Painting

Hi guys
The last few week I have been preparing to paint my airplane. I have finished the fairings and they have been primed and the final part of my task will be to get the cowl primed with the disassembly of the airframe the plane will be ready to paint.

Hanger Rash

Hi Guys
Here is what I have been doing the last few week

Section 6 Re-Building left elevator Date 3/18/06
Today I started the re-build on my left elevator. The trailing edge was damage by a falling ladder while being storage in my hanger i.e. (hanger rash). The first order of business is to belt sand the top of my work bench to remove all bumps and areas that may scratch the new skin.
(Image) 00-0335 &00-336
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Section 6 Re-Building left elevator Date 3/19/06
I center punched all the rivets around the frame and then carefully drilled them out with a #40 drill. After drilling the frame I removed the skin from the frame with the stiffeners in place. To drill the stiffeners I spread the skin to place one side on top of my workbench with stiffeners down. As I removed the stiffener I recorded its location. To use the skin for a pattern I had to flatten the rivet dimples on the inside of the skin with a backing plate and hammer.
(Image) 00-0340 & 00-342
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Hanger Rash

Section 6 Re-Building left elevator Date 3/21/06
I aligned the old flatten skin over the new skin and drilled thru the new skin into the work bench. After each hole I clecoed the skins to the bench. This holds them down and keeps them properly aligned. After drilling and clecoing the first side of the elevator I used a scribe to transfer the outside edge of the old skin to the new skin. This process was repeated on the upper skin.
(Image) 00-343
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Section 6 Re-Building left elevator Date 3/23/06
After drilling holes I used a C frame with a #40 dimple die set to dimple all the holes . Next I trimmed the skin to the scribe line. The new skin is alcad so I opted to not primer the in side and I started to install the stiffeners on the bottom skin. The servo skin needed to be fit to the new opening in the bottom skin.
(Image) 00-0345 &00-344
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Finish Cowl Shaping

I finish my attempt at being a bondo sculptor. The area behind the spinner needed to be built up about ?? I used foam with epoxy resin and 9 oz glass and I finished it up with polyester filler. I removed the engine case for overhaul and it should be back in two or three weeks. Now I can start the painting process.

Dayton - In the pictures I can see rivets in the lower cowl, underneath where the four nutplates are in the upper cowl to hold it on. What is their purpose?
Thanks Steve
#4478

Dayton, another question. In the cowl cheek at the front edge you have a 'U' shaped cut out. Is this for putting the cowl pins on from the rear? Can you give us details?

Thanks again, Steve. #4478

Cowl pins

Yes Steve
That is exactly what I am doing. I cut a small hole thru the cheek bulkhead to allow the cowl pin to come thru the back side into the hinge. The cover plate performs a double duty by covering the hole and securing the cowl pin.
The rivets hold the aluminum back plate for the nut plates. I also prosealed the back plate to the cowl

Filling Fiberglass

Hi Everyone
Well tonight I thought my filler on the elevator tips was finish. After spraying some filler primer on them I realize that I am a long way from finish. I also applied some filler primer to the upper cowl. The surface has the appearance of a kitchen strainer. The filler primer amplified the pinholes and weave. The builder manual instructs me to apply bondo type filler to the surface and sand to a smooth finish. Is there a better way?

The filler primer amplified the pinholes and weave. The builder manual instructs me to apply bondo type filler to the surface and sand to a smooth finish. Is there a better way?

Click to expand...

Haven't tried it myself, but you might look here for another idea.

James Freeman

If you try this, post your results... I'm on glass too

Better Way

Today after work I will try this method on the inside of my cowl. My only question was what type of roller is needed to perform this operation? I hope that Steve my paint guy can tell me. I will gladly post my results good or bad

Finsh inside Cowl

Hi Everyone
Bruce Meacham ask me to share my results in using the technique of spreading raw epoxy resin on the cowl surface to fill pinholes and scratches before painting. I prep the inside of my upper cowl with 120 grit sand paper to clean off and lose material and remove release agent, I wiped it down with lacquer thinner, dried it with a air hose before applying the resin. I used West system 105-epoxy resin with 205 hardener. I applied the resin with a small roller to the inside surface of my cowl. After 30 minutes I used a Bondo spreader to squeegee off the excess resin. After the first coat became tacky I applied the second coat of resin and squeegee off the excess. The next day I scuffed the epoxy area with 180 grit paper and painted it with polyester primer. There are no pinholes in the surface of the inner cowl. I will use this technique on the exterior surfaces of my cowl

This is after one coat of epoxy

This is before I sanded with 180 grit paper

The final product

EXCELLENT! I'll be doing this for the prep/finish on my hand-layup canopy farings, tail fairings, leg fairings and cowl cheak extensions.

