Guys,
Rattle can painting is useful while building an experimental aircraft. And, since the topic hasn’t been discussed in the new forum, I thought I would start a thread.
I tried several different paints while building Onex #89 and finally found some primer and paint that worked every time and on all surfaces. I was looking through some old pics and came across this.
Also, I walked into an FBO and saw a can of this exact primer sitting on a work bench. Highly recommended.
Wes
I used alodine on all parts. Adds no extra weight and is ready for paint if desired.
Do you have any plastic parts to paint? Or does alodine work on plastic as well?
Wes
On my RV4 tail I acid etched, alodined, and primed everything. Added a lot of time and toxins. When I restored a 1946 C140, it had nothing and was 65 years old. I decided that priming metals is for the owners who were flying after I was long gone.
I did alodine the wing spars and doublers in the 140, after I cleaned up the corrosion.
I’ve used a bunch of the Rust-Oleum Universal All Surface Spray Paint Amazon.com: Rust-Oleum 245196-6PK Universal All Surface Spray Paint, 12 oz, Gloss Black, 6 Pack : Everything Else Great paint, but terrible spray nozzle. Sadly, they discontinued the gloss grey that I used on the interior of the Onex, but at least I do have a few cans remaining that I won’t use for anything else. of course I’ve had no need to touch it up either. There’s only a little wear on the floor after 200 hrs. As well as this works, I might try some of the Rust-Oleum Ultra cover that Bryan posted.
BTW, those darn RV builders can be nuts when it comes to primers. I did the minimum to keep from being shamed off the forum 
Rusty
Rattle cans can not do a worse paint job than the “professional” top coat my aircraft has.
All metal undercoated. External - DeSoto 51X349 . Internal - Alodine,/ BMS10-11.
Top (professionally applied) coat automotive Protec White.
Top coat (only 18 months old) “flaking” off undercoat along seams and off rivet heads taking undercoat with it. 
That’s the single biggest issue I have with my rattle cans. I’m always getting clogs.
My paint is not that great. Compared to some of the zillion $ paint jobs out there it’s probably an embarrassment. But, if I have a scratch, or modify my fiberglass parts, I can just scuff the surface and squirt on some more. It’s awesome.
I would never try to paint an entire aircraft with rattle can. All of the fiberglass on my aircraft, except the tail tips, was painted with Alexseal. I didn’t want to destroy my shop, so I rolled it on. There are videos on the internet that show how it’s done. It’s an easy way to have a two-part paint job without spraying or having it sprayed.
The Paint Garden:
Nice and shiny:
Rattle Can on Tail Tips:
Wes
Wes, I’m with you although I’ve only painted the fiberglass parts on my Sonex with the Dupli-Color acrylic enamel. It buffs out beautifully. I wanted to post a pertinent photo here as I’ve done in the past but the paper clip command seems to have vanished.
Art, Sonex taildragger #95, Jabiru 3300 #261
Hi Art,
It might have been you that directed me to Dupli-Color.
On this forum you can add a photo with just a copy and paste.
Wes
Alodine treatment only went on the aluminum, I rattle can undercoated the cowl etc. I also vinyl wrapped the entire aircraft except for the cowl, wheel pants and ailerons.
The vinyl wrap is meant to be lighter than paint but I couldn’t balance the ailerons with the vinyl wrap, so they only got the alodine treatment and then a light coat of black rattle can paint. I think this was only because the black vinyl wrap I chose was quite thick, the orange wrap on most of the airframe is much thinner.
I also acid etched evertything before the Alodine. Not as hard as it seems when you do large batches at a time. I also did the wing spars by sealing the box they came in and filling it with the Alodine.
