Saturday, October 11, 2025
Decided to restart the build and pull everything out of storage. What a mess—dust, grime, and mouse poo everywhere. Nothing quite like opening up aircraft parts that have been sitting dormant for months and discovering that rodents have made themselves at home.
Made the decision to start again properly this time. I've now got all the parts for the empennage, which means no more excuses about missing components or incomplete kits. Time to actually build this thing.
Primer System Research
Spent time researching primer systems and landed on Stewart Systems for the whole operation. Purchased EkoClean, EkoEtch, and EkoPrime. The Stewart Systems approach is water-based, which means I can work in the garage without turning the space into a hazmat zone. Still need to configure the air compressor properly and acquire the paint gun and paint lid.
Equipment Plan
Paint Lid: Rockler Mixing Mate (gallon size) - the kind that lets you stir, pour, and store without making a complete mess of the workspace. Found it online at Rockler.
Paint Gun System: 3M Accuspray Paint Spray Gun System with PPS 2.0, model 26580. This is the proper tool for the job—gravity feed, controlled spray pattern, disposable cups so cleanup doesn't become a three-hour ordeal.
Primer System: Stewart Systems EkoClean (for removing oils and contaminants), EkoEtch (for surface prep and adhesion), and EkoPrime (the actual primer coating). The whole system is designed to work together, which theoretically means fewer chances to screw it up through incompatible products.
Workspace Setup
Spent three solid hours clearing and reorganizing the garage workspace. Removed all the accumulated mess from storage, swept out the mouse evidence, and set up a proper work environment. The goal is to have a space where I can actually work methodically without tripping over random junk or searching for tools buried under five years of garage detritus.
This might not sound like aircraft construction, but it's foundational work. Can't build clean parts in a dirty shop. Can't work efficiently when everything's buried under storage overflow. The three hours of cleanup will pay back in reduced frustration and fewer contaminated parts.
Time logged: 3 hours