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Permalink Reply by Chris Beebe on December 23, 2017 at 10:23am

Back when I painted rotor blades for a living all we used was two inch masking tape on the sawhorses to protect the finish. Re mask just before you turn the wing over and you should be good. We used this method with all our different paints and never had an issue.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on December 23, 2017 at 11:18am

You can build a rotisserie if you want and rotate the wings but that's a lotta work.

You don't really have to do it all in one day. do the top of the wing and bend down and spray the underside a ways back from the leading edge and forward of the trailing edge...I go back to a little beyond the lap joint of the leading edge. Set that one aside and do the other one same way. then next day turn it and mask off what you did first day and scuff the paint outside the masked area. I use a 3m purple pad only takes a minute. Then do that side on both wings. Works for the primer as well as the enamel. Nice relaxed pace.

I have when in a hurry set the tacky paint down on something small say a small nut or whatever for separation from the saw horse then do the other side. There will be a small blemish for the touchup brush. If you put the blemish underneath it'll never be noticed

Personally, I'm gonna scuff between the primer and the enamel regardless the 8 hour or whatever rule. I don't trust it to bond with the undercoat and always go with a mechanical bond. I never sand just 3M purple pads

I've done a lotta painting and it's always somethin of a PITA, a disaster waiting to happen

JS

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on December 23, 2017 at 1:05pm

To paint my wings, I built a support out of of 2x4s with a piece of dexion mounted so that I could attach to wing spar.  For the tip, I removed the light and used a shop light stand with the lights removed and put the end into the light hole.  This supported the wing with leading edge up.  Both sides could be painted at one time.  For other wing, rotating the dexion to a different angle on 2x4 support was all that was needed.  I also built a large dolly to help mount wings to fuselage.

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Permalink Reply by Ernest Christley on December 23, 2017 at 10:39pm

I think I'm going to combine all three of the current responses.  I'd go with Joe Hopwood's advice, but I want to lay them flat for painting.  Lord knows that I have enough trouble with runs already.  Joe Spencer's suggestion to use something small gave me the inspiration, though.

I'll first lay it flat and paint the bottom.  Let it dry to the touch.  Then, I'll flip it over with the spar on one say horse, and the tie down eyelet sitting on the other.  A layer of masking tape under the eyelet for good measure.  I'll probably need an adjustable height support near the back to balance things out, and the light stand is a good option for that.

I think I can do this now.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Hopwood on December 24, 2017 at 8:01am

You do not want to put tape on new paint.  My method's angle can be adjusted for horizontal vice vertical.  I prefer to paint all at once and vertical worked for me.  But if you want to paint one side and let dry you can change dexion angle so that wing is horizontal instead of vertical.  With a little effort, you could mount the dexion so it rotated as mentioned by Joe Spencer

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Permalink Reply by Joe Spencer on December 24, 2017 at 10:29am

I've taped on top of new paint for years and no problems. I wouldn't tape new acrylic enamel unless it had hardener in it but the urethanes and epoxies should be ok. Like Joe I've had ok results vertical painting but will take horizontal evary time if practical

There are a buncha ways to do it, just takes a little thought. Not a big deal...

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Permalink Reply by Ernest Christley on December 24, 2017 at 4:54pm

Might be a little miscommunication on my part.  I was going to put the tape on the sawhorse and let the tie down ring sit on the tape.  I'll probably need some extra support near the trailing edge, but a thin piece of plywood slid up in front of the aileron to rest on the hinge line should be sufficient.

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Permalink Reply by Gil DeVault on December 24, 2017 at 10:28am

I have built and covered wings using fabric for a Double Eagle, Legal Eagle, Wagabond, and a Kit Fox.For each one I built a wing roisterery  They  are simple to build Do this before installing wing tips. I plan to do the same for my 601 build when I get ready to paint

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