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EkoPrime Instructions sheet
https://stewartsystems.aero/wp-content/uploads/EkoPrime-Instructions.pdf
So, I messed up and figured what better way to take my medicine than to tell everyone about it!
The instructions above say that EkoPrime can be topcoated after a few hours. In the larger Stewart Systems manual it says that primer that has been allowed to sit for more than about five days must be sanded and then cleaned before being top-coated.
I woke up Saturday with that feeling that it was time to paint. No more sanding, no more patching, no more delays, just perfect weather and time to go. Areas of the existing white paint were uneven due to sanding to remove goose bumps and runs in the finish. There were also a few small patches that had been sealed with the darker gray EkoFill (UV protection plus weave filler) so they needed a lighter gray primer coat so they wouldn't be as visible under the white top-coat.
My plan was to apply the EkoPrime more heavily on the bottom where the paint was very thin and then lighter around the sides of the fuselage and on the gear where we just needed the variations to be muted out a little. It was about 83 degrees in my garage with the fan on pulling in fresh air.
Where the primer was applied more heavily it laid out better, where it was thin it left a rough surface, the warm temps probably had a lot to do with that. My conversation a few weeks earlier with Andy from Stewart Systems led me to believe that the results might not be quite as glossly and smooth without sanding but that I should be ok so I had planned to wait about four hours and go straight to the white base coat of EkoPoly.
I'd like to say the results were mixed but I should have stopped to sand and clean the primer before moving to the base coat. I've got spots where the white is glossy and smooth and spots where it's still rough like very fine sandpaper. Aircraft left is all pretty good, aircraft right is not good enough so I've got to sand the roughness out, clean it and repaint it.
Overall the primer is great to work with, it gets diluted with up to ten percent distilled water and sprays very nicely. The EkoPrime primer is compatible with both fabric, metal, and fiberglass. It isn't resistant to solvents so solvent based top coats aren't compatible.
Like other Stewart Systems coatings, you spray light base coats to develop the proper rough surface while also building color. The roughness of the first few coats helps the heavier final coat to hang on and stay stuck. If I were doing this again I'd still have varied how much primer I used in different places but would have scuff sanded everything before top coating so I'd be moving on to trim lines today instead of more sanding! Doh!
EkoPrime Instructions sheet
https://stewartsystems.aero/wp-content/uploads/EkoPrime-Instructions.pdf
So, I messed up and figured what better way to take my medicine than to tell everyone about it!
The instructions above say that EkoPrime can be topcoated after a few hours. In the larger Stewart Systems manual it says that primer that has been allowed to sit for more than about five days must be sanded and then cleaned before being top-coated.
I woke up Saturday with that feeling that it was time to paint. No more sanding, no more patching, no more delays, just perfect weather and time to go. Areas of the existing white paint were uneven due to sanding to remove goose bumps and runs in the finish. There were also a few small patches that had been sealed with the darker gray EkoFill (UV protection plus weave filler) so they needed a lighter gray primer coat so they wouldn't be as visible under the white top-coat.
My plan was to apply the EkoPrime more heavily on the bottom where the paint was very thin and then lighter around the sides of the fuselage and on the gear where we just needed the variations to be muted out a little. It was about 83 degrees in my garage with the fan on pulling in fresh air.
Where the primer was applied more heavily it laid out better, where it was thin it left a rough surface, the warm temps probably had a lot to do with that. My conversation a few weeks earlier with Andy from Stewart Systems led me to believe that the results might not be quite as glossly and smooth without sanding but that I should be ok so I had planned to wait about four hours and go straight to the white base coat of EkoPoly.
I'd like to say the results were mixed but I should have stopped to sand and clean the primer before moving to the base coat. I've got spots where the white is glossy and smooth and spots where it's still rough like very fine sandpaper. Aircraft left is all pretty good, aircraft right is not good enough so I've got to sand the roughness out, clean it and repaint it.
Overall the primer is great to work with, it gets diluted with up to ten percent distilled water and sprays very nicely. The EkoPrime primer is compatible with both fabric, metal, and fiberglass. It isn't resistant to solvents so solvent based top coats aren't compatible.
Like other Stewart Systems coatings, you spray light base coats to develop the proper rough surface while also building color. The roughness of the first few coats helps the heavier final coat to hang on and stay stuck. If I were doing this again I'd still have varied how much primer I used in different places but would have scuff sanded everything before top coating so I'd be moving on to trim lines today instead of more sanding! Doh!
