I'm just back from 2 weeks in the US for work. The project has been on hold for two weeks.
Since I'm back saturday, did nothing else then scuffing parts in preparation of priming. Pretty boring work.
I have to clean the parts first with sillikon entferner from spiess hecker and then scuff them lightly with SCOTCH-BRITE hand pads.
The ribs have many corners and flanges and this is slowing down the process. Over 10 hours work done and nothing really visible except for some scratched aluminum parts.
All ribs are now scuffed. 14 per wing. As you can see, I labeled them and attached the label with fishwire to remember which rib goes where. Rear spars in the bottom of the picture.
To give you an idea on the scuffing process. Scuffing creates micro-scratches in the top layer of the alclad material. Don't scuff too hard or the alclad will be removed and you unwillingly loose corrosion protection.
The idea here is to create these micro scratches that will facilitate bonding for the zinc chromate to attach to the material.
Here is a close up view of how scuffed up W-707D looks like:
Now I'm ready for priming. This will take one day and then I can rivet the skeleton permanently together this weekend.
Finally something exciting to look forward too.
Stay tuned...