Here is the left side after the final shrinking to 350 degrees:
Here is the right side:
The area for the map lights is shown here. To keep the fabric from pulling when we cut the holes in it, we did an old trick that Mickey knew. Before installing the headliner fabric, the aluminum mounting brackets were coated with two coats of Poly Tak and allowed to dry thoroughly. After the covering and shrinking was done, we mixed 1 part MEK with 1 part Poly Tak and thoroughly wetted the fabric over the aluminum bracket until the Poly Tak previously spread on reactivated. After drying, the fabric was attached to the bracket.
The holes were then cut out as shown here:
The wires are for the map light and the rear seat headphone jacks.
Here is what it looks like after 6 days of work:
Now its time to turn it all pink. Poly Brush is used to fill the weave and is, as the name implies, brushed on (for the first coat anyway).
I got to thinking about laying on my back under the plane, trying to brush on the Poly Brush and having it running down my arms and into my armpits. That didn't seem like much fun, so I decided it was time to take off the landing gear and put the fuselage on the rotisserie that we used for welding it up and priming it.
Here I am starting to brush the Poly Brush on the ceiling in the cockpit
area:
Notice its going on shiny. Done correctly, you will see runs on
the back side.
Here is the fuselage with the first coat of Poly Brush applied and dried:
Pretty in Pink
Here is the vertical fin:
As you can see, there are runs on the inside of the fabric.
Click here to go to Fabric Covering page 6