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Permalink Reply by John Austin on September 20, 2021 at 10:34am

A picture would be helpful as someone's idea of "small" can vary considerably.  LOL!  However, any dent in the skin is going to show - paint will NOT cover it up  but it may be a bit less noticeable.  However, if it is indeed very small, sometimes the only person who notices it is the builder.

If you haven't riveted yet, depending on location, sometime you can work it out a little by massaging it on the back side with a spoon.

John

N750A

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Permalink Reply by Bob Pustell on September 23, 2021 at 5:52pm

And, if you are going to paint it, you can use a little bit of light weight filler (a Bondo like product for aircraft that fills and patches like Bondo but weighs a lot less (and cost more than) Bondo. You cannot use patching materials on a polished aluminum surface (because it will show) but under paint it will be fine.

To keep the weight of the filler down, try and push out the dent as much as you can as described by John Austin, then smooth the banged up area the rest of the way with the filler. If you cannot get at the back side to push the dent out, then your only option is to fill it with the lighweight filler, sand it smooth, and paint. Or, just leave the dent and live with it.

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Wiford on September 26, 2021 at 10:14am

Thanks gentlemen. Turns out the “massaging” it out with a spoon worked like a champ! I appreciate the timely and useful responses. 

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Permalink Reply by Peter Nelson on January 18, 2022 at 10:02am

This works.  Thank you.  I was freakin' out when I tweaked the stab skin but its most of the way back to normal using the spoon.

Pete

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