REFLECTOR:Finishing work on fastbuilds?

[Andreas Christou]

At 12:34 PM 6/24/03 -0400, you wrote:
>While I've got the plane upside down, I thought I'd do any necessary 
>finishing work on the strakes and underbelly.  So, I was wondering (those 
>of you who've done a FB bird) how much finishing work folks have found 
>that the factory's fast-build (or otherwise already primered parts, like 
>the strake skins) have needed?  I'd rather not go through the process of 
>spraying dark primer lightly on the skin and start sanding only to find 
>that surface was already free of waviness and other defects....  They look 
>pretty good, but are they 'ready for paint' or just 'free of major 
>defects'?  Thanks.


Brett,

The one I am building is not a fastbuild but this might apply to you.
I found several large voids in the strake leading edge. One void along the 
right leading edge was 26 inches long and about 2-3 inches wide. These 
large voids were injected with a slurry of micro.

Check by tapping the skin with a coin held on edge. A void gives a dull 
sound instead of a more solid ring. I marked the edges of the voids and 
then drilled through the top skin with a 1/8th drill starting at a low 
point and then every three inches or so towards the top.

I started injecting micro from the lowest hole until I saw micro coming out 
of the next hole up. I then sealed the first hole with  a piece of tape and 
moved on to the next hole etc.
The voids were caused by delamination of the top  skin from the core.

I also found numerous smaller voids caused by trapped air in some of the 
moulded parts. These were cleaned up and filled with micro before primer 
filler was applied.


The giant size syringe was obtained from a pet supply shop. (Large syringes 
are used to deliver liquid medicines orally to large pets and horses.) Use 
without a needle,

I hope this helps,



Andreas P. Christou
VariEze N13VB, Velocity XL RG airframe complete.