RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Covering is natural Solartex. Very nice material to work with.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Bottom wing and ailerons are now covered.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

I am going to have to race to catch up. Looks good!

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

DJ, Get er done....

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Looking good Steve!
You going to bring it for show and tell Saturday? ;)

Mike

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Thanks Mike, probably not this time....... good idea though.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Pictures are of the fuse progress so far. Still have to cover the stabilizers and elevators.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Getting real close!

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Hey OSG, Any new progress??

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Nope, nothing in the past week. We just got home from a great vacation in Florida. We had dinner with the scale group from the Sarasota club on Thursday evening. We visited their field earlier in the week and had a great time. Now we are back to the frozen tundra, it was 78 degrees when we flew out of Ft. Meyer this afternoon. Sarasota will host the 2008 Scale Masters Championships in October.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Covering is now complete. Had a bit of a slow down is the progress due to a vacation and then an unexpected family medical issue. Now it is on to the dope. Not for me,,,, :) the plane.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Oops, meant to click edit the previous post and clicked quote instead.....

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Bare wood parts are sanded and sealed plus the cowl are ready for the first application of primer.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Painting with latex. If you want to seal the solartex so it is smooth I would put 2 coats of dope on, sand real lite with the green sanding pad, Then put on 2 coats of auto Laqure primer, sand again with the green pad or 320 sandpaper. Ready for latex. I mix latex about 50 -50 with water and a little alcohol. or you can use windshield washer solvent straight. Practice with your mixture. If it comes out of the gun dry add a little more thinner. I use a touch up gun I got at Walmart works fine.
If you want the weave in the fabric to show , The latex should work fine right over the Solartex. If you add another color let the latex dry anywhere from one hour to about 6 hours. Mask off for your second color and sand the area you plan on painting with the green pad. If you spray REAL LIGHT coats next to your masking, let it dry inbetween coats, not long maybe 15 min. Then start putting on heaver coats, generaly 2 coats will cover. I pull off the masking before it is completely dry. If your masking tape was down good most of the time you won't get any bleed under your mask.
Yellow is one of the hardest colors to get it to cover. Most of my planes WW11 are fiberglassed. If you have trouble don't give up It will get easer as you do more.
One important thing I do is set the wing out in the sun to warm it up. If it is not real warm 75 or lower I even paint out in the sun..
I won't consider painting with anything else. Once you get the hang of it you will really like it. I like to let the Latex dry real good about a week before I put Lustercoat clearor satin for the finish. If you have questions , just ask.[img][/img] Rich

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

These are just a few that are painted withb Latex. Rich

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Thanks for the advice Rich, your planes look great!!!
Been coating the fabric with dope today and priming the bare wood parts and cowl.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Thanks Steve. After giving it some thought today, I would paint the plane white first, then spray your yellow. You can put the yellow on as soon as the white is dry. maybe 30 minutes. You won't have to sand the white. Most yellows I have used just don't cover without several coats. This would save a little weight. Hope this helps Rich

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Good idea Rich, will do that. Thanks.

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Doping is now complete and rib stitching and tape are coming along. The priming of the bare wood parts and cowl are progressing. I have been using rattle can Dupli-Color automotive primer. The results with that product have been less than satisfactory. It does not cover well, runs easily, does not fill the flaws well, takes a long time to dry, must be wet sanded to avoid clogging the sandpaper and oh yea, it smells terrible. My wife, Shannon makes me spray it in the detached garage. :)

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Steve hows it comming with the primmer and paint? Rich

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Hi Rich, moving slowly right now and having to apply several coats of primer plus I don't get much done during the week. The rib stitching and tape are almost finished on the bottom wing but still have the top wing to do. Work takes up way too much time!

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Steve How's the painting comming? Rich

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Coming as per my usual. Slow! I do have the paint purchased but still having to prime the bare wood parts to get a good finish. With the three day weekend coming up, i hope to make some good progress. My old saying is: I am not very good but i am slow!

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

Well fella's, i finally have some progress worth reporting. All of the yellow paint is finished. Next will be the red trim. Told you i was slow...... :D

RE: Smith Miniplane
 

[sm=thumbup.gif] Looks Good.:D