Joe Ruscito's Kitfox S7 Build

[airlina]

When I painted my Series 5 many years ago, I tried the recommended spray polytone over tacky primer on hard surfaces. two problems I encountered were the procedure is a pain in the butt , because you are shooting two different paints in close succession and you either need two paints rigs or better be quick and cleaning your gun for the next coat. second , like Eddie says I found the polytone not durable on hard surfaces and I figured it would never stand the test of time. My solution was to head to the local auto paint store and they did a great job of matching my Polytone colors with their enamel (Dupont Centari was the product I used) and this is what I used on my cowl., doors ,gear etc. I can't tell the difference in color between the two paints and after 16 years , I know I did the right thing because it has held up well. I did have to flatten the sheen on the enamel a bit to match the polytone but that was easy with the flattener mixed into the enamel. Bruce N199CL

[David47]

I've been advised by Polyfiber to do two coats of EP-420 over both metal or fibreglass - would also apply to Carbon I suspect as well.. The first coat you apply normally and let it cure/dry. For the second coat, you apply it and whilst still tacky, apply the first coat of your final colour. Apparently doing it this way allows the final coat to cure/dry with the tacky primer. They tell me this will work in most cases, assuming good surface prep. before applying the EP-420. I've done this on my main gear springs and so far so good.

[JoeRuscito]

Wrapping it isn’t a bad idea. Then would you use stickers for labels?

I think I’m going to go with powder coating or anodizing and laser etch or dry transfer labels.

[PPGflyer]

This... is... awesome! I came here to research and here you are doing it!

Mike T

[Shadowrider]

The down side to wrapping it that I see is its going to be harder to label it and the faux wrap can get damaged fairly easy putting in avionics. I think we are going to powered coat and laser etch for the most durability.

[bbs428]

Agreed. Anyone in particular?
Someone linked these guys not to long ago. Their located in Mulino, OR.

http://www.lms-laser.com/index.php

laser-marking-powder-coated-instrument-panel-1.jpg laser-marking-painted-instrument-panel.jpg

[JoeRuscito]

Agreed. Anyone in particular?
Someone linked these guys not to long ago. Their located in Mulino, OR.

http://www.lms-laser.com/index.php

laser-marking-powder-coated-instrument-panel-1.jpg laser-marking-painted-instrument-panel.jpg

Ive been doing some research into both anodizing and etching or powder coating and etching. Im looking to go with a black panel and white lettering. From what I understand with black anodizing this is possible, whereas with powder coating you get a tan color. Can anyone speak to this? Also from my understanding with laser etching you are burning down to the Al underneath, do you need additional corrosion protection on top of the lettering?

[jiott]

Everybody seems to run a foot or two short of rib stitch reinforcing tape. This has been mentioned for years; don't know why the factory doesn't add a couple of feet to the kit-hint, hint.

[DesertFox4]

Great looking wings Joe.👍 Nice stiching. Always my favorite part of the build, covering. Good progress. Congrats to your sister and new brother-in-law.

[JoeRuscito]

Damn I’m slacking! I can barely keep up with the forum, hats off to all of you making videos!

Lots of delays this month waiting for thing in addition I lost a weekend to my sisters wedding.

I have the wings covered and rib stitched, waiting on a few more feet of reinforcement tape for the last rib before polybrush and finish tapes.



Honestly this was fun! And rib stitching was really enjoyable, I don’t know why anyone would skip it, especially considering it’s the beat practice. It took me about 1 hr per rib but that included laying out the marks, pre pinching, tapes, and stitching. I didn’t use a chalk line because I didn’t like how it was working for me.

A note on rib stitching. I measured everything from the top and bottom edge of the leading edge extrusion. I went 2.75 inches back on the top to clear the front spar and then 3 inch spacing centered around the rear spar everywhere else was 2.5 as recommended except I shortened one spacing to land in front of the lower false rib tube. This spacing cleared all internal structure without issue. I did have to make some custom “needles” out of long paper clips to stitch just the top capstrip above the pitot plate and to work between the cross brace tubing.


I’ve started checking off the fuselage covering list and have antennas shipping to drill those holes. Also rechecked my rigging, I’ve been using a digital level I use for Rc helicopter blade setup. Seems to work really well. Been marking every finished bolt with indicator paste.





Butt rib closeouts done. And hysoled, ready for paint.




Static line run and ready.



OAT plate installed and wire run. Trim sensor installed and wire run. And tail strobe wire run.



I also installed a rudder stop on one side as others have done, as my rudder was just barely touching the horizontal. I didn’t need it on the left but I drilled the hole so it’s there if I need it down the road.



And lastly I set up the gas struts on the door when I had the wings installed. I wish they were a bit longer at full throw, because with the position of the fuselage tabs you need to have the top very close to the door hinge to get the doors to open fully but when compressed they don’t go nearly to fully compressed. I think it would be better to have the tabs higher so they could have more leverage on the door and use the full throw. Also, I ended up drilling the brackets twice because I didn’t notice the position I picked on the door frame was on top of the bubble door hole I had drilled. Be careful of this position if you haven’t done this yet!

Whoa! Long post. Hopefully some useful info in there!