Lots of sanding today. My arms are tired.
1. Sanded and feathered the lower edge of the bottom windshield fairing to the top fuselage skin. I have it 99% of the way there. Next I need to use some 400-grit on a small block to finish off the fine detail work.
2. Continued sanding the top fairing where it meets the top of the windshield. After a couple of hours using 60-grit on a small sanding block, I decided to take a chance and use my 1/4" handheld belt sander, which actually worked pretty well. It probably saved me a couple of hours' work, although you have to be EXTREMELY careful and pay attention to detail when you use a power tool in this location.
3. Used a medium-grit sanding block to smooth out the slight waviness on the upper portion of the top fairing. I also used a tubular block to smooth out the inside edge of the fairing. This area will require more more work, because it's kind of a tricky spot.
4. I felt like I was reaching the limit of what I could sand off the top fairing / windshield interface without compromising the base fiberglass layer (the one against the glass), so I filled the somewhat jagged notch there with a black-dyed micro/cabosil resin mixture, painting it into the void and smoothing it out with a small paintbrush. Once this cures, I think it will make it much easier to sand a nice clean edge here.
5. Filled some of the low spots on the top fairing with some of the remaining micro mix.
6. In an effort to start reshaping the ramps the canopy skirt slides under, I prepped the left side of the fuselage and existing surfaces for some fiberglass, then did a bunch of layups of various sized strips. I just sort of eyeballed this as I went along, using pieces ranging in size from 1"x1" to 1/2"x7" to get the area to taper smoothly. Lots of sanding ahead! I'll also do the same on the right side of the fuselage, once I verify this technique will work well. (A secondary purpose for building this area up is so I can sand from the underside to give the canopy skirt a slightly looser fit in the "pocket." It fits almost too tightly right now, which would probably lead to rubbing the paint.)