Originally an inexpensive Harbor Freight spray gun was
purchased to spray the primer … but then I figured gee, after priming hundreds
of square feet of aluminum during the build, I may just get good enough at
spraying to want to try tackling spraying the outer finish coat as well. (Plus
the tip that came with the HF spray gun is larger than the tip size recommended
by the primer manufacturer and various sized tips are not available at my local
HF store). That said, the DOG Aviation
procurement department went into action and found a seemingly great little HVLP
gun that has a lot going for it.
Eastwood’s Concours HVLP spray gun and the DeKups
disposable spray system made by DeBliss. A special adapter is screwed on the
gun to accept the DeKups system. The spray gun has four different sizes of tips
available and the gun only uses 4 CFM of compressed air, so most any home air
compressor will work well. Also the DeKups system is made in at least three
sizes ... my initial choice is the 9 oz cup because most of the priming will be
done in small batches.
To the right of the spray gun in the above photo is the
disposable top and disposable soft thin plastic cup (think bladder). Paint is
placed in the disposable cup and the disposable lid is placed on the cup … all that
is placed into the container to the right of the disposable cup and the locking
collar on the far right keeps it all together and also allows the assembly to
be attached to the spray gun. One cool thing about the DeKups paint system is
it allows the user to paint with the gun upside down … (which may come in handy
for painting the bottom of a fuselage while lying down on a creeper).
