U.S.S. Atlantis - Step 8.5 (part 2), Preping the balsa parts for a smooth paint finish

The first thing I want to say here is that this is not a method that I have tested and proven and so I'm not exactly sure what the results will be. I have used sanding sealer by itself before, way back in the day, but I'm hoping for better results than I was able to get in 1977 the first time I built this kit. What I'm hoping for is to find a relatively quick and easy way to achieve a smooth finish so that when we apply the final color coat, it goes on smooth and doesn't show alot of balsa grain or tube lines.

Above you see the results of the first step which is 2 liberal coats of of the Balsa Fillercoat Primer. It leaves a very smooth "velvety" finish on the wood, sealing the finer grain but not doing much to fill the larger grain lines.

Next we apply 2-4 coats of good ol' sanding sealer, sanding between each coat until when held up to the light, you can no longer see any significant grain.

OK, the messy, tedious part is over. Now we want to prep the balsa main body tube for the primer coat. As you can see in the above pictures we want to mask the edges of the balsa pieces that will be a glueing surface. If we don't do this, the primer coat will prevent a strong glue joint between the balsa piece and the paper body tube.

Then we mask off the main body tube in a similar way using the lines we marked in step 6. Only mask off the length of each particular joint. This may seem like strong joints are one of the keys to clean liftoffs and damage free landings.

Finally, mask off the rear of the engine mount to keep it from getting primer and paint inside the mount which would cause the motors fit to be too tight.