Vertical Stabilizer – Part 2 (Primer)

So I made a decision that I wanted to prime all of my interior parts with AKZO.  I understand that primer is one of those “holy war” things, so I’m not looking to convince anyone that my way is the best, or that primer is even necessary.  With that said, I did today I spend the day getting all everything done that I could in short of dimpling or riveting.  (in some cases, this required me to “skip” some steps until I did my primer.)

I spent most of Thursday  finishing all of the match drilling, counter sinking, and deburring.  This set me up to start the process of putting primer on all the parts on Friday.  I used a Harbor Freight HPLV gun with the 3M PPS system.  This (in theory) should make life a little easier and clean-up a snap.  I also have a Primer Pistol that I slightly modified for smaller jobs.

I first went over all the parts with my ScotchBright pads to remove the Oxide layer and to “scuff” up the surfaces.  This was really a light scuff .  Next, I then mixed up my paint in the 3M cup (1:1 ratio and used the #2 line).  Once measured and mixed, I let it stand for 30 mins per the AKZO recommendations.

I then put on my gloves and got out the Acetone to clean off all the dust / dirt / oil.  By the time I was done, the pait was just about ready.

I just laid down some cardboard and used it to spray on.  All in all, it worked well, however I did run out of paint.  Doh!  Instead of using another 3M cup, I just pulled out my Primer Pistol and used a small film canister to mix a small batch.  This was perfect and allowed me to finish up my primer.

Overall I was pretty happy with the results.  I think I was slightly uneven and need to work on a better way to “hang” my parts up when I paint them to avoid things sticking to the cardboard or missing areas.  Due to the natural light / shade, I was a bit light on some areas, but not terrible.  Finished the day off with dimpling all of the parts and getting ready to rivet the rear spar together.