Front Cowl Flaps

[SkyMac]

Hi Joe

I used an enviormental friendly stripper manufactured by Allied Chemicals, this was recomended by others. There are a large number of options available for removing the paint, the main reason I chose this one was easy cleaning and removal from joins, it is also very easily de-activated with water.

Now I had numerous layers (3 or 4) of paint including the original which I believe was acrylic, as it reacted to the stripper quite differently to the enamel.

What I did was tape all of the joins around the cowls, gear doors etc with a 1/4 inch wide aluminium tape, also covered any plastic with aluminium covered paper. Once this was done I went about painting on the stripper in a fairly thick coat, predomently I broke the fuselage up into 10 sections and worked on one at a time (I will attach photo's so you can see). Once this was done the plane was pressure washed whislt being careful where you washed. Then I used a green scotch brite pad and paint thinners to give the whole fuselage a good going over, being sure to have a good amount of thinners on the pad, then dried it all off.

Removed the tape and paper and when I'm ready it will be washed and scubbed with detergent and a red scotch brite pad before acid etching.

Joe it's not that hard if you prepare the area where you will do the job, have all the safety gear on as most strippers burn. Critical is to think about the aircraft and any areas where the stripper should not get into, cover and mask using aluminium foil type tapes and paper. Be prepared for a long haul and just keep plugging away. I have the job sheet at home and I think it took me 23hrs just to remove the paint from the fuselage, I did it over a weekend.

A good supply of plastic scrappers is also paramount, I used ones about the size of a credit card.

I still have the wings to go, but that will be in a few months after I complete work on the tail sections and booms, which are almost ready to paint.

Paint stripping an aircraft is one of those not so nice jobs, but with the right equipment, area, advice and asking the right questions you can get a lot of satisfaction from the finished job. One final thing, make sure you keep your A&P close by to inspect prior to adding any stripper and once the job is finished.

Dave