What IS Full Body Paint?

[nomad297]

When an RV is advertised as having "full body paint," what does that really mean? If it didn't have full body paint, then, what would it have instead? The term leads me to believe that everything you see on the body is painted on -- graphics and all. Is this the case? I have a hard time believing that would be the case because some of the more complicated graphics I have seen would take a true artist to airbrush on, like those on a 2014 Redwood, for example.

Bruce

[nomad297]

kakampers wrote:
Every inch of this rig is automotive paint! No graphics whatsoever!

If it says full body paint, then that's what it is...Heartland used to offer a cheaper, half body paint where the decals were stick on...it is no longer offered. The reason we chose the full body is because it's like a car...keep it washed and waxed and it stays beautiful...no chalking like gelcoat can do.

As for the amount of work...sure, but these paint shops have it down to a science and they use a crew to get the job done...

I really am happy to hear this. My friend just received his Redwood which he ordered with full body paint and it looks great. I was so worried that with all of those graphics he would be in big trouble when they started to age. Now I feel better.

When his rig was on the production line, they somehow missed that it was supposed to have full body paint and applied all of the graphics as a body wrap or something like that. The rep noticed the error and had to back things up which put his rig a couple of weeks behind schedule.

Bruce

[kakampers]

Every inch of this rig is automotive paint! No graphics whatsoever!

If it says full body paint, then that's what it is...Heartland used to offer a cheaper, half body paint where the decals were stick on...it is no longer offered. The reason we chose the full body is because it's like a car...keep it washed and waxed and it stays beautiful...no chalking like gelcoat can do.

As for the amount of work...sure, but these paint shops have it down to a science and they use a crew to get the job done...

[nomad297]

kakampers wrote:
We have full body paint on our Landmark...and that's exactly what it is. It is painted in a shop just like an auto, and the graphics are full paint. It is taped off and takes several coats, plus an automotive clear coat to complete. When ordered it adds at least a week to deliver as it is shipped out to a paint shop near the manufacturer.

Nice looking rig! So, everything I can see has been painted onto the body and there are no decals to peel off later? That's great. It must be an enormous amount of work for the people tasked with painting.

Would this be true for all full body paint jobs? Or, are there some who would still use decals?

Bruce

[kakampers]

We have full body paint on our Landmark...and that's exactly what it is. It is painted in a shop just like an auto, and the graphics are full paint. It is taped off and takes several coats, plus an automotive clear coat to complete. When ordered it adds at least a week to deliver as it is shipped out to a paint shop near the manufacturer.

[Veebyes]

There is a Festival in Key West where you can see full body paint. Some of it looks fantastic. Most should be left unpainted & covered with something more than paint.

[Bob___Ann]

Some units are fiberglass with a few decals on them. They can look good but they are not full body paint. Those with full body paint have all of the fiberglass pained and might have the graphics as decals or painted on. The more colors that are painted on the greater the cost of the unit. Full body paint is just a preference. It costs more and might have a higher resale value but it is just the buyers preference. However there are all grades of fiberglass. The higher quality is very smooth and the lower cost fiberglass has a rough finish. If you go to an RV show and just walk around you can look down the side of all of the units and see the difference. I hope that this helps. Good luck with your search.

[Chris_Bryant]

Most of them are fiberglass gelcoat. Full body paint means.... the full body is painted, not gelcoat.