filling rivets for painting

[Av8torTom]

Yeah, don't use the Bondo for fill though - if you read the description it suggest uses like temporarily holding things in place etc. It's not flexible enough.

I will be using something to fill in the occasional dent or 2 I've managed to cause. Let me know if you try any, and what your results are.

T.

BTW - someone here had suggested using fuel tank sealant. Put a little dab on the rivet head and squeegee most of it off to JUST fill the rim of each rivet. Sounds like it might give a little smoother look, but not hide the rivet if repairs are needed. Tank sealant takes paint nicely too... something to consider.

[Nihon_Ni]

I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Can you post some pictures of your lab work?

[N9331v]

I did this to all my top rivets on my Mooney, wings,cowling etc. I painted it 8years ago and it still looks great.
I used a light coat of 3M glazing putty, sanded then applied several coats of epoxy primer and basically sanded back off except a bit around each rivet.
I got it to the point that if I got down and looked closely down the skin I could just make out the rivet line. I did this incase a repair would ever be needed.
This is how I also preped the tail and wings for my 7 . Very little weight added.

[rockwoodrv9]

Originally Posted by N9331v

I did this to all my top rivets on my Mooney, wings,cowling etc. I painted it 8years ago and it still looks great.
I used a light coat of 3M glazing putty, sanded then applied several coats of epoxy primer and basically sanded back off except a bit around each rivet.
I got it to the point that if I got down and looked closely down the skin I could just make out the rivet line. I did this incase a repair would ever be needed.
This is how I also preped the tail and wings for my 7 . Very little weight added.

I have used the glazing putty and now that you mentioned it, it may be the best of both ideas. It is limited to very thin filling, but that is all I am looking for. For any of the small dings, I would still use some type of epoxy. The nice feature of the glazing putty is it doesnt have the pinholes. Bondo is way to heavy for aircraft unless it is VERY thin.

At least for me it has been impossible to set all the rivets on a rib or edge perfectly with no dent. The better the paint job, the easier it is to see the indententions. That is what I am looking to hide. Great idea on the glazing putty.

[Beancounter]

Rockwood
I had my painter fill the rivets on my 9's wings. He didnt use bondo he sprayed the row of rivets with high build primer, then sanded it off. What was left was a very small ring of primer around the rivet. The result was visually appealing, you can tell it is metal plane but it is very smooth. You can see the occasional faint outline of a rivet here and there. I wanted to ensure the paint bridged the gap between the rivet and the skin. This method achieves this goal and from my estimations at very little extra weight but at quite a bit more labour cost. Aprox 43 hours for both sides of the wings, flaps, ailerons, and horizontal empenage. I'm not presuming that it will be any faster but it sure looks good.

Matt

[rockwoodrv9]

Matt, there is no way it couldn't be faster - even if it is only in your mind! Thanks for the idea.

[RV7Guy]

First, do not use any of the non catalyzed fillers. They are constantly shrinking and will react to some primers. Not good. Use Evercoat 416 for a super light filler and easy to sand.

Regarding the rivet fill, the best process I have seen was simple, quick and used only a few ounces of high build primer. Clean the rivet lines with alcohol. Lots of ways to do this. Use high pressure air to blow out the rivet line and make sure it is dry.

Mix the primer and simply finger paint primer into each rivet. This pushes primer into any of the gaps. For me this is enough and I still want the rivet lines visible. Inspect and repeat as needed.

For the smooth finish, do the above then spray primer over all the rivet lines, sand and repeat as needed.

I'm confident this can be done with only a few ounces of primer. I did this on my plane and only used about 4 ounces of primer in a couple of 2 ounce sessions. And, I didn't use all of it. I only did the top, or visible surfaces. The rivet edges were filled but still visible.

I saw a "clean" RV at Oshkosh. Very nice. However if you want it judged don't expect any awards. Big deductions for no visible rivets lines!!!

[vickruis]

I too am aware that this is a rivetted plane, and by traditional standards, the rivets should be visible. But my girlfriend, who was my co-builder, insisted that the rivets were to be filled. She has used Super Fil, which is very light. For the complete 7A, including the cowling, 32 oz was needed, and lots of it was sanded away to make a smooth finish. I absolutely have no regrets now that the PH-OBO is done.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by Av8torTom

BTW - someone here had suggested using fuel tank sealant. Put a little dab on the rivet head and squeegee most of it off to JUST fill the rim of each rivet. Sounds like it might give a little smoother look, but not hide the rivet if repairs are needed. Tank sealant takes paint nicely too... something to consider.

Rod Bowers did this on his AMAZING "8". He said he skimmed pro-seal over a group of rivets and then immediately wiped the rivets clean with acetone. It left just enough to bridge the rivet edge and allow the paint to have something to stick to and not crack............ It looked really clean.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by crabandy

It's a metal airplane there are supposed to be rivets. Too much work and weight to fill every rivet.

Last year I wrote an article for KitPlanes on aircraft judging at OSH.

One of the things that came through loud and clear and was mentioned a few times during my interviews for the article was just that, an aluminum airplane is supposed to look like an aluminum airplane.

The judge's I spoke to felt that when the rivets are hidden they wanted to know what else was hidden. If you are trying to build a show plane, let the rivets show.

While strictly an aesthetic issue, it adds nothing to the aircraft but weight and more work.