I made it out to the field for the Oklahoma IMAC. Thanks to everyone who had a look at the airplane on Sunday. Everyone had kind things to say and Jim and I came to a conclusion on what to do about the canister tunnel and the DA-85 reversion spray. More on that later.
I finished up the last wing on Saturday. Right now all the surfaces are plain Yellow. The designs will be put on with with the windex/floating method as I get a chance. Its not critical that they be done to fly the airplane. I would really like to fly it this coming weekend so I can get some stick time in before the Huckfest!
So I took Monday off to get started on the painting. This is
the step that I was most afraid of. I figured I could handle the rest of it but I have no clue about doing an automotive paint job. So I read DSP Dave's
Base Coat/Clear Coat thread. Going in I was still pretty worried that it wouldn't go smoothly.
First all fiberglass parts got a good sanding with 400 grit. This isn't particularly rough paper, it just takes the 'shine' off the parts. If you see some shiny spots then you have more sanding to do there. Then I did the BVM Pinhole filler that DSP Dave recommends. This stuff looks, smells, feels and behaves like car wax. Wax On, wait for it to dry and then Wax Off.
I haven't had a problem with pinholes anywhere but the wheel pants. They look like they were made with a different resin because they are a different color. I had to prep one with Bondo because it had a fissure where the two halves were joined. Both required some shaping with 220 grit paper. The other parts are cut from a different cloth (bad pun intended). Pinholes are tiny, few and far between. The wheel pants have some craters the BVM filler just wont fill. Excellent quality glass work.
Once the holes were filled it's time to meet the Primer coat team. I'm using the same primer that Walt uses, Nason Ful-Fil 421-08 by Dupont. This is their 'low cost' primer. My local paint shop, B&H Supply, doesn't stock the PPG product line that DSP Dave uses so its Dupont for this job. The can says to mix it 1:1 with '441-62' which the folks at B&H tell me is nothing but Lacquer thinner.
Safety First. This primer emits VOCs, Volatile Organic Compounds, which can affect your nervous system or cause cancer and stuff like that. I'm not playing. All the cans are clearly marked "FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY by professional, trained painters. Not for sale or use by the general public". Don't play, be safe. At a minimum work somewhere with positive air flow, in a mask rated for Organic Compounds and wear gloves! I tried out the paint suit thing but my spray booth get's pretty good airflow so no paint was getting on me. After an hour in the suit in 95 degree heat I was soaked in sweat.
Before painting all parts were sprayed down with "Surface Klean A-3990S", a degreaser agent and wiped dry with paper towels. Just before each part was spayed I wiped it down with a tac rag to remove any dust and paint overspray from the last part.
The booth I'm painting in is a big cube I made from PVC pipe covered in plastic. Two holes in the top of the booth allow air to enter and pass through air filters. The fan from my shop extracts air through a filter that stops the overspray from leaving the booth. the kids in the neighborhood think I'm re-enacting a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind! It looks just like a hazmat decontamination chamber.
Note; the garage door was open whenever I was spraying, I had to close it because of the wind.
The compressor is a 5 gal Husky from Home Depot and the spray gun is the Porter Cable detailed paint gun from Amazon.com. Pretty cheap setup and the compressor can keep up with the gun for this kind of work. Its very loud.