This sequence of photos starts at the top and works its way down the page as progress marches on.
Latest photos start here.
October 2, 2004 - The recovering process begins.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Below - December 26 2004 and the taping and spraying begin.
 
 
I'm using un-tinted Polybrush to lay the tapes.
 
 
Renee takes a photo of me laying a tape.
 
Above - I use the iron set at 225° to heat form the tapes around tight curves - mainly around the tow hook cavity.
3 inch wide bias tape around the nose bulkhead. No gloves - duh!
Above - the bias tape forms nicely around the nose bulkhead, I'm laying it down with the Polybrush.
Above - coffee-can sized doilies for the inspection panel cutouts.
 
All tapes on and ready for the sprayed coats of Polybrush.
 
Above and below - the first coat of Polybrush goes on. I'm using tinted now so that I can see how much I've sprayed. I used clear Polybrush for the first brushed coat and the taping because I did not want the un-even brushing and runs to show up on the inside of the fabric. Using this method, I get a nice even pink-orange interior color with none of the typical sagging and brush marks you normally see on the inside surface of the fabric.
 
Second sprayed coat.
 
Third and final coat of Polybrush is sprayed.
New Years Day 2005 - the Polyspray goes on.
I start spraying the silver Poly-Spray.
 
 
 
Above - you can see the interior of the fabric - no runs. I'll trim the cloth protective tape from the top stringers when I'm done painting.
 
January 8, 2005 - the second coat of silver Polyspray gets wet-sanded and the third coat is sprayed on.
Above - masked off for spraying - below, the inside of the canopy gets a coat of epoxy over the fleck-spray.
The epoxy coating makes it tough and prevents moisture ingress between the aluminum frame and the steel tubing.
Above and below - wet sanding with 600.
 
Third coat of Polyspray - filling in the weave pretty well now, getting smoother and looking just about right.
Next step is to spray the white Polytone followed by Bahama Blue.
Below - 24 January 2005 and this morning I wet-sanded the entire fuselage again and sprayed two more coats of Polyspray. Next I sprayed two coats of Insignia white Polytone as a base for the Bahama blue Polytone.
 
 
Below - I spray the fuselage, canopy and turtledeck frames with Bahama blue Polytone.
 
 
Below - 30 January 2005 and I've wet-sanded the entire fuselage again with 600 wet or dry paper.
After sanding and a thorough cleaning with PolyFiber C-2210 paint cleaning solvent, I mask the nose for the dark blue portion.
Below - the nose is painted Christen Eagle Blue Polytone.
 
 

While this dark blue paint dries this evening, I'll finish installing the turtledeck glass and the canopy. Details here.

 
Below - January 31, 2005 - I install the canopy glass and mask them off for final painting.
I sanded the cockpit tub yesterday to make sure it is smooth and fair. Then I wet-sanded it to get the rougher sanding scratches out.
Below - the last (hopefully!) coat of Bahama Blue Polytone goes on the fuselage and the vertical stab/rudder.
 
Below - I masked the "feathers" for the rudder using a template to draw pencil lines to guide the masking tape.
Below - I move the template until I get six feathers sketched out.
 
Above and below - using masking tape, I mask out the Bahama Blue feathers. The rudder seal was installed this morning with PolyTak.
 
Above - both sides have the feathers masked - this took two hours. Below, both sides painted Bahama Blue. After the Bahama Blue sets up for a few days, I will mask the smaller feathers and paint the Christen Eagle (dark) blue. The sequence of painting is always lighter colors first - working your way into the darker colors. Going the other way would cause difficulty in getting lighter colors to cover a darker base. Needless to say, lots of planning is required to do this type of a paint scheme - and patience. This is a test for me - I like to move quickly.
Below - February 3 - I mask off the rudder for the dark blue feathers.
 
Above - I make a tracing of the left side to provide a masking template for the right side - mirror image.
Above - ready for paint - below - painted Christen Eagle Blue.
 
Above - I mask off and paint the white accent stripe on the nose. Below, I remove the masking tape. The blue spot on the dark blue nose is where some Bahama Blue leaked through the masking paper - it's easily removed with some reducer. This Polytone paint is very easy to work with, sands easy, dries fast, easy and quick cleanup with reducer - no MEK or Acetone or other nasty chemicals needed.
 
Above - except for some touch up here and there - the fuselage painting is done!!!
Above - Sunday February 6, 2005 - the wheel and skid are installed. The skid is a Kurt Strong Special - very nicely laminated oak that fits the A model perfectly. You can see two areas of light blue that need touching up, again an easy task with Polytone. It's much more difficult with Aerothane to get touch-ups to blend in.
Off the rotisserie and on the ground for the first time since it came off the trailer. Time to install the rudder.
Below - February 5, 2005 - I use some foam to make a plug for the vertical to fuselage fairing.
Below - after shaping the foam, I use some lightweight body filler to build up the final shape in preparation for shaping and smoothing.
Below - I bought some flower arrangement foam blocks from Walmart for a $10 and glued them all together with body filler to make a block large enough to shape the nose cone from.
Below - I mounted the glued blocks to my Milwaukee body grinder/gel coat polisher to serve as the arbor for the nose cone lathe.
Below - I made a template of the nose cone from an original Schweizer A model nose cone drawing and set up a 1x2 board to serve as a rest for the chisel that I'm using as a lathe tool to shape the cone.
Below - checking the shape with the template often to make sure it gets the right shape.
Below - the nose cone is shaped.
Checking the fit.
I spread more bondo on the nose cone and next I will sand it smooth to form a male tool base for the fiberglass lay-up.
Below February 20, 2005 - I remove the fiberglass fairing from the foam mold.
Below - I trim the fairing - this is 3 layers of 3 oz. cloth in epoxy resin.
Below - one side trimmed, the other not.
 
Above - the preliminary trim looks good - below the new Golden Retriever/Great Pyrenees combo checks out the nose cone mold.
Below Samson the big dog is enjoying another beautiful day in Seattle while I mark the mold for final shaping and trimming.
Below - I set up this rig to cut the air vent hole perfectly round and centered.
 
Above - February 20, 2005 - a layer of 3 oz. crowfoot weave cloth lies underneath the 9 oz. plain weave fabric. I'm using one layer of 9 oz. plain weave sandwiched between four layers of the 3 oz. crowfoot to give it good strength and stiffness.
Above - I coat the mold with a hot layer of melted mold release, next a layer of resin and the first layer of crowfoot cloth. The crowfoot 4-1 weave drapes very nicely over the nose cone.
Layering on the cloth and filling the weave in with lots of epoxy resin.
Below - 5 layers total.
 
 
 
Below is a rough draft the planned paint scheme that Renee composed using Adobe Illustrator.