After filling and painting the wings and fuselage in primer about 5 months ago,
and I am now doing preparation for the top coat. When the primer was applied,
afterwards the surfaces were perfectly smooth and flat, now I have found that
more stopping, sanding and priming is required to restore the surfaces to how
they were, in other words, either the filler has shrunk , or the skin has moved
slightly on the foam . We are not talking about much, possibly less than 1mm,
however it is variable and would have been the difference between a concours
finish and one that looked like it had been done in a hurry.As the filler and
primer were fully cured and stoved at 40 deg C after application, it is all a
bit of a mystery to me.
My advice would be to prime the wings and fuselage as soon as possible (it looks
more like an aeroplane after primer anyway), then leave top coating until the
last job, to allow for long term settling. This also means that any dings or
scratches accumulated during fitting out do not ruin your prize paintwork.
Allan J Hall #177
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