docjefft
Member
Hello! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that the New Year will bring you many blessings! I am now just a month or so out from ordering my -10 empennage and have question about priming. I will NOT reopen the dreaded primer wars discussions of the past. I am already settled on the fact that I will prime and what agents I will use. However, I notice that there is a lot of discussion about priming internal surfaces, e.g. ribs, inner skins, etc., but not much about the exterior surfaces. My uncertainties are these:
1. When do outer surfaces get primed? I know some folks leave the blue plastic on the exterior skins (except where the rivets go) throughout the build. But some of the documents I've seen online say to remove the plastic asap.
2. If you do remove the plastic early on, how is the exposed aluminum protected? Just by the alclad properties? Won't some corrosion occur that will require extra prep before exterior paint is applied?
3. As a followup to #2, is it OK to leave exterior surfaces unprimed, either with or without blue plastic, until ready to prime and paint the exterior as construction of the plane nears completion? Would this also apply to the visible surfaces inside the cabin?
4. Is there a good reason not to prime exterior/visible surfaces early in construcion, e.g. why not prime the exterior empennage skins while priming their inner surfaces? It seems that the simplest thing to do would be to prime everything inside and out before assembling all the parts.
Just trying to prepare myself for the road ahead!
Thanks!
Jeff Trawick
1. When do outer surfaces get primed? I know some folks leave the blue plastic on the exterior skins (except where the rivets go) throughout the build. But some of the documents I've seen online say to remove the plastic asap.
2. If you do remove the plastic early on, how is the exposed aluminum protected? Just by the alclad properties? Won't some corrosion occur that will require extra prep before exterior paint is applied?
3. As a followup to #2, is it OK to leave exterior surfaces unprimed, either with or without blue plastic, until ready to prime and paint the exterior as construction of the plane nears completion? Would this also apply to the visible surfaces inside the cabin?
4. Is there a good reason not to prime exterior/visible surfaces early in construcion, e.g. why not prime the exterior empennage skins while priming their inner surfaces? It seems that the simplest thing to do would be to prime everything inside and out before assembling all the parts.
Just trying to prepare myself for the road ahead!
Thanks!
Jeff Trawick