When it comes to paint schemes and paint refurbishments, at West Star Aviation, the sky is the limit.  Traditionally, because of personal taste, the investment potential and/or resale values, a lot of customers tend to lean toward a more conservative design and go with a base white with a couple stripes.

However, every now and then, we get a customer, company or individual that comes to West Star wanting to do something unique, elaborate or complex. Or they have a source of inspiration and want to see it come to reality in the form of a paint scheme or design on their aircraft. That’s where our experience really shines.

Characteristics like ramp presence and aesthetic value can be important to some people and extremely important to others. 

Depending on where you fall in the “mild to wild” range of exterior paint, generally if you can dream it up, we can incorporate it into your paint design. 

There are a few things we recommend you consider when trying to figure out just where you are on the design spectrum –  DOWNTIME, COST, PRESERVATION, AND RESALE VALUE.

DOWNTIME~ Complex paint schemes can take more time to complete because of the layout time required, material applications processes and curing times, etc.

COST~ Specialized materials like all metallic paints or hand airbrushing treatments have a direct effect on cost.  Depending on the amount of these variables used in a job, they can almost double the cost of a more standard design.

PRESERVATION~ There are a lot of modern paint finishes and aesthetics that, while they look great, will require painting half or more of the aircraft every time wear starts to show or required maintenance.  Simpler designs can be brushed up, wear or damage can be localized and preserved easier and made to last longer. More often than not a custom paint scheme is going to have a shorter life because of the intricacies of the design, required touch ups and material usage.

RESALE VALUE ~ Not everyone appreciates a custom design, unique colors or specialized finish. There are times that we have advised customers to stick with simple or OEM style paint scheme on their specific make or model of aircraft to ensure a broader audience at resale time, depending on who the owner it. In the big picture, the value of personal gratification for a cool paint job that may cost more, compared to the difference in value of the aircraft asset is minimal. More often than not an aircraft is scheduled for a cosmetic refurbishment when it changes hands/ownership.