JeffH

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I am refinishing a Hansen Dalotel that I got from fellow RCUer, hrrcflyer. It has a foam turtledeck that has wood stringers inlaid int he wood to give something for the covering to stick to. I peeled that off and found that it was silkspun Coverite. GREAT, this will be a quick and easy strip job. WRONG!!! Only the turtledeck was covered. The rest of the fuse was sealed with something then painted. I have always believed in tissue, cloth, etc with dope or resin was the only way to truly seal balsa and keep the grain from showing. Obviously I am wrong. The original builder used something on this place that did a perfect job of keeping the grain hidden for the last 25 years.
It was a very light grey that sands like dust. and then K&B primer then the topcoat of paint. I am still not sure what the paint was. It was not K&B, but it was quite fuel resistant, not fuel proof like K&B, but it sanded easy unlike most enamels or polyurethanes of the day.

What are the opinions and methods on sealing the wood without a cloth/tissue/veil layer?

R_G

My Feedback: (1)

Sounds like the filler could have been [link=http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=171]Feather Fill[/link]. It fills very well and is very easy to sand. It's also light grey in color.

RG

dphill2

My Feedback: (1)

Jeff,
I used K&B super epoxy Primer mixed with micro balloons and painted it on with a brush. It does not look very good when brushed on but sands like chalk and does a good job of sealing and filling the grain. Most of the primer is sanded off and makes a very lite finish.
After the primer is sanded I spray the finish coat as you would on any paint job..
K&B is no longer selling paint but Klass Kote is very similar to K&B..

Dave..

countilaw

I have in the pass sealed the wood with dope or K&B super poxy clear. Then brushed on several coats of grey automotive primer. It sanded to dust very easily and filled all the wood grain. Then a primer coat of Super Poxy primer and paint. Later years I moved from K&B Super Poxy to automotive polyeurathanes (Base coat, Clear coat). I have not used silk span or silk on wood structures for years.

Frank

JeffH

My Feedback: (43)

Maybe I will try these methods on some scrap. I have several cans of K&B Primer left. I just worry that the grain will eventually show through, even though whatever method was used orginally worked great.
Of course being a slabe sided fuse, I may just glass it and be done with it.

MTK

Jeff,

The epoxy paints shrink very little, but do shrink over a year's time. Grain might show through. But that's also true for glassing with clear epoxy paint too...the glass may show through after several months, unless the finish was made rather thick. Thick finishes are heavy of course and sorta defeat the purpose of an Pattern model.

About the only material one can use keeping things extremely thin and light is silkspan or esaki tissue. I've found paper finishes tend to be amorphous and without grain for years and 1000's of flights. Not for the faint of heart or for those that just bang things around in the shop tho. It's likely impossible to get "Thin and Tuff and Cheap" tocollide in the same sentence and still produce a great painted finish

JeffH

My Feedback: (43)

I know all about "thin, tough and cheap". It is a bit like having a Cheap, Fast, Durable: Drag car. You can have any two, but not all three.
I was thinking abuot going the control line stunt method of soping carbon veil, but the onoy place that I can find unsized veil wants as much to ship it as it costs for 3 yards.
So it looks like it will silk span, and probably a touch of real silk across the turtle deck since that is open structure and silkspan will puncture if you look at it funny. Then I will break out some K&B paint and smile in the fumes...[&:]

MTK

Jeff, if you have the silk, that will obviously work. If you need to buy it, let me suggest rather than silk, go with Polyspan lite. It similar to silkspan but it is made of polyester fibers which shrink with heat. You apply it the same as silkspan. It is very tough material and has no grain and is very lightweight. Fills quicker than silk.

Carbon veil is fragile and takes time to form around curves. It will form okay, but the fibers must loosen first. Onceit is applied it isn't particularly tough and will ding easily.Takes more dope to fill too. However, the stiffness it produces in unmatched. That's the reason why CL Stunt guys use it on their very lightweight structures. Veil first, silkspan or esaki tissue on top

I finished one plane with it and it didn't come out any better, lighter, than with silkspan (but it was definitely stiffer). Now, I use it under skins rather than over skins to get the stiffness, and still use silkspan and esaki on top

ACP has veil at what I think is reasonable pricing.