Posted for "Bryan J. Burr" <bjburr@mwheli.com>:

 Craig,
 Having had exactly the same experience with my ES I applied and sanded off
 hundreds of dollars of filler/primer and left it laying on the floor.  Only
 to have the painter do it all over again anyway.  My serious recommendation
 is to save yourself some money and have a painter come in and prep and prime
 the bottom for you.  If I ever do another airplane I will not even touch the
 body work. I will only sand off the roughest edges and seam joints. To me it
 was hundreds of wasted hours and material.  I think that if you give each
 component to the painter as it is completed it gets done over time and
 spreads the cost and enormity of the body work / painting project out over a
 manageable timeframe.
 
 My .02 and dang well worth it!!!
 
 Bryan
 N132BB