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Blue film on skins

B

BrianP

Active Member
Sponsor
I’ve seen many people leave the blue film on the skins and remove a small strip for the rivet holes. How important is this? Vans seems to suggest pulling it all off. I’m assuming small scuffs and scratches will come out when prepping for paint?
 
I'm not an expert -- I've only partially completed an RV-10. But I take it all off right away. I have found that if you leave it on too long it gets tougher to fully remove the film and residue.

I don't understand the value of leaving it on for the outside skin unless perhaps you plan to leave the plane unpainted. From what I have seen, the painting process involves sanding/scuffing the entire exterior in order to then apply primer. So I don't see value in avoiding small scratches on the outside skin.

I'll let others with more experience explain what upside I must be missing since I do see that many people leave it on.
 
I did the strips…but would not do it again. I would just remove the film.

If you do the strips, you will find surface corrosion at the edges when you do remove the film.

Note that anywhere you place your hands will cause surface corrosion as well.

Normally it doesn’t matter as paint prep will remove it
 
Scratches that may penetrate the alclad layer of the metal may allow for corrosion to form, so leaving it on as long as possible is also an attempt to help prevent that from happening. I agree that it is a double edged sword, in that the longer you leave it on the harder it is to remove. However, if you are making steady progress on your build it should not be too much of a concern. It is totally your option to take it all off or leave some of it on. I chose to keep as much of it on for as long as possible, removing only the sections needed for riveting. One of my reasons for doing that was to limit the amount of primer I used as part of a weight reduction strategy.

An added tip - if you use the soldering iron trick to cut the rivet sections out of the vinyl, be sure to dull the tip of the iron on a scotch brite wheel or sand paper, and keep the iron at a proper temp and use a slow steady speed to keep from scratching the metal with the soldering iron. Ask me how I know...
 
It depends. I build my RV8 in a small garage and it is very easy to make garage rash. Because of the small garage, I had to move the various sub assemblies to the rafter, or other small corners of the house. The chance of making big scratch is very high so I left the blue vinyl on until I drilled the wing spar. I remembered that I had to move the empenage section at least four times before I fitted it to the fuselage. In that time, lots of minor dings didn't cause damage because of the plastic. I only removed the vinyl before painting. If you have plenty of working space such as a hangar, or a big barn, then working with bare metal isn't a problem. It all depends on your build situation.
 
I did the selective removal thing on my build. This took a lot of time, and I found some light corrosion in places when I removed the film later. If I were to build another airplane I would remove all of the film right away.
 
Van's has always recommended removing it as you build. Not only is it harder to remove with passage of time, if kept in warm environments, it will often leave splotches of residue behind that paint shops hate and can charge extra to remove.
Speaking of paint after years of effort to protect the shiny factory surface, the first thing the paint shop is going to do is scour the surface quite roughly so the high build primer will stick properly.
People seem to like it because it makes for nice pictures, but IMO, it's a total waste of time and effort to strip and retain and the negative effects outweigh the positive.
 
A lot more damage to skins and other parts has been caused by vinyl that was left in place, than by the 100% removal of vinyl during the construction steps.
 
Remove the blue film would be my suggestion.
My -8- is polished.
During build, I ScotchBrited a small inspection panel under the wing.
When that panel was polished, believe it or not, its surface looks just like the rest. Can't see the difference...
 
As a data point, the vinyl on my project sat for 4 years before all of them were removed. It came off like it was in the first day it arrived. As with all things engineering and construction, it all depends on your situation.
 
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