The old paint job
After the 2023 annual on my legacy TBM 700, the service center A&P mentioned that painted areas along the seams and wingtip edges needed paint to prevent corrosion. The areas were confined to a few connecting seams on the fuselage and the outer wingtips. These areas typically show signs of wear before other locations because the airframe flexes, expands, and contracts wildly with varying temperatures and high-altitude flight. Absent the few trouble spots, the paint still showed well from a distance. However, anyone who looked closely could tell that time had taken its toll on the old paint. The white had turned almost grey, was tarnished, and could not be polished to look better. The green still showed well but was beginning to flake, especially on the wingtips.
The 2023 and 2024 annuals were a bit more expensive than I had budgeted, so paint would have to wait a couple of years until the budget allowed for a comprehensive makeover. I put off the project until the next two annuals, and the service center continued applying touch-up paint to the affected areas.
In April 2025, I was invited on a fishing trip at a friend’s ranch in South Texas, where I could also catch up with some old high school acquaintances. I landed at the field and noticed a beautifully painted TBM on the ramp. Behind the plane was a large hangar advertising paint and interior work. I stopped one of the employees wearing the shop’s logo shirt and told him that I would be on the field for a few days and to quote a paint job for the plane. I handed him my business card (and yes, I still find them useful and hand them out regularly) and asked that he email a full strip and paint estimate. He would have that Thursday afternoon and all day Friday to look over the plane and prepare an estimate.
After the trip, I flew home and waited to hear from the shop. I was somewhat excited to get the paint process started and thought I had lucked into my first estimate by parking right next to a paint shop. Unfortunately, the estimate never arrived, even after calling and reminding the person on the phone of my request. I checked that shop off the list, even though they were highly recommended by the TBM community. I’m in the customer service business, and that first impression did not bode well for how they would communicate with me during my project. I know from experience that businesses have good and bad days, and that is why I gave this shop a second chance by calling to remind them of my request. When I did not get it after the second request, it was time to move on.
To begin the process anew, I posted on the TBM community forum and on the Facebook TBM page, asking for additional recommendations. Like most aviation micro-groups, the members have a wealth of knowledge and volunteered several suggestions based on their personal experiences. The TBM is a capable cross-country platform, so a paint shop anywhere in the United States would be reachable, but I really wanted something closer to home. I narrowed my search to shops within six hundred miles of my home base and began checking with the ones recommended on the community forums. Again, most were responsive and sent detailed estimates, and others either failed to respond or sent estimates lacking enough detail to make me feel comfortable moving forward. What I wasn’t expecting was the question of whether I wanted a full strip and repaint or just a sanding and repainting with the original scheme. The pricing between the two options was not drastically different, so I decided to have a full repaint with a totally new design.
All of the shops included their standard warranties and estimated how long the plane would be down. I was also surprised by the variance on how long painting would take. Some shops estimated thirty working days, while others said to expect at least sixty days or longer. Similarly, warranties varied drastically from one year to five years on workmanship.
While I analyzed the bids, I started taking pictures of planes at every FBO and scouring the internet for paint schemes. It didn’t matter if it was a large jet or a small piston – if I liked the colors or the paint combinations, I would take a picture. My wife and I disagreed often on what we liked, so it took some time to conjure up a paint scheme that satisfied us both. There are companies like Scheme Designers that will assist with picking colors and a great scheme for the plane. In the end, I used a photo I found on the internet with a likeable design and inserted my own colors to mimic the example.
Once I decided on colors, I picked the paint shop, booked a delivery date, and had the shop send a first mock-up. Ultimately, I decided on a shop about 200 miles north of where I lived. There were both pluses and minuses of this decision. Their next opening fit perfectly with my schedule. Additionally, I thought it would be an easy drive back home when I needed to check on the progress of the plane. Unfortunately, after making my commitment, I discovered that the area around the paint shop does not have rental cars within a two-hour drive. I would have to find someone to fly me to drop off the plane and also to pick it up. Of course, that is where friends in aviation come in handy.
With logistics figured out, I set the date for drop off as January 5, 2026. The paint shop estimated 30 working days to complete, but I mentally prepared for longer and added two additional weeks for completion. I have learned that on legacy planes, maintenance always takes longer than expected, and this would be no exception.
