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How many times have you done this?

s10sakota

s10sakota

Well Known Member
When I look at the quality of RV's at Oshkosh, I'm just blown away by the quality of the airplanes I see. I am a perfectionist, but I'm limited by my skill.

For example, look at the pic and notice the dent in the skin...



This happened when my rivet gun slipped just a little while driving the rivet. I know it's nothing major, and can be filled with a little bondo before painting, but I often wonder how many other people have issues like this. Of all the tail pieces, flaps, ailerons, and wings, I have four or five of these little dents.

I can't even fathom building an RV and polishing it! I just can't build that perfectly. I need the paint to hide the mistakes!

Do you guys have issues like this or do I just suck as a builder? LOL

How many 'slips' have you guys had that you've had to fill before painting??
 
I've got a few goods ones. One on the tailcone, another on the forward deck and a beauty under the left elevator.

I've smoothed them out so much as I can, but I'm not too fussed, and I still plan to polish my -9A. I want a safe plane that I built myself. I've got that. A show pony is a loong way dow the list of priorities.
 
Yep, I'm in the smile club with you. Got a couple on bottom wing skin. Got a real nice "outty" on turtle deck when my Dad and I riveted, bucking bar slipped, my bad. Chose not to fix, took a positive outlook to use as a father / son memory. I still smile every time I see it.
 
Rivet set

Mark, it looks like you use one of those CS rivet sets that has a rubber bushing around the flat area that sets a flush rivet or a ball jointed one. I have found that those can do a worse dent than the bigger ones that have a slight curvature on the face and more rounded edges. They are easier to look at so you can determine that they are flat before starting to rivet

Steve
 
You're correct-that is what I'm using. Tomorrow my buddy comes back and we are going to rivet the bottom skins on the right wing. I think I will try to use the non-rubber one and see if I like it better.

Can't wait to say these wings are D-O-N-E!!!
 
My guess is more RV's then not have a few smiles here and there. As the builder, you remember each one and can point them out. As a viewer, they are actually hard to find. Build on, have fun, enjoy the process. No worries.
 
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Flying in weather would wear paint off the leading edges of my Bonanza in a couple thousand hours. If you fly, it will never stay perfect. I built my RV to fly. If you point out the imperfections, you're standing to close to my plane--get away.
 
I was helping my buddy pound rivets on his RV-10 fuse last night. He dropped my tungsten bucking bar about 30" onto the firewall. Made a pretty good dent. Since it was MY bucking bar, it was my fault! :rolleyes: I'm just glad it was him that dropped it, not me. Should fly just the same...
 
8

I have 8 that I see. So I did a polished finish and no one sees them. The half naked girl on the nose helps distracts too. :D. If (or when) I switch to paint I think I would not fill them at that time either.
 
Most of us have a few smilies, and the remaining few lie about not having any! :D

Paint will hide all the minor blemishes like that, don't stress over the small stuff.
 
This is why I personally do not like to shoot and buck by myself. My hands get stupid sometimes and do not communicate very well with my already challenged brain when they are doing two different things at once. On heavy jets with thick skin you have to almost try and kill it to dent a skin, not so on light piston aircraft. Luckily I have enough aircraft mechanic friends with decent sheet metal skills that I won't have to do it by myself.

That dent looks pretty small and insignificant to me, I have done worse!
 
This is the unique fingerprinting process for each RV ... the smiles are all unique. Got a nice one while trying to rivet the bottom skin on my wing in the super tight area where the high density wing walk ribs are in ... down near the aft spar. The bucking bar jumped and left a little "outie". All part of my fingerprints... Build on; you're in great (100% i'd wager) company.
 
As a first time builder, I have a few "birth marks" here and there. Everyone says, "with paint, you'll never notice them", but that is hard to believe when you know right where they are and in your mind they are so noticeable.

I'm glad to say that I've just recently begun priming some external surfaces w/ Akzo. I just did the VS (where else does one have more marks:D ). Even though I knew where the marks were, I cannot even find then now when primed. All of this doesn't make a snafu any more enjoyable, but unless it is a serious ding, which your pic clearly is not, I wouldn't give it a second thought.
 
60av8tor said:
As a first time builder, I have a few "birth marks" here and there. Everyone says, "with paint, you'll never notice them"...<snip>
Click to expand...

With "micro-balloon and paint", you'll never notice them :D Rosie

PS: Check out my paint sometime....in a couple of spots, you can see through the paint...rivet, rivet, rivet, smooooootttthhhhh, rivet, rivet...... :)
 
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Hail repair

Wonder out loud if the folks that do paintless hail repair can suck it out...pretty amazing what they can fix...no idea if it will work on aluminum.
 
Dents

I don't have any dents or smileys.:D
I do have some beach front property in Arizona for sale. Anyone interested?
 
Well I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one. These dents bother me when I first do them, but a week, month, or year later, I could care less.

Most of the them (so far) will disappear with filler and paint, but I was just wondering if everyone else had the same issues. Looks like you all do :D

I guess I won't have to be embarrassed when I bring my RV-7 to Oshkosh in 2038 when it's done.
 
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