I started off today by filling the fuselage paint pockmarks and divots with Metal Glaze filler to fill these small blemishes in the paint.

I then reinstalled the painted nose gear door hinges using button head screws.

I wanted to get these nose gear door hinges installed before the final paint coats on the fuselage and nose to ensure I didn’t ding up, damage or scratch the paint.  I’ll note that the unpainted area on the aft inside of the wheel well will be completed once I install and dial in the orientation of the belly-mounted video camera.

Again, to utilize the minimal amount of daylight currently available I went ahead and spent about 1.5 hours sanding the gray primer on the canopy frame.

I’ll reiterate that for the remainder of this build I really need to dial in the surface prep to be spot on at the primer phase so the subsequent painting goes smoother than these first rounds have.

Thus, I aggressively sanded the gray primer coat to reveal a good bit of the underlying white primer coat.  Moreover, I now start with 220 grit and finish with 320 grit, to provide a smoother, even surface for the next round of primer/paint.

I then mixed up some white primer and applied it to the canopy frame (actually, just prior to this I used the last bit of available sunlight to re-sand some areas I missed on the RAM air scoop/hell hole hatch cover… which resulted in a few more breakthroughs in the paint down to the primer coat. Definitely a recoat will be required).

As with the gray primer coat, I used a small bit of the white primer laced with a good bit of micro to do yet even another round of fills on a few minor surface blemishes.

Although the white primer never seems to fully obscure the underlying coat, this coat went on well and I’m happy with it.

In addition to the canopy frame, I sanded down the underwing baggage pod threaded mounting inserts and then applied white primer to those areas.  I also sanded and applied white primer to the bottom trailing edge of the aileron pocket, on both wings.

I also applied white primer to the West 410 refills along the edge of the wing and strake junctions, as well as primer-thin areas on both the wings and the strakes.

Here we have areas of the left wing and strake where I’ve reapplied white primer.

I had planned on getting the next round of blue paint knocked out, but it was not meant to be this evening since I decided to also apply white primer to the sanded fuselage/nose Metal Glaze fills.  On a positive note, if all goes right tomorrow I’ll be able to add the canopy frame to the list of things to get painted blue.

Pressing forward… slow but steady!