"Over the past month, I've been filling sanding & filling some more. I missed a step in the process on the HS & elevators. I missed putting a final epoxy shell over the finished micro fill work. Everything turned out good enough for now. I'll just have the painters touch up my work when the time comes. This work is honestly the most time consuming part I've come across. Ive said it before and I'll say it again... I am so glad I'm tackling this now and not later at the end of the build!!!! the learning curve is steep & trying.
Here is the tip finishing process I followed:
- Remove gel-coat from the flange of the tips after fitting, drilling & countersinking. - Use Hysol glue to bond tips to the aluminum & rivet inplace while wet. - Clean the entire surface with acetone (thoroughly)!!! - Mask off fill area with tape. - Scuff surface with 80-100 grit sand paper. - Clean with acetone again. - Mix up mirco / westsystems to a tooth paste like consistancy (not runny at all) it should be pretty stiff. Usually, my mixing (popsicle stick) start bending when the right consistancy is reached. - Apply micro liberally kind of like frosting a cake. - Sand to rough shape using 100 grit & sanding blocks. - Refit the control surfaces to ensure there is no futher filing / mating to do. Do it at this point. I had about an 1/8"" over hange on the elevator fairing where I had to build up the HS tips to match. - Sand finer and finer till everything is blended well. II stopped at a 300 grit. - Squeegee on a layer of west systems, let it set up for a couple hours come back and re-squeegee coat while the first layer is still tacky. Add, one final layer in the same mannor. - Fine sand after cure with 300 grit. -Coat with AKZO epoxy primer."
