I am currently stripping my 12 year old paint and plan to prime before wrapping with Stewart EkoPoxy. Did most of you who wrapped prime before wrapping or just apply to bare aluminum?
I would like to hear more details on how others have done theirs.
Did you wrap the aileron attachment brackets?
What width of wrap did you use on wings vs fuselage?
How did you wrap around ends of tail feathers?
What lessons did you learn?
At back of wings did you cut vinyl even with the edge of the sheet or wrap around, and if so how much?
Did you overlap wing wrap sheets and use knifeless tape to insure tight fit up?
Where did you make joints in fuselage?
How much and where did you use knifeless tape?
Did you seal the wrap butt joints?
Did you do a full wrap of one color then add graphics over the base color?
Thanks for your input
Frank,
I vinyl wrapped the wings on my -8. The fuse is partially painted and partially polished. The wingtips are painted due to the compound curves. I'll attempt to answer what I can.
Wrapped over clean bare aluminum.
No wrap on aileron brackets.
60" wide for the wings.
I could not wrap the compound curves of the horizontal stab and rudder caps. Therefore, paint.
Lessons? Have a helper. Better yet, a wrapper for a helper.
I cut the vinyl even with the back edge of the wing skins.
I did overlap the vinyl 1/4" and used knifeless tape.
I used 3M edge sealer around the fuel fillers and all penetrations under the wings. In my application, the most needed areas for edge sealer are the end of the vinyl where the wing meets the belly (due to oil) And the fuel fillers. I had no butt joints, all overlap joints. My reasoning was, my butt joints were clearly visible, as were the overlaps, and I believe the overlap to be a better joint.
Remember, if you use edge sealer it is visible. I masked off with tape for nice clean edge seal under the wing.
I chose 3M 1080 Satin White Aluminum for the wings and applied vinyl Army Air Force roundells over the vinyl on the wings.
Overall, I'm pleased with the results.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/oQFJR4h1GSrNgBdt7
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TjsYudND4e3H86G57
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vsum73Azr5Nt4rWa7