Page 06-06 Build Time: 36 hrs
The goal for the holiday weekend was to get the Vertical Stab through primer so that it could cure during the week and be ready for assembly next week. I completed all the de-burring for the VS skeleton as well as scuffed them up to get ready for paint. I've dimpled the skins for the VS de-burred and scuffed for paint as well. I test fit the ribs that need radius so there won't be any O-shit moments post primer.
The process I'm using for prep is a very fine (red) scotch-brite followed by the ultra fine (silver) just to knock down some of the scuff from the red one. Not too much but enough to give the aluminum some "tooth" as they say. This is followed by a wash with Dawn to remove most of the dirt then Acryli-Clean until no more black comes up. Prior to primer there's one last quick cleaning to pick up any dust of finger prints. I don't want to go the Alumni-Prep / Alodine route as it's just too much prep and the primer I'm using should be fine without it. The outside will have the full treatment but that won't be done by me.
I've given this primer business quite a bit of thought. After speaking with a couple people in the business that I trust I ended up with Sherwin Williams corrosion resistant epoxy primer. While talking with the painter I asked about the water based stuff I had previously decided to use (I only bought a quart) and he felt that if you could still get the good stuff you should use it. I have to say - primer adds a significant amount of time to the build. I'm sure as I get settled on the process it won't be so bad but I could be quite a bit farther along if I just built without primer.
I mixed the primer (turned out to be exactly the right amount) but ran out of time / temperature before I could get to the VS skin. So that will have to wait till next week. I wanted to see how this primer was going to turn out - it's hella more work in prep, cleanup and logistics. I'm going to look into doing it in a shop locally so that I have a bit more control on the process. I also weighed each part going into primer and will re-weigh once it's cured. I want to track the ratio so I can get an idea if I'm really putting on the pounds with internal primer.
Primer is a all day event. I thought I could take on the intake gaskets for the Cessna and the primer in one day but it was a grind getting it all done. Going forward I'll leave the entire day for it. I'm very pleased with the results but it makes everything much more work in terms of prep and mocking up without actually assembling anything.
The goal for the holiday weekend was to get the Vertical Stab through primer so that it could cure during the week and be ready for assembly next week. I completed all the de-burring for the VS skeleton as well as scuffed them up to get ready for paint. I've dimpled the skins for the VS de-burred and scuffed for paint as well. I test fit the ribs that need radius so there won't be any O-shit moments post primer.
The process I'm using for prep is a very fine (red) scotch-brite followed by the ultra fine (silver) just to knock down some of the scuff from the red one. Not too much but enough to give the aluminum some "tooth" as they say. This is followed by a wash with Dawn to remove most of the dirt then Acryli-Clean until no more black comes up. Prior to primer there's one last quick cleaning to pick up any dust of finger prints. I don't want to go the Alumni-Prep / Alodine route as it's just too much prep and the primer I'm using should be fine without it. The outside will have the full treatment but that won't be done by me.
I've given this primer business quite a bit of thought. After speaking with a couple people in the business that I trust I ended up with Sherwin Williams corrosion resistant epoxy primer. While talking with the painter I asked about the water based stuff I had previously decided to use (I only bought a quart) and he felt that if you could still get the good stuff you should use it. I have to say - primer adds a significant amount of time to the build. I'm sure as I get settled on the process it won't be so bad but I could be quite a bit farther along if I just built without primer.
I mixed the primer (turned out to be exactly the right amount) but ran out of time / temperature before I could get to the VS skin. So that will have to wait till next week. I wanted to see how this primer was going to turn out - it's hella more work in prep, cleanup and logistics. I'm going to look into doing it in a shop locally so that I have a bit more control on the process. I also weighed each part going into primer and will re-weigh once it's cured. I want to track the ratio so I can get an idea if I'm really putting on the pounds with internal primer.
Primer is a all day event. I thought I could take on the intake gaskets for the Cessna and the primer in one day but it was a grind getting it all done. Going forward I'll leave the entire day for it. I'm very pleased with the results but it makes everything much more work in terms of prep and mocking up without actually assembling anything.
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