Don't know if this technique is "out there" or not, but thought I'd pass it along. The problem is when you have everything prepped and primed, then you have to squeeze fit the parts into place, and the resulting scratches that are the inevitable outcome. My solution is these separator sheets, clear tough plastic that can be found at stationary stores. They are used to seperate pages or sections in notebooks. Put one piece on either side and "shoehorn" the part into place. Then, just pull the plastic out. No scratches or gouges in your work. This works on dimpled parts too, and is the only way I could reinstall the rear bulkhead after adding the tailwheel mount.
Shoot, I mistakenly left masking tape between riveted parts that was a bear to remove during the paint prep stage.
Excellent tip! Right on time for me, as I have my interior all painted as well as exterior so I"m installing a ton of painted panels (hopefully) for the Last Time. Woo Hoo!
That stuff is stiff enough that you can usually slide it in between parts to disassemble the pieces you're working on for fitting and match drilling. After prepping and priming, use it again to reassemble.
No problems at all. These sheets are hard, but smooth, tough and flexible. You can see on the pic that the piece of plastic with the blue tape on it had been used on a piece with a row of dimpled holes. In fact, this piece was used to refit the rear bulkhead back into the fuselage. The plastic had lined the inside of the fuselage covering the double rows of dimpled holes. The tape was used on the edge of the plastic to hold it in place and wrapped around to the outside of the fuselage. The bulkhead was inserted at an angle, and simply snapped into place. The plastic was then just pulled out. Done deal!
Tip: I hate scratches
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