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Hi all

Despite saying I wouldn't start the Bailey Bridge until the Churchill and trailer were completed I have succumbed.
The prospect of warm dry weather for the week was too good an opportunity to pass up as I knew I would have to spray the panels outdoors. While getting a charger from Halfords I noticed they had reduced their day shelters for £15. Ideal as a pop up spray booth
So far it is working well, if not a bit messy. The main problem is the amount of primer being used due to the open nature of the panels. Luckily I saw Mutley's and Tiny's build and ordered a dozen cans of Upol etch primer so should get most of it primed. For some reason I expected the primer to be grey but as you can see it is black, it does make it easier to see bits I have missed but I will do a test spray once I get the topcoat just to make sure it doesn't make it too dark. If all else fails I can give the panels a misting of red oxide.

Regards
Gary

Hi gary
Welcome to the dark Side thats prity much the same as Tiny and I wile waiting for some stock for the 251 Tiny suggested we have a look at bridge as they say the rest is history.
Great to see you have made a start on the bridge.
I think with hindsight we would have used black primer as you said you can see any bits you may have missed.
When you start on the bag of M3 x 6mm you may require a special tool to help its a real ho my goodness moment over and over and over again lol see our next post how Tiny and I solved the problem.
Looking forward to your next post.

Best Regards
Steve and Luke

Nice to see you've made a start mate. Good idea with the fishing shelter.

Good morning all

With the fantastic weather yesterday I made a start on cleaning up the bracing and doubling lugs which had become quite rusty. I should have removed them from the plastic bags last autumn which would have reduced the rust build up. So, one washing up bowl with a healthy dash of Evaporust and a toothbrush did the trick. It took about two hours for all the rust to vanish then each part was cleaned using the toothbrush in fresh water before being completely dried .
I have noticed that sometimes after using Evaporust you can get a yellowish residue on the metal, this is difficult to remove and the paint will not adhere to it. I found the best way to get rid of it was to re-immerse the part in the Evaporust and clean it again.
I have used Upol etch primer on all the lugs. In case you are wondering why it looks black that was because I ordered a large batch of Upol which states it is grey on the cans but does come up almost black. I would have preferred the lighter grey as the undercoat but have already decided to give the parts a light coating of red oxide prior to applying the base coat, this will give appearance I want for any scratches and dings during use.

Regards
Gary

I rinsed all the parts as soon as I took out of evaporust. Most of the large parts I cleaned with alcahol. I am using the light grey etch primer. It was on discount at my local Halfords. Everything now primed with 5 cans. Check you have all components. I was missing some parts 116 and 131.

Hi all

With all this warm weather I have made some progress etch priming the transom shoes. The pin plates A & B are next but I am currently dressing them to remove the sharp edges and corners to allow the paint to adhere better. As you can imagine with 96 of each plate this is somewhat time consuming.
Luckily there is very little corrosion on the pin plates so just a clean up with the degreaser required before etch priming.

Regards
Gary

Rather than use expensive rust removers just use Food grade citric acid powder,and hot water,removes rust but leaves clean metal alone

just a quick tip but it may help save a few quid

good to see you back Garry

Donald

Hi Donald

Hope you are keeping well. Thanks for the tip, I have been using Evaporust which works well but can leave a deposit on the metal that needs cleaning off. Also using white vinegar for the smaller parts which is very effective. Hoping to get some more done today in between messing around with the Churchill tracks. Have the Warag show this weekend with the Pershing and Tiger so that will be fun.

Regards
Gary