The one frame I painted, I had someone else blast it, and I flat out can't remember who applied it, but I used the Stits Two Part Epoxy primer, as I planned on using the Stits system on the Sonerai IIL that I never finished.
It will be super hard and time consuming to hand prep a previously welded fuselage. Some ideas: FIRST and FOREMOST, degrease, using whatever means necessary. THEN, I would try a coarse "Scotchbrite" pad wrapped around the tubes and scrubbed. Use a "bristle wheel" or "bristle disk" on the clusters. Apply self-etching primer (NAPA Martin Senour has one, there are others, and top with Rustoleum, BOTH from a quart can. You can use a painters mitten on the tubes, or a tube roller, a better class of paint store will have either. Use a WATER BASED adhesive when fabric covering to avoid lifting the paint. It will probably look like you painted it with a mop, but the metal will be protected.
Wouldn't it be easier to have someone else blast and paint it, now that you've read that? Even in rural Canada, there MUST be a body shop within an hour's drive, eh?
