Oct 13, 2022     Paint Finishing Work - (16 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

I have kept my paint scheme simple. This finishing involved placing the vinyl stripe and "N" number on. The stripe was a bit challenging to keep straight but it did seem to turn out well

  Jun 03, 2022     Fuselage work - (23 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

This a rough job for one person. ;)

Endless prep work. I got a reasonably sharp line between colors.

I started on the paint covering for the Sika on the plexiglass. I had to make one repair on the glass

  Apr 27, 2022     Paint education - (18 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

The regulations talk about building an experimental aircraft ...."that the project is for educational and recreational purposes;"... boy. am I getting educated! My technique is getting better but I have made most of the common errors as I expected.My new education will be fixing the common painting problems..sags, fish eye, orange peel, etc.

I am using a 3 part system; chromate primer, color coat, and clear coat. The paint has a high gloss finish already but I am clear coating to give my self some working room. This will be in the finishing and buffing area. I will be able to fix most of my errors at this point. My goal is to get the aircraft airworthy soon and then, over time, deal with the finishing.

Safety is important so I purchased an external breathing air system. I wear a chemical mask under a paint hood which has the external air pumped into the hood. When I exit my booth I can safely disconnect the breathing air and exit with the hood and chem mask. All doors in the hangar are open to vent the filtered fumes from the booth while painting. The hangar also has an evaporative cooler to pump filtered fresh air into the entire hangar.

  Apr 08, 2022     Endless Prep work :) - (18 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

In for a penny, in for a pound...since I have chosen to paint my aircraft it comes with a lot of work. Pro Paint shops will have an aircraft for quite a while to prep and paint and have several workers doing it. It's just me so I have been filling/sanding endlessly and also starting some masking.

Every aircraft usually come with control surface balance data. Sling simply states, 'build it correctly and you don't need it".. Hmmm. Just for my peace of mind I borrowed a tool to find pre-painted balance numbers that I will compare to the control surface after paint is applied. I have experienced control buzz from an out of balance surface before and I would like to avoid it.

Much, much more to do..

  Mar 15, 2022     Build the paint Booth interior - (9 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

Set up the paint booth and built an interior structure that will serve 2 purposes.

1) When i don't need the booth to be fully inflated it will rest on the structure. Also, this is a safety feature in case of power loss the booth will not fall on the painted work,

2) There will hanging beams to attach the parts for painting.

I added more air filtration to the intake portion to the painting section

  Feb 18, 2022     I made a rotisseri wing stand - (8 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

I am painting the aircraft myself and I have wondering how to paint the wings properly. Many rotisseries are made for aircraft with a strut but that will not work with this type of wing.

I noticed a jig made for wing construction and saw that a modified engine mount may do the trick. A center beam was place to extend the reach out to about the center distance of the wing. Next, 3/8 plate steel was welded and drilled to form the same structure as the aircraft center spar box.

This arrangement will allow me to rotate the wing in the paint booth to allow better spray position

  Jun 08, 2021     Alodine & Tedious Filling of rivets - (15 hours)       Category: Paint / Decals

Alumaprep & alodine the empennage and a few other parts. Wear gloves!

I do a set of rivet filling when I just want a mindless diversion. If I do a little at time it will not seem like so much. I not tracking the time filling rivets because I do it so randomly.

  Nov 01, 2020     Paint Booth       Category: Paint / Decals

After talking with builders, and considering the expense of transporting the aircraft, the cost of paint shop, in addition to many shops being booked extremely far out, I have decided to paint my aircraft myself.

A builder recommended a inflatable booth after he built a standard type paint booth. The nice thing is the ability to store it away. It comes with 2 blowers for inflation and a 3rd blower for air into the spray area itself. The air is filtered entering the booth and the spray is filtered as it exits out 2 side panels.

I live in a very dusty area to I am going to build a filter box around the booth blower to pre-filter the entry air.

I will be adding interior scaffolding that will have 2 jobs. First, it will holdup the parts to be sprayed and second, it will support the booth in case the inflation blowers stop running.