With all the panels built, I moved right on to staining and finishing. I am using Captain's Varnish from Petit that I got from a boat building supply company called Jamestown Distributors. I used Red Mahogany filler paste stain on the mahogany plywood, but I have to mask off the light-colored poplar trim first. Multiple coats of varnish have a nice amber warm color on the light poplar trim. I have to sand the finish after each application which took an hour to sand and prep and another hour or so to varnish. During the one week I spent doing the last 5 panels I was able to put on a coat each day. I first built a sample panel out of scrap and tested the finishes and stain on that. Then I did two panels first which I learned a lot on.
First two panels stained with about 2 coats of varnish.
The previous panels didn't have any braces for the panels to attach to that I could find in my box of parts or photos of the dis-assembly so I researched others who had done wood side panels like in the 108-2 and 108-3 model Stinsons and saw that they use wood braces on the side walls in the rear cabin to attach to. I got the dimensions of these braces from Dave Miller's Stinson page (his drawings were the start of these wood panels). Below is a photo of one side I installed (did both sides). I had to make the aluminum straps myself out of scrap aluminum because there was nothing I could find that did the job. The Stinson "J" clips were not the right size for the tubing or did not have enough of a tab to screw something to it. I made the braces/brackets out of spruce wood that I had.
Here are the remainder of all the panels that needed to be done. My maskin- on these panels went much better with no bleed-throughs at the corners with the green frog tape. In the door panel photo below, the top part of the panel with the slot on it will be covered with a vinyl piece.
Here's an interesting shot of a stain only rear side panel, and the opposite panel that has 3 coats of varnish. You can clearly see that the varnish finish gives the light color wood a nice warm amber color and really makes the wood grain pop. This panel still gets 2 more coats of varnish.
Here's a close up of the two surfaces.
Here's all the rest of the interior panels just stained.
These are the kick panels near the rudder pedals. The part below the long light-colored trim will be covered with carpeting or I may have to trim this shorter and just use carpeting to connect to the floorboard sides up by the rudder pedals.
Here's the interior cabin panels finished. They have 7 coats of Captain's varnish on poplar trim and luan mahogany 1/8" plywood stained with red mahogany paste filler stain. The finish is not perfect--there are still some small imperfections and stuff in some of the finish. I could polish these off later. I put them on the airplane today to see how they all look. I still need to make 2 triangular shaped panels for under the doors which will be covered with carpeting. All bottom parts of the panels are also covered with carpeting.
Note the reflection in the side panel of the back panel. This is the mirror effect I was looking for as well as finish "depth". The photos don't do it service, but in person they look really good. I worry that the panel's finish will cause light to reflect around the cabin. We'll see. I have some hardware to start attaching the panels to the airframe and each other (the back is attached to both of the rear cabin side pieces). I need to get some rivnuts and a rivnut tool to fit and attach the door panels to the doors. I really can't finish attaching the door panels to the doors until the doors are painted with the finish coat.
Spent 3.5 hours in the shop today installing the carpeting on the rear cabin panels. See the below photos for the results which really look great. Before I could begin, I had to coat the back of all the panels with a lacquer or clear coat. Then I had to rivet on some aluminum channels to hold the top of the carpeting under the bottom light-colored trim. This aluminum trim is shinny and is actually for installing vanity mirrors in bathrooms. I got it from a glass company. I used rivets to attach these channels. Then I got the carpet roll out which we purchased with the rest of the cabin carpeting. It is just over a yard. I measured what we needed and estimated that we would have enough for the rear panels, side panels under the doors, and at the bottom of the kick panels by the rudder pedals.
The carpeting has a foam backer on it and for the carpeting to fit into the aluminum channel I had to remove about 3/4" foam strip for it to fit. I did the rear panel first and found that totally spraying the back of the carpet and then the area for it to stick to and THEN insert in the channel was nearly impossible. Thereafter I first sprayed just the part of the carpet that goes into the channel and inserted it and held it in place until the adhesive dried and held, then I folded the carpet piece back and sprayed both, waited for it to tack-up and then rolled it together for a strong bond. I also made a cardboard template of the carpeting I would need for the sides so I cut accurately. Lastly I installed it all and it looks great.
In this photo you can see the template I made for the side panels, the 3M 77 adhesive, green utility blade, carpet and straight edge.
Side panel with bottom carpet without the adhesive on it yet. Note the holes drilled for the side panel mounting hardware. I think I will also add one more holding point near the door jamb, but I have to make an aluminum attach bracket for that so I don't drill into the fuselage frame door frame.
During the past week I applied 7 coats of varnish to all the interior wood panels including the doors and front kick panels (not shown). I also cut and made panels for the carpeting to attach to under the door sills. I also drilled and attached all the rear panels with stainless steel screws and finish washers. I screwed the hardware into "T" nuts on the wood braces I made. I prepped the below photos by vacuuming up all the sawdust on the carpet and getting the stuff out of the plane so you can see the finished results. It looks very impressive and conveys the "woody station wagon" feel I wanted. I just have enough carpet to put on the bottom of the front kick panels.The white in the middle rear is the seat belt anchor which we will later paint with the red airplane paint along with the knee crossbar holders poking through the side wall panels. This is just how I imagined I wanted it to look when I first thought I wanted wood "Station Wagon" interior panels.
I made a tab on one side that slips behind the rear side panel. Both of these side panels under the door sill will be attached with at least one screw into a "J" clip to the frame. There is actually a seam in the carpet you can't see between the rear cabin side panel and the small trapezoidal shaped piece under the door sill. I made these seams very tight but they are actually 2 separate pieces of carpet and backing.
I trimmed the floor rear carpet to go around the battery box and I have dropped into place (not screwed down) the polished rear cabin heater vent grill on the floor. I can't attach the wood panels on the back of the oleo strut cover until I paint it. Notice the reflection of the grill in the side panel! I also need to paint the fuselage support piece between the seats with the final red color.
I put one of the seat frames in place to see how it all looked and what would eventually be covered by the seat.
Nice view of the seat, battery box and heater vent grill.
Now I'm working on installing the headliner which already proves to be difficult. I have to make a couple more wood pieces (1/2" x 1/2") for the headliner to staple to in the ceiling and rear cabin. I have to work carefully here to get it to fit just right so I'm not rushing this part.
