I have painted the old rudders. I used krylon fusion (very inexpensive and a relatively new product). I am surprised at how good they look and how tenacious the paint seems to adhere.

However, I have yet to truly field-test them. Scratch tests in the shop demonstrated that they will scratch (and sand) easier than the original surface but the paint really seems to be very chip and flake resistent. I am well aware of the problems in painting certain plastics, and so far, I am pleasantly surprised and impressed with this paint.

You may not need to wet-sand for anything but the smoothest look.

Also, having an auto-body shop paint them would be prohibitively expensive (in my opinion) and unecessary given the availability of Krylon fusion.

As always, the surface should be perfectly clean before application. I ALWAYS use a professional degreaser/dewaxer at least three times over. This follows one or two good detergent scrubs first. Just before painting I sanded the rudders thoroughly with 120 grit.

Dave

P.S Aaronhoy.

Clearcoating a top-coat that will not stick to the substrate on its own just ensures that you spend more time and money on a failed paint-job. This will not help the situation at all.