Covering

[Jbeck]

Howdy y'all,
I'm getting ready to do my first covering which will be the right wing. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.
Also I'm doing research on sprayers and wanted to see what people's opinions are on the 3M Accuspray paint sprayer and to see if anyone has any experience with the sprayer.

Thanks.

[PapuaPilot]

When I was ready to cover I decided to do the rudder before doing a wing. It is a much smaller part that you can "practice" on, if something doesn't go right you can redo it with less time and material invested.

Maybe some others will chip in on that particular sprayer, but when all is said and done you need good preparation, position, lighting, mixing, environment, ventilation and application. I did all of my spraying in my company's paint booth using a $15 Harbor Freight spray gun. All of the little mistakes I experienced (debris, orange peel & runs) were not due to the HF spray gun.

[jmodguy]

I concur with Papua.
Start small, much you will learn...

[jrevens]

When I took a Polyfiber workshop class, the guys at Colorado Aerotech said that they had excellent experiences with the inexpensive Harbor Freight HVLP gun, Item 66222. That's what we used in the class and it worked very well. Although I covered with Oratex, I bought one of those guns, even though I had a good Binks knock-off that I painted my first airplane with. The Harbor Freight gun has been real nice to use on the few things I have had to paint on the Fox.

[jmodguy]

gotta find my 25% off coupon...

[avidflyer]

I've covered 1 plane and 3 other wings this year with the polyfiber system. Used a Harbor Freight spray gun for all the painting. It works good. I did do all the painting flat however. That helps to avoid runs. I would say for advice, "FOLLOW THE BOOK" the manual is your friend and your best guide. One other bit of advice I will pass along is don't be cheap with the brushed on coat of poly brush. If you get to light on it, especially where you are going over a surface underneath the fabric, make sure you fill the weave with the poly brush. Other wise you can get pin holes real easy. On the Avid Flyer I recovered, it uses an aluminum sheet over the false ribs and also the fabric sticks down onto the fuel tanks. Both are real good places to get pinholes if you go light on the poly brush. And the pin holes are a devil to deal with and get rid of. Don't ask me how I know! ;-) JImChuk