Priming the centersection

I was a bad boy about 4 years ago when I put together the centersection in haste. I did not use very good primer and it was already flaking off after 2 years in storage in my shed!!!!
I have drilled it all apart and have stripped the paint, re-etched  and Alodined the pieces. Today, I am epoxy priming the centersection and I will reassemble it in a couple of days.
I am using the good DTM (Direct To Metal) Dupont Primer in VS4. I still have about a gallon left over from painting the 1st RV-6. I have replaced the activator a new batch and I have had very good luck with this paint. The only thing that drives me crazy about it is that it is very graining and it's hard to get a good coat and have it turn out smooth. Some of it has to do with the gun I am using and the 1.4mm tip. I should go to a 1.6mm and see how that paint lays out. I prime with a small gun and also have a Husky (Home Depot) bigger gun for larger panels. It's a decent gun for priming parts. And since this will either be covered in a top coat on the interior, or inside the airplane, it does not matter that much how it turns out as long as it is sealed up.

Summer is over and it's airplane building time

I have worked around the house most of the summer. Pouring concrete, working in the yard, painting, planting, cleaning and mowing grass. My house looks good, however, my airplane looks unfinished. I need to get moving on building a jig.
I have asked around I cannot find a jig in the area. So I am going to build another one. I have a neighbor who is a professional builder. He recommended a lumber stock over by Port Townsend that carries "select" grades of lumber. I will go over there to hand pick my wood for my jig. You want tight grained Douglas Fir with no knots or wanes. Select grade is more expensive of course, but you are building an airplane in this jig and you need to be picky. Home Depot lumber is not going to cut it. That is Hem Fir and it's mostly wide grain heart wood. It will warp and twist on you. You must also get kiln dried wood so it does not dry out after you get the jig together.
On my last airplane, we also lightly "planed" the lumber to make sure it was nice and straight with sharp corners. Having a small portable power planer works real nice in this case.
I have to go on a business trip to Japan next week, after that, however, will be jig building time.

Fabricating bulkheads and priming

I have been working the past several months on the fuselage bulkheads. I have started with the firewall and then worked my way back to the tail bulkheads. I have assembled each station and then moved on the to the next. This way, when it comes time to start putting them in the jig, I can just drop each one in and go. I will not be waiting to build one and then move on to the next one. I have also been priming all of the seat ribs and baggage ribs so that I can also just "drop" them in place and move on. I have completed most of the priming.

My centersection was put together a long time ago. I pulled it down out of the rafters in my shed and started to get it ready to install in the jig. I found several areas where the paint had flaked off. NOT GOOD! I removed some of the paint and found that I did not Alodine these parts!!!!! I ended up drilling out all of the rivets that assemble the bulkhead and I have since stripped all the paint off of them. I used SEM self etching primer and it will come right off with Acetone. I am going to clean and Alodine these parts, then prime with epoxy primer and reassemble. I cannot afford to have any corrosion in the centersection.

I would not recommend any SEM products. I have found them to be very inferior to other paints and primers. I have used some "filler" primer on some fiberglass parts and them top coat with U-POL primers and they have seemed to last. However, any self etching single stage primer has not worked for me on aluminium.