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The madness deepens!

sahrens

Well Known Member
This is the left wing half way through the process.

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Here is the left wing almost done.

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The difficult task is not letting perfect get in the way of done.
 
I think about going to blue wings, 90% of bottom is colored. These are taken today after 3 years of no polishing. (Not perfect by any means but still turns heads) The great job you?re doing it should last long too.

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The one thing it makes perfectly clear is the number of scratches made during construction. Every slip with a cleco makes a mark that really shows up as you run the polisher over it.

There is the deepening madness; do I run over that area again with F7, or maybe C. Maybe C then F7.....
 
Scott I have almost completed a RV 12 and I will be polishing some of the aircraft. Can you tell me what number you started with and your method please
 
Could you get it as close to perfect as your are prepared to accept and then clear coat it or clear wrap it? There are some very decent clear wraps available these days that are applied to very expensive vehicles that you wouldn't know were there!
 
The process

Can you tell me what number you started with and your method please

I started by using CaliforniaCustom, a product that has been mentioned here on VAF. It is a product designed for many metals including aluminum. While going over the aircraft I quickly realized this was not going to get to the finish I wanted. In the first image on my original post the area of the wing to the right is after using CaliforniaCustom. To be fair I only went over the area once. Had you looked at the wing up close it looked pretty good but it was a little cloudy and yellowish. Had I made another pass with that product it would have been a better finish.

Then I switched to Nuvite products. A friend of mine has a polished Swift and he loaned me his Cyclo polisher and some Nuvite C and S. He gave me a five minute lesson on the size of area to work on and using the two products. I started with C and a compound polisher and went over the wing, working in small areas (2'x3' maybe.) In some areas I made two passes with Nuvite C. After going over the outboard half of the wing I switched to Nuvite S and the Cyclo polisher. Again, in a couple of areas, I went over it twice with the Cyclo and S. That got me to where I am today.

I believe that I should have gone over many of the areas of the wing with Nuvite F7. Orignally I believed using the CaliforniaCustom had done enough polishing that I could skip the step with F7. In my case that was a mistake. One thing I quickly learned is there are a lot more scratches on the surfaces than I thought; cleco marks around rivets, or marks from the wing rack and shipping marks (QB wings.) The polish will turn black as you work the with the compound polisher and get caught in every depression or scratch. All those scratches really show up and I had decided to polish early on during the build so I tried to be careful. Had I initially used F7 I would have reduce the number of passes I made with C and "healed" many of the scratches. From now on I will be using F7 in many areas.

If you haven't been to the website, check out http://www.perfectpolish.com that is where I purchased the Nuvite products. He also has some interesting information and a video about polishing aluminum.
 
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Could you get it as close to perfect as your are prepared to accept and then clear coat it or clear wrap it? There are some very decent clear wraps available these days that are applied to very expensive vehicles that you wouldn't know were there!

I don't know about a clear wrap. I haven't explored that as a solution. I have read here and other locations that a clear coat won't work. One problem is getting it to stick to a polished surface.
 
purple polish

The purple polish is a great product. don't throw it away. Use it to maintain your polish, you will find it will give a deeper, more clear shine that nuvite, after the initial polish is done.

I loved my polished -4, the only thing I would urge you to consider is some paint, or wrap on the top of the wing, the reflection while flying can be brutal. I thought it was worth it. but my wife hated it.
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Polish and vinyl

Almost done with the vinyl, never done with the polish





 
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Scott,

Is there a concern with future buffing near the edges of the wrap? I like this solution for the reduced added weight.

Awesome looking plane!
 
My plan is to tape the edges when I'm polishing near the vinyl. I am testing different types of tape to see if any will pull up without pulling the vinyl loose.

I may have to use CaliforniaCustom around the edges of the vinyl and hand polish those areas.
 
I’ve been playing with the Nuvite as well, currently everything has been F7’nd and working on the C. Yes it’s a lot of work, but I hate the polish residue around the hangar more.
I’m never done polishing scratches out but I’ve gotten quite a few compliments since I started polishing.
I’ve heard of the 10 foot paint job or the 10 foot and 100mph paint job, pretty easy to get a pretty nice 5 foot polish....
Sorry, I was responding to the Oct post. I’ve been thinking of a similar scheme, I like it!
 
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Is there a concern with future buffing near the edges of the wrap?
I used to use the blue painter's tape to mask the edge of the vinyl, but i've stopped doing that and just buff right on to it (with the Cyclo polisher). A wipe with naptha afterwards cleans up any residue that gets left on the vinyl, and no issues with edges lifting. I believe it's 3M 1080 vinyl.
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another season of getting ready

It does take a little less time on subsequent polishing, it must be a madness

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