Dreading the work day, it took me until noon to get the motivation I needed to start what I call suicide sanding. Over the years the word suicide has been the primary word used to describe the mental state of mind when finishing these birds. All I'm saying is I better win the nobel peace prize for staying calm during this finishing process... :) 6 hours of intense sanding feels like 12 hours of hard labor. From using the DA to using pieces of sand paper the size of my fingernail for those hard to reach areas, it was all very dirty, dusty and painfully annoying. I've decided that there is really no way to keep a painted floor looking good for long so instead of a prestine finishing job down there, I'll be adding carpet. This alone will save me several hours of finishing work. I had to get creative in order to sand in areas like behind the pitch trim wheel that not even fingers would access. I stuck 80-grit to a ruler and it worked great. The plastic protecting the wheel from scratches. The good news is that I can say 80% of the sanding is now done and I just need the patience for the last 20%. I've also got an idea for finishing the inside that may change how I finish every part of the interior if it works. And if it works as good as I hope then I will even be happy to re-finish that pesky canopy 1 more time. You see, all along I have been seeking a way to get a somewhat textured, solid color finish without needing a lot of prep work. Not to mention one that will be easy to repair down the road. So far I still haven't found that MAGIC finishing techique that can qualify for all of the the above. But that may change soon. stay tuned...
