What do you use to preserve skins while building

[skyyking56]

I would like to coat my emp with some kind of preservative (wax or whatever) when i finish it and other subaasemblies
Can someone give me some ideas of some good stuff to coat the skins with .
I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jim

[chaskuss]

I don't think using wax or esspecially silicone based products is wise. These products will work their way into the lap joints. This will cause problems later removing them prior to painting. Failure to remove every last bit of this stuff will cause problems during painting (fisheyes). I suggest you speak to a few local painters before you go down that road. You would be better off to Alodine the aluminum to prevent corrosion.
Personally, I prefer to Alodine and epoxy prime every part prior to riveting. It means that I will have to scuff the exterior surfaces prior to painting later on. However, it prevents scratching and corrosion during the building process.
Charlie Kuss

[jcoloccia]

Are you planning to polish it when you're done? If so, why not just polish it now? If you're planning to paint, stay away from putting anything on it. You'll drive your painter nuts. Just before they paint it, they're going to attack it with scotchbrite or sandpaper anyway. Even if you had some surface corrosion at that point (very unlikely) it'd be gone by the time they're done.

I've done a bunch of painting...not on airplanes but on other things. The worst thing to deal with random chemicals on metal, fiberglass or anything. Sometimes, no matter how much you clean and how hard you scrub, there's always some residue left over (under rivet heads, for example) that makes a royal mess of things.

[RVbySDI]

Originally Posted by skyyking56

I would like to coat my emp with some kind of preservative (wax or whatever) when i finish it and other subaasemblies
Can someone give me some ideas of some good stuff to coat the skins with .
I would appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jim

I coat my project with a heavy dose of 45 x 50 shop metal all around it.

Seriously, I don't see why protection from corosion during the build is that big of a deal, unless you are building in a boat shed on the shore of some salt spraying ocean somewhere. Generally I think that if you have your project in a clean dry environment you should have no problems. As others have posted already placing extraneous chemicals on the parts to be painted just lends itself for serious frustrations during the paint process.

[az_gila]

If you really need it due to your local conditions, you could try covering the parts with SprayLat. It's a peel-able PVC type coating... and is used here in the Tucson "boneyard" for aircraft preservation... Sold by Aircraft $pruce...

It won't affect later painting...

Seems to be overkill though....

gil in Tucson

[Ironflight]

Just as a datapoint, I built in my waterfront garage, about 30 feet from my saltwater canal. Most of the time, garage doors were open on both sides, with the salt breeze blowing through.The tailfeatehrs lived there for almost a year and a half with no corrosion at all - that's what the Alclad is for I guess.

I know I wouldn't want to put on anything that will affect later paint....seen the results on a previous project - yuck!

Paul

[skyyking56]

ok...Nothing it is.....Do you recommend removing the blue plastic then?
I did the rivet lines removal thing with the soldering iron.
I appreciate all of your replies bty
Thanks,
Jim
Almost done with hor stab 7A

[RVbySDI]

Originally Posted by skyyking56

ok...Nothing it is.....Do you recommend removing the blue plastic then?
I did the rivet lines removal thing with the soldering iron.
I appreciate all of your replies bty
Thanks,
Jim
Almost done with hor stab 7A

I am currently working on the fuselage. I stripped all the plastic off of both sides after the initial fitting. Once the holes are drilled and deburred there is not much left to do except set some rivets. I did not want to mess with removing plastic after the skin was rivetted on so all the plastic came off before I set any rivets on that section of skin. I know others may leave the plastic on except at the rivet lines but this plastic is a good point for moisture to collect on the skin if it is left on. If anyone is concerned with protecting from corrosion I would think the plastic next to the metal would not be a good thing over time. Spill some liquid on the plastic so that it can seap between it and the metal skin and see how long it takes for that moisture to dry up. Why deal with it if you don't have to?

[cytoxin]

but i wouldnt leave it on for more than a year or two.(mine is at three on some peices and comes off ok, comes off easier if its newer though.) if its the clear i would take it off now as i have heard some mention having corrosion under that. if it is lifting in rows remove it either way. if you do, wipe it down to remove the writing as it is water base and will cause issues.

[Jamie]

You don't need to do anything to preserve the skins. That's why they're alcad. Press on and build your plane.