Lots of progress this week!
More Masking
More thorough masking, keeping paint off those Beringers.
When I primed inside of the fuselage side panels, I had also done the outside area at the wing root. This was because at the time I wasn’t clear how the exterior paint would be accomplished.
Anyway, the paintshop scuffed it up to prepare it for the exterior primer and paint.
We don’t want paint on those Vetterman exhaust pipes!
Alochrom
After scuffing, the aluminium has been treated with Alocrom.
Alocrom (or Alodine in the US) is a chromate conversion coating that can be applied to aluminium alloys, which provides a level of corrosion protection. Alocrom is also good for paint adhesion.
It’s a messy job, and needs to be removed with water after a set time to produce the desired result.
The tailfeathers.
The rear fuselage has been raised to give better access for spraying, so a weight has been attached to the tailwheel to prevent an upsetting tip onto its nose!
The weight is a filled water container : )
Primer
Fuselage primed.
Not easily visible in the photo, but the elevators are held at a convenient angle with thin wire attached to the water container.
Tailplane ready for the top coat.
Top Coat!
The main top coat is Sherwin-Williams Acry Glo, which is a high performance, multi-component acrylic urethane designed for use on aircraft.
I wanted a gentle off-white, and this is the first view of the chosen colour … Oyster White.
I had decided on the white based on a small colour square, so was a bit nervous about seeing it in the flesh on a large area.
I need not have worried, I’m happy : )
The fibreglass fairing joins on the tailfeathers have disappeared under gleaming Oyster White!
The whole plane will be painted with the Acry Glo, to provide sound corrosion protection and longevity, even the areas which are planned a different colour.
These areas have a slightly thinner base coat of Acry Glo … a universal base colour also ensures consistent colour hue for the colours added on top.
The canopy is an example of a more frugal base coat, since it will be coloured later.
Shiny lower cowling : )
Lots of pieces, and the wings are not even started yet!
I got them to paint the tail spring, since as fitted there was a gap in the powder coat both ends.
The chaps have done a beautiful job … shiny enough to use as a shaving mirror!
Once the paint has hardened, the next job is to attach the fin, tailplane and cowling so that the fuselage colours and stripes can be masked up.
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