Jabiru J450 Constructors Manual
Paint>General
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
196 of 343
Sandpaper:
Generally we recommend and use “
3M
” brand (or 150mm “
Stickit
” brand pads for a random
orbital sander) aluminium oxide sandpaper in the following grades and quantities:
First all over sand
180-grit
1 box
Filler sand
80 and 120-grit
1 box of each
Spot putty and final sand
240-grit
2 boxes
Equipment required:
Cork or rubber sanding blocks, flat and curved.
150mm random orbital sander, either electric or pneumatic, preferably with dust extraction.
Compressor and spray gun – we use a low-pressure pot gun (~80psi) in the factory, but follow
the instructions of your chosen paint supplier.
Half-face respirator with suitable painting filters.
Disposable coveralls, gloves, boots and safety glasses or goggles.
Assorted saw stools, wire hooks and trestles will be required to support individual parts while
they are being prepared and painted. In the paint booths at our factory we hang smaller parts
in rows from roof-mounted rails, while wings are fitted to purpose-built supports that hold the
wing root and support the outer end with a hook through the flap brackets.
Disassembly
Preparation and painting is done with the aircraft completely disassembled - all parts will be
prepared and painted separately and then reassembled after the paint has cured.
We suggest that you bag all the hardware (bolts, nuts, washers, clips, etc) for each component
separately and clearly label what each bag is for – this will make your life so much easier
during reassembly.
Remove the ailerons and flaps from the wings, then remove the wings and wing struts.
Remove the elevator, rudder and ventral fin from the empennage.
Remove the wheel spats and any other fairings.
Remove the doors and the engine cowlings.
Remove the noseleg assembly and place a saw stool or prop under the attach point, or
alternately leave the noseleg in place and mask around it.
Remove any other small items such as ventilation doors, oil door and so on.
Clean everything thoroughly
The entire aircraft should be disassembled (see above) and then everything should be blown
out thoroughly with compressed air and then vacuumed out to remove dust and debris from
every part of the airframe. You do not want dust being blown into the finish because it didn‟t
get cleaned out properly beforehand.
While you are cleaning, take the time to clean out your work area too – blow and sweep all
dust and rubbish from the walls, benches and floor and get into the habit of doing this at the
end of every work day so that when you come to apply the paint the work area will be
substantially clean to start with and you won‟t get any little “surprises” in the finish.