First I had to finish filing off all the laser slag residue from the laser cutting process. Then I had to file down the tabs. I used a double-cut file to do this, which removes more material than a single cut one. You just have to be careful not to over do it, since aluminum is a soft metal.
Then, all the pieces were done!
Since the dome has been polished in the past, I had to rough up the surface for better adhesion with the primer. Using a mouse sander and some 220 grit paper made pretty quick work of this.
After a short break, it was time to take the pieces outside and use some Filler-Primer. This will fill in those spots that still have some un-even surfaces or spin lines in them.
The filler sander sat outside in the sun for 2 hours to dry completely.
Next up was to sand the pieces with the mouse sander again, this time using 120 grit paper. 120 grit is for medium to light removal, which is all we want. The goal is a level surface.
After the sanding...
There's a few spots with primer still on the surface, which is fine.
Tomorrow we'll put a coat of etching primer on the pieces, which gives the paint a solid foundation to bite into the surface. Once that dries, sand smooth with some 400 grit sandpaper....then its on to the Krider Blue formula.
