swaps.. |
| Quoting 474218 (Reply 29): Your the one that brought up that Airbus rudders were not balanced |
| Quoting AirframeAS (Reply 32): I brought it up for a reason, so that people here don't get confused that all rudders are balanced regardless of aircraft type. I know Boeings have their rudders balanced (hence why you see a new airplane with a painted rudder only) while the Airbus aircraft does not (whole tail painted). I do not know how Douglas did their rudders, I assume it is the same as the way Boeing does it? |
| Quoting 474218 (Reply 33): I take it you don't know why Airbus doesn't balance their rudders, so I looked it up. Now I am sorry I did. |
| Quoting Braniff747SP (Reply 34): I must be missing something blatantly obvious here.... Please explain |
| Quoting 474218 (Reply 33): Now I am sorry I did. |
| Quoting boeing767mech (Reply 31): There are pictures of a NWA 757-200 with a UPS rudder |
 Photo © Paul Kanagie |  Photo © LHR Photos |
| Quoting alwaysontherun (Reply 37): Or do airlines / manufacturers mix it up in house? |
| Quoting alwaysontherun (Reply 37): are there many aircraft paint manufacturers like you have in the Marine Industry?--> Sigma, Jotun, International for instance. |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 30): The closed I ever saw was a flap wrapped with duct tape... and steaming behind |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 39): Boeing buys to a BMS specification from several suppliers for basic standard paint schemes.... I just don't remember who |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Thread starter): Does anybody know how/what templates are used to align up the stickers/paint? |
 Photo © Fengxiaoxi |  Photo © Roberto Bianchi |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 46): What about painting the window blinds? Is it standard to paint them or just to pick a neutral colour for them all? If they are painted to match the livery then how do they go about doing this? |
| Quoting tdscanuck (Reply 42): PPG Aerospace coatings is one...I'm pretty sure DeSoto was another, although they've been bought so many times I can't figure out who they are now. |
| Quoting BALandorLivery (Reply 46): What about painting the window blinds? Is it standard to paint them or just to pick a neutral colour for them all? If they are painted to match the livery then how do they go about doing this? |
| Quoting kanban (Reply 47): Alternative there are exterior decals that are perforated so one can see through yet appear t be a solid surface from a distance.. this is used in advertising, you see them on buses, trams, trucks and cars.. the problem would be removing them from the window when designs change, or they become damaged... |
