Started using the proper primer instead of the rattle can stuff from the local auto parts store. This is the same Sherwin Williams P60G2 primer that Vans Aircraft uses, but in the US it is tinted green.
There is a fellow builder, Sam, using Dupont Veriprime615s. He seems to have had great success brushing the primer on. This sounded great and easy. So I tried that technique with the SW P60G2 on the rear spar of the horizontal stabilizer. Here are my results:
So I bit the bullet and decided to brush up on my painting skills using a spray gun (pun intended). I was 18 the last time I painted aircraft parts with epoxy paint; all I remember is plan and prep, plan and prep. I was going to build a spray booth, or downdraft table, but this was a lot of infrastructure, and stressing over this became no fun. So I just decided to keep it simple and spray the stuff with cardboard on an old table. The stuff dries really fast once sprayed. And the over spray is easy to control since it is going on very thin; not much worse than rattle cans.
It worked out well. The primer was hard to get stirred up, until I took it to a paint store and had them shake it. Mixing the catalyst was easy, felt just like old times. My prep is simple: Scotchbrite the dimples and very smooth areas of the skins and spars, wipe down with acetone using gloves, and then spray. I didn't go for this 3 stage process others are using with etch, alodine, and whatever. (Some people don't even prime, and the plane comes out fine; do you believe that? ;-)
Below is my vertical stuff all primed. Maybe I will wait a day before assembling, to give it time to harden.
This has been a yuge learning curve but now time to move on. Not sure if I will prime the wings or not. But probably wont prime the fuse because I will be crawling in there a lot and I want the reflection of the metal to help with lighting during inspection.
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