Surface Prep - Lower Fuse
I cleaned the project (paper towels, rubbing alcohol and sore elbows), then turned it upside down and did my first real work - wing root fillets and mutiple passes of filler and epoxy wipe. I like the new look a lot better than the old one! First the old surface - about as smooth as the scratch coat on a rough texture stucco ceiling.
The look now, smooth, pinholes filled with epoxy wipe and with good transitions at the wing-fuselage intersection.
Along the way I experimented with lots of approaches to sanding. So far, the most successful has been long boards made of Brazilian cherry flooring pieces. Brazilian cherry is incredibly hard, but the 10' pieces I got from a resale shop were rejects and twisted in 4 dimensions. The solution was to cut out the best sections with the table saw and then use a friend's planer. The handles are door knobs and curtain pole ends, secured with thin micro. For fillets, I experimented until I came up with 3.5" PVC: a 4' section produced the three circular sanding boards shown. HFT spooled sandpaper comes on a heavy cloth backing in a 2.5" width. The grits I used most are 36, 80 (!) and 120. I also have a 240 board that I can use when I want to be super careful.
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