Fuselage

Well, over the last week, I've been putting my air and paint gun systems together and working toward the point where I can start shooting some paint. My paint shipment arrived a few days ago, so there's nothing holding me back now. Today I started the scuffing and cleaning process on all the forward fuselage parts. It took me a little over 3 hours to get them all cleaned up and ready to prime. Meanwhile, I've made several trips to the hardware store to get all the fittings and parts together for my air filtration system and paint guns. I was reading all I could about using an HVLP system, and from my research, decided to get all "high flow" connectors for my air hoses and paint guns. "HVLP" means "high volume, low pressure", of course, so you need a lot of air flow. These connectors have a larger inside diameter than the standard 1/4" connectors and allow for a higher air flow. They have these connectors at Harbor Freight. I'm sure quality paint stores would carry them as well. I want everything possible going for me as I enter the learning curve.

Here's my shipment of paint products. I bought one gallon of JetFlex (water based) and a 2-quart kit of the primer recommended to me by the dealer. The primer is a 2-part epoxy based product similar to Akzo, as far as I can tell. The primer mixes 1:1 with the adducter compound, then you stir occasionally for 30 minutes, and it's ready to shoot.

And now... drum roll please... the color I selected for the interior is called "Blue Black". It's the one indicated on the bottom row of the color chart. It's basically a dark gray color. My cleaned parts will be dry and I should be able to start shooting the primer tomorrow!

One more thing I should mention. I wrote the other day about how we are able to avoid hazmet shipping fees on small quantities of hazardous materials using a little-known rule called the "Consumer Commodity" rule, or ORM-D rule. This is the label that was on the shipping box with my paint shipment. The JetFlex is a water based product and is not considered hazardous, but my primer is in the hazardous category. This rule would also apply to things like firewall sealant, fuel tank sealants, etc. I hope this saves somebody else some money. Let's spread the word and use this to our advantage whenever possible. It's meant to help us!

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