I collected the various bits of metalwork from the sandblasting today so next job is priming and painting. You can see from the photo the perfectly clean surface of the metal after cleaning. Compare this with the pictures of the flap and aileron a few days ago. Actually the cleaning is not done with sand or aluminium oxide which are both too fierce for the thin material used in building an aircraft. Instead, a fine glass bead is used which does the job without any damage. The only problem is that the metal now corrodes instantly if there is any moisture around. Just picking up a piece with bare hands will result in brown finger prints appearing within minutes. So the job over the next few days is to prime all the pieces and topcoat where necessary. The complete list to do includes both flaps and ailerons, both lift struts, the aileron pushrods, the flap and aileron horns, the strut attach brackets and the two parts of the elevator pushrod linkage. This will take me until mid next week weather permitting and then the final internal components can be installed in the fuselage (elevator and aileron pushrods) and the fuselage is ready to start covering. I've ordered and received the covering material which is Diatex 1500 - a direct replacement for Ceconite 102 but with a rather finer weave which is easier to fill with paint and can give a better finish. Also ordered from the US is the paint for the Stewart system that I will be using.
