prgonzalez

Hi everyone,

I am building this kit and I am at the point of building the cowl and wheel pants. I have the ABS parts sanded and fitted ready for glue. GP recommends using CA to glue the parts. I have built another cowl using CA and fiber-glass cloth re-inforcement inside. However, I believe the final result was a heavy cowl. Since, always the next plane should be better than the previous, I want to hear what other builders have experience with so I can improve this model.

Questions I have:

1. Are there other glues that provide better results than CA for glueing the parts together?
2. Is thin CA the way to go or ABS/PVC adhesive a better option for glueing the fiber-cloth inside?

Thanks
Pedro

Live Wire

That is the first thing to hit the ground don't worry about it

fredscz

My Feedback: (47)

Pedro, I don't know if it's better but I have used pvc cement to glue fiberglass cloth to the inside of abs/plastic cowls. It worked just fine. I always buy the smallest container I can because it dries out quickly after opening the container.
Fred

prgonzalez

Certainly true. However, I follow the recommendation of build to fly, not to crash.

prgonzalez

Good, I was considering it instead of thin CA.

Live Wire

I forget with todays plane you never can tell Might be the tail

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have always used plastic model cement then use A pair of my wifes old nylons on the inside and glued that down with finishing epoxy. So far no cracks or splits over the years.

prgonzalez

I pass that one...I don't do 3D.

prgonzalez

A pair of old nylons...what a neat idea, very light.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

I've done the PVC treatment also. Worked fine and made a strong cowl. You can always use lighter glass material. I believe mine was 4oz cloth, and that one would have been a little heavy by your standards I suppose. Some 2oz or 1oz cloth might fit your needs. Be carefull applying that PVC glue, it wicked up pretty quick on mine. I've tried the ca treatment before and wasnt real happy with the long term durability. Could be the surface wasnt as clean as it needed to be when the ca was applied. The pvc didnt seem to care.
Edwin

Charlie P.

I have reenforced cowls with finishing epoxy and coffee-filter paper (unused ;-) ). Lighter than fiberglass. Probably would not do as well for wheel pants.

I masking tape the outside of the pieces together, stripe/epoxy the inside (with eigher 3/4 oz glass or the filter paper), then remove the tape in the outside and epoxy the seam carefully. I finish up with modeling putty to fill the seam and fine sand the putty.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

I use a credit card. I call an after market fiberglass cowl company and order one. ITs quick and easy.

prgonzalez

Do you mean you do not use any ABS strap to join both cowl halves?

So, the halves are kept together by the fiberglass/filter paper in the interior. Is the epoxy hard enough to resist the folding of the halves is there is no strap to join them?

Or is it that I did not understand that part?

prgonzalez

I considered that option. After calling around, I considered the pre-fab cowl pricy for its size. However, I understand that it takes so many man-hours to produce one.

alpinestar

If you're set on using the ABS, I like the PVC glue approach. After many many builds I have realized that a fiberglass cowl (stan's or fiberglass specialties) is money well spent given the total time & effort put into a quality build. (got one on my Cap-232 which is for sale in the classifieds section).

prgonzalez

Okay, you got me thinking about it ... Thanks for sharing your experience.

ilikestuff_2

JUNK IT AND BUY FIBER GLASS

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

One of the best things I have found (Think about it and you'll probably agree) are those fabric softener sheets that you throw in the dryer.

After they have been used, all of the softener is gone and you are left with a thin sheet of pourous fabric that is almost impossible to tear. A little CA holds it on great.

prgonzalez

Wow. This is what I like about RCU. There are good contributors with great ideas willing to share their experiences.

I know which sheets you talk about. My wife uses them too. I will check them out and compare it with 3/4 oz fiberglass cloth.

Now the glue. We have CA, PVC cement, and finishing epoxy. Which one would hold good and is lighter?

Pedro

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Epoxy does NOT stick well to PVC.

I don't know how well PVC glue would stick to anything other than PVC.

I would use CA

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

And your plane will smell fresh as mountain air!!!!

Sorry, couldnt resist. <g> Actually, that doesnt sound like a bad idea for cheap hinges too on smaller planes.

I can say without a doubt that pvc glue (the pipe glue from the hardware store) works great with fiberglass cloth on abs plastic. You DO have to be mindfull how much you dab on it though, it does generate a little heat. My abs was fairly thick as cowls go. If its pretty thin stuff, I'd be a little leary about going the pvc glue route. Would have to test it first to see if it would melt thinner abs. The cowl thickness that you normally see on most kits now days (my most recent- BUSA 1/4 J3) would work fine. I'm building a 1/4 J3 and L4 and will use the abs plastic with pvc glue and 2oz cloth to assemble them. A little evergreen bondo and it'll look perfect when done.
Edwin

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Minn, I don't bother with the ABS anymore, I go straight to the glass but back in the olden days I found that if you used acetone inside the ABS first then rough sand, the epoxy stuck very well. I have A few of my old planes still out there flying and the cowls are still in one piece.
Not too surprised about the cowls but I am surprised about the planes.

prgonzalez

After trying twice with finish epoxy, I gave up. I did a huge mess and the fiber-glass cloth was not sticking in the cowl.

So, I went strainght to HD and bought PVC cement $3.49. It worked easy and clean. So, I finally used 3/4 oz fiberglass cloth with PVC cement. The laundry stuff was not ready because my wife didn't have any used. So, that technique is for the next model. 24-Hours later (today) the cowl is ready and completely dry. So, one step further in the construction.

Thanks everyone for your input. I learned some good tips from this.

Pedro