In the meantime, I worked with the shop’s owner on mockups. We experimented with variations of colors, and the shop tried to color-match from my sample photographs. I did not have any paint names or color numbers, so the shop was trying to create mock-ups from my emailed pictures. I received several mockups on paper, but unfortunately, the colors do not translate well from the computer to the screen or printed page. For instance, the blues look somewhat grey, and the whites had a more silver tint to them. To help with the visualization, the shop sent paint samples from their Sherwin-Williams book, and I pasted them on a two-dimensional mockup. The samples from the catalog were only two inches wide by one inch tall, which still made it hard for me to visualize the colors on the plane. The shop then sent actual painted metal with each color so I could take the samples outside and look at them in different lights. These samples each measured eight inches wide by five inches high, making the visualization process much easier.
I signed off on the final design and delivered the plane, with the understanding that the job would take thirty working days. Unfortunately, winter storm Fern put a wrinkle in the estimated time to complete the job when the shop was hit with an unexpected snow and ice storm. The effects of Fern shut down the area for weeks, and the shop had to work with a skeleton crew, setting my job back a couple of weeks. (See also my article in the May 2026 T&T about Super Storm Fern and insurance considerations during maintenance).
Along the way, the owner of the shop sent me pictures and asked me to sign off on mockups to be sure the colors were correct and that the placement of the tail number met my expectations. For instance, their mockup had the tail number on the fuselage, but I wanted it on the tail as it had been with the old paint scheme. Watching the process from tear-down to taping, to masking off the scheme, and eventually to applying color was fascinating. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in making a custom paint scheme come together.
In the end, I am satisfied with the outcome. However, I do have recommendations for anyone undergoing a project like this in the future.
- If the color scheme is going to completely change, hire a professional designer. I think I may have wasted time figuring out colors. I researched the cost of the designer, and in the scope of the whole job, the pricing is reasonable.
- Ask for references from former clients, do research on the shop, and check all of their Google reviews. ChatGPT and other AI tools are great for checking reputation as well. The shop I used has downsized a bit, and getting them to fix items I have found since picking up the plane has been complicated.
- Be sure to ask about the warranty on both materials and workmanship. I was surprised to learn how widely the warranties between shops varied.
- Do a really good walk-around when the job is complete. Be sure the plane is outside where the natural light can help identify imperfections in the paint. Run your hands over every surface to check for rough areas that might have been missed on the final polishing. I found a large area on the tail cone that felt as though it had not been sanded, and the shop corrected it while I waited. I did not get on a ladder and check unreachable areas. I wish I had because when I got home, there were areas that needed attention. Rather than flying the plane back to the shop, we agreed to have the correction done at my hangar, and the shop would issue a reimbursement.
- Inspect all lights, mechanical surfaces, and do a thorough pre-flight before leaving. Many parts are removed during a full strip and paint, and any errors in reassembly need to be discovered early. I discovered that one of my position lights did not work because the screw used to reassemble it was too long and broke a critical component. Additionally, the lights were assembled backwards with the red and green on the wrong sides of the plane. I learned later that there are services that will do a thorough third-party inspection after painting to ensure everything is completed correctly. If I were to do this again, I would have a second set of eyes on the final product.
- I was told that ceramic coating should not be applied until at least 30 days after the paint is complete to allow the paint to fully cure. Be sure to clear up whether a third party applying the ceramic coating will void the warranty.
I knew going in that I was trying to bring a thirty-year-old plane back to life, so I did not plan on a perfect outcome. Overall, I am satisfied with the work completed, the outcome, and the price that I paid. While the project took a few extra weeks, I never felt that I was being pushed back to accommodate other planes. The owner and his team remained in constant communication by phone and email and provided answers to my questions quickly. In the weeks after delivery, I have found several issues requiring attention, and the shop is working to correct the remaining issues, although their response time is longer than when I was actively working to get the job finished.
With a low-time Pratt and Whitney engine up front, updated avionics, a refurbished interior, and now new paint, I’m satisfied that my TBM will continue to serve my mission for many more years. If, on the other hand, I decide to move in another direction, I am confident the new paint will get my plane sold faster than one that has not been painted. For the time being, it’s nice to hear a compliment from another pilot when I’m completing a pre-flight.
