Hi. Can you tell how you prepped and primed the bare parts?
Sure,
For the engine cowl/cover I first taped off the rubber weather stripping all around the bottom perimeter(blue painters tap). Also removed all the vents/louvers handles on cowling.
I used stripeze to totally remove all existing/old coats of paint on cowling. ***beware that even if you tape off the decals the stripeze will work into the decals removing the adhesive and possibly ruining it. I had ordered a new set of decals, so for me it didn't matter.
Use a sturdy putty type knife to peel off old paint being careful not to gouge the cowling.
Completely rinse away the stripeze, etc..
I then used my orbital sander with 180 grit disc and sanded all flat areas of cowling. DO Not use the orbital sander to sand any edges as it will take the cowling material off really fast and uneven.
With 180 grit paper, I sanded all the edges and corners by hand.
Rinse off and check and see how smooth and even it's getting.
Once you're happy with it, get a good spray primer. If your final color is dark, use black primer and if your final color is light or white use a white primer.
Let dry for 30 min. to an hour (depends on spray primer drying times).
I then use my sanding block with wet/dry sandpaper, 400 grit, wet cowling and sandpaper and only sand flat areas. Take same type of wet/dry sandpaper 400 grit and sand edges and corners by hand.
You may see low or high spots now. I repeated the above adding a second coat of primer and used the wet/dry 400g again.
I let mine dry out for a good day before starting to paint the actual color enamel.
Use new blue masking tape around base rubber seal.
Spray on color paint...light coats always.
Then let dry for a couple of hours (again all depends on paint you use).
Wet sand with 600grit this time and using sanding block for flat areas and you hands for edges and corners.
Let it dry out.
Forgot to add, you can wipe it down with something like denatured alcohol right before painting.
Do again until happy with the look/ and or coats of paint. Right before last coat of paint I use 1500grit wetdry sandpaper.
Let dry for at least 2-3 days.
Wet sand lightly with the 1500 grit.
Now spray on your clear coat. If doing more than 1 coat of clear coat use the 1500grit in between each coat.
Let dry...if you have new decals wait a few days...maybe 3 before placing them on the cowl.
Eventually you can buff it down to bring out color and gloss.
There maybe other ways of doing it...hope this helps.
Thomas