??? GOES THE GLASS WORK EVER END ???

Thanks!

-Bruce

Primer?

Hi Everyone
Can I spray polyester primer filler over my epoxy cowl? Will the primer eventually separate from the cowl? I have used this type of primer on the wheel pants, wing tips other polyester fiberglass parts

RV4 Painting

Hi Everyone

The last month has been difficult in the paint booth. After changing from PPG products to Val Spar products to finish my aircraft I went through a long learning process with the new paint. Val spar products react different to the low humidity and warm temperatures in Nevada. I started with the manufacture recommendations for the primer and paint with a little help from the staff at the paint store. The results were orange peel that resembles cottage cheese. So I started to increase the reducer to eliminate the non-conforming surface condition. The paint was opaque and smooth then the activator kicked in and I had cottage cheese. After many changes to the paint mix including higher temperature reducer and changing the activator .The surface was unacceptable At this point I was thinking about golf ball and Vortex generators. I started to paint at three in the morning the temperature is about 65 degs. Using activator for 80 degs seemed to work at this temperature. (I needed a win) but my efforts were not rewarded with smooth paint. My son (bless his heart) asked me to try buffing the paint. I sanded my wing tip with 1000,1500 and 2000 wet dry. That removed the orange peel but the surface finish was dull and lifeless. I buffed with a wool bonnet and some Meguiars Glaze Dual Action Cleaner/Polish #83. After 5 minutes of buffing, Oh my God! Wow! The paint was awesome! I was so pleased with the results that I buffed a few other parts with the same out come. I am still skeptical. Have any of you experienced builders gone thru this process? And do I have to clear coat the paint now or is there a wax?

Up Date

Hi Everyone

I though that an update is in order. My engine installation is complete! Over the weekend I installed a P-Mag ignition system which was the last engine detail. I will be doing the first run after the wings are installed. This next weekend I will complete the painting the wings and a few other parts. Then final assembly.

Polyester is OK

Dayton Murdock said:

Hi Everyone
Can I spray polyester primer filler over my epoxy cowl? Will the primer eventually separate from the cowl? I have used this type of primer on the wheel pants, wing tips other polyester fiberglass parts

Click to expand...

No problem if everything is clean and degreased.

This is standard sailplane technology. When German gliders are refinished, the epoxy they are made from is painted with polyester primer and then finish coated with polyester paint. After a sand (within 24 hours before the paint hardens) and then a polish a day later, a glass like surface is obtained.
This combination does stick and has been used for decades (my Mini-Nimbus is now 20 years on it's refinish) mostly using Prestec paints.

Good quality polyester paint and primer is OK on epoxy... and I just remembered it's one of the standard Rutan finish methods - not surprising since he started off next door to Fred Jiran in Mojave, who was one of the glider repair guys of the day...

This brand should be available locally from auto body suppliers, and works well....

Fibreglass Evercoat 391 - Feather Fill

The major complaint with it is that it sands too well, and makes LOTS of very fine dust that gets everywhere... .....wet sanding will help this....

gil in Tucson

Etch and Alodine...divine!

Dayton, if I can put two plugs in for preparation, Etch and Alodine! When I painted the bandit back in 97' I couldn't decide whether to use self-etching primer or do the "whole monty" process. Living in the SE USA and seeing alot of certified airplanes turn to dust I bought 2 gallons of phosphoric acid and alodine solution (Chromium). I donned a protective suit, bought some industrial rubber gloves and grabbed the scotch brites. After two days of scrubbing the entire airplane with 20% phosphoric acid/water solution it looked like a new Delorean. Water sprayed in it's general direction would'nt stick to any surface longer than a nanosecond. Dude, it was clean! I quickly applied the alodine (chromium) with a large paintbrush until the entire airplane turned bronze. Now, I was ready for the PPG Primer and later the DGHS Ford Dove Gray base color...

10 years later, the Bandit still shines and has no peeling, or corrosion. Gotta like it!


RR