
Jabiru J450 Constructors Manual
Paint>General
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
195 of 343
Paint>General
Objectives of this task:
To paint the aircraft, which involves disassembling the fuselage, empennage and wings, then
the preparation – filling, sanding, priming and so forth, and finally application of the topcoat.
Body filler adds weight to your aircraft and Q-Cell is the lightest filler available so we suggest
that you use Q-Cell for the larger fills and finish off with a lightweight body filler.
Paint also adds weight to your aircraft and so we recommend that you keep the amount of
paint to the minimum necessary to achieve a good finish: just enough of a light-coloured
undercoat to cover filler and all of the bare spots, followed by a single topcoat.
The topcoat
must
be
white
for heat rejection purposes, and any coloured striping or detail can
only be applied to vertical surfaces –
all horizontal surfaces must be plain white
.
Filler and paint:
In general we use automotive grade paint preparation products and automotive grade 2-pack
epoxy paint. The specific brands that we use here in Australia may not be available where you
live and you may have to find similar products locally.
Lightweight body filler
2 tins
“
K&H
Mercury
” brand or similar (photo #1)
Spot putty
4 tubes
“
Ever-Glaze
” brand or similar (photo #2)
2 pack epoxy primer undercoat 5 litres
“
Protec Autofleet
” brand or similar (photo #3)
2 pack polythane
white
topcoat 12 litres “
Protec Barrier
” brand or similar (photo #4)
Q-Cell and polyester resin lightweight body filler – a 3-part mix consisting of:
Q-Cell microspheres
1 kg
mix with resin as required, about 20% by weight
Polyester resin
4 litres
40% M.E.K.P. solution
20ml
catalyst for the polyester resin/Q-Cell mixture
Etching primer
250ml
for priming metal parts: noseleg, etc
Wax and grease remover
1 litre
for final washdown prior to topcoat
Thinners, retardant, etc as required to suit the chosen products and conditions
Tack cloth – available from automotive paint suppliers, removes fine dust prior to the
application of the topcoat.