chaos79

Hey everyone, im a long time lurker here, but a new 'official' member and very new to posting... lol
I have built and covered quite a few aircraft, but all of my covering experience is with the plastic film type of covering... Ihave a Sig Kougar that Im building and contemplating on finnishing it with fiberglass, but have a few questions. Ive trolled over youtube and a few other sources and got quite a few techniques and tips from there, but what nobody really goes over there is the overlapping issue. Just not sure where I should make my overlaps with the glass fiber, and how much of an overlap to make... Should i do the entire wing wrapped with one pice of glass overlapping slightly on the trailing edge of the wing? Or do it in two sections; bottom and top... When Ido that with monocoat, i generally make a small overlap about an inch back from the L.E of the wing, and then again right on the trailing edge.

Any suggestions on sequences for glassing the fuse or tail section would also be appreciated....

Any advice to these questions, and any other tips, tricks, links or videos you can suggest would be very appreciated! Istill have a little while before I actually come to that point, but I like to research things, and think things through quite thoroughly before Ieven think about trying.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions


Oh, also one other question... slightly unrelated, but any suggestions on engines would be great too.... in an ideal world I would be putting an O.S. .46 AX, but those O.S. engines have seemed to become VERYexpensive latley... Any recomendations towards more cost efficiant engines would be great...

Thanks once again

Crash Campbell

Hi,

Here is a link to the relevant section in Paul's most helpful site which will tell you all you need to know about fiberglassing and sanding and filling and sanding and filling and sanding, sanding sanding.......and virtually everything to do with building and setting up a model.

http://airfieldmodels.com/informatio...nish/index.htm

With regards to the motor if you don't wish to shell out the $s for an OS I would suggest a ST or Thunder Tiger.

Cheers,

Colin

chaos79

Thanks a lot for the reference to that site!  Many good tips!

And yah, Thundertiger is my #2 as well...   Maybe I'll just have to wait that extra bit and go with the O.S. tho... I dont know... we'll have to see... Ive always just loved the way all my other O.S. engines have performed time and time again...

Any other suggestions are still welcome as well!

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

You won't be disappointed with the Thunder Tiger

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

You do glass like covering, the bottom first. Because you sand off the over lap instead of cutting it I like to leave about an inch or so to hang over. I sand it off at a straight edge like the TE. It doesn't need to go completely over and flush because you have so much of the resin or whatever you are using already over the wood. I use the Deft Sanding Lacquer myself, it lays down nice and smooth and is a very hard finish, sands a lot smoother then the resins or epoxy types. The last coat or two I mix 50/50 with talc or baby powder just to make sure all the weave is filled. It pretty much all sands off, just fills any weave showing. Any over lap I get like on the LE sands smooth and is never seen. Any added weight I get is from the paint. Painting can add a ton so you have to watch it.

blueapplepaste

My Feedback: (5)

Get a Thunder Tiger .46 Pro - you won't be disappointed. They can be had at Tower for under $100.

I have the .40 Pro, and its been a GREAT engine, holds a tune, easy to start, idles for days, etc etc.

ARUP

There is a product by Ontario Adhesives called EZCote which is a water based (cleanup with water) finishing epoxy resin. It cures with UV light. I bought but have not used it yet. There is a positive review on RCScalebuilder.

yukonpete

My Feedback: (4)

Get an ASP engine from hobby king! Really good engines and very cheap! http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_index.asp

Tony Hallo

Their web site has no mention of UV light, the product description simply states light. I allways wanted to work as fast as the dentist? Did you purchase a UV light source? How much and from whom?
Thanks

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Grey Beard, do you use Deft to lay down the cloth also?

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Yes, I first give the plane two coats of sanding sealer then sand then use the Deft Sanding Lacquer to lay down the glass. It usually takes about three coats of the Deft and it looks really good, then I mix a batch with 50/50 baby powder just to fill in any weave that may be showing then sand smooth. If any weave is showing then I just give it another shot of the witches brew and sand again. Usually it is all filled in with the first coat. The sanding sealer just keeps the Deft from soaking into the wood. Beware, you REALLY should do this in an open area. The fumes from the deft really are strong!! The finish I get with it is outstanding!!! Plus I can get everything I need down the street at Lowe's. Except the glass itself!!

chaos79

thanks for all the great advice and points of view from everybody!  its been great!

Another question... I was planning on just using one coat of finishing epoxy resin with the cloth, using the 'roll on and squeegee through' method' and was going to use some form of high build epoxy primer to build it up and fill the weave, using a filler to fix up any low spots or real badly showing weave...  followed by another light coat of epoxy primer and then paint ontop of that.... Im thinking it would be lighter...   any takes on this method? 

ok, ok... i had 2 questions... lol  the second being... i'm having a hard time locating a good supply of 1/2 oz glass cloth... would .75 weight be too heavy?  seen some guys using it just not sure if it would be acceptable for a smaller model like this one (kougar mk2)

Can anyone vouch for "ASP" engines?   any experiences good or bad would be appreciated

Thanks again!

CafeenMan

0.75 cloth will be fine. Last time I checked, Aerospace Composites sold 0.5 ounce cloth.

http://www.acp-composites.com/home.php

chaos79

awesome!  Thanks for that link... ordered me 5 yards of the .5 cloth earlier today!   kind of afraid to see what the shipping is going to be to canada, but oh well... not many choices out there for suppliers either... My boss thanks you as well (he placed the order for me through my work)  he may make a few orders from them as well!  (I work in aircraft maintenance)  They have lots of good products!

chaos79

Oh, one more question!  (for now anyways....LOL)

I have some bondo fiberglass resin (the greenish stuff) and i have some 4 hour slow setting epoxy... would either of these be acceptable for my application?  or should i go and get some of the actual 'finishing' epoxy resin?

If either of these would work I would like to use them, but i dont want to my work quality to suffer because of materials either....  any opinions appreciated

mred33

Don't use regular epoxy or any bondo with a filler added for putting the cloth on. The finish resin is thin and goes through the weave very nice and bonds great. I put a coat on with a roller or acid brush and use a piece of balsa to spread it out more and then use toilet paper to poll over it and soak up as much as I can on the first coat. You are bonding the fiberglass to the wood, not filling it. After it sets, sand it down a little but be careful that you don't sand through the glass cloth. Roll the toilet paper in the direction that it does not unroll. Take that part off and do it again until you get almost nothing. When the paper comes off almost dry, your done for now. After that just put a coat on and spread it out good with a piece of balsa again and get as much extra off as you can. Let that set and then sand it again. If the weave is still showing it is time to fill it with a good lite filler. Any over lap can be sanded out on the first sanding, but be careful that you don't sand through the wrong place and sand off the first payer. I don't overlap much, just enough to make sure it is all covered. Lots of luck with your finish and don't forget, it takes a lot of sanding to make it look good. Done right, it looks great and isn't that heavy. Done wrong and it adds a ton us weight. You can also use MinWax urethane clear to apply the glass cloth and as a second coat. Then fill it as needed.

When you paint, I use an airbrush to paint with. A simple single action brush is good most of the time, but a double action is great for fine detail work. I have seen some masterpieces done that way, Wish I could do them like that.

Ed

ARUP

The developers (Ontario Adhesives) say light from outdoors (but you could buy a UV lamp if desired or put your airplane parts to be cured in the tanning bed!). Further inquiry by a reviewer on RCScalebuilder -the crosslinking was found to be activated by UV wavelengths. Makes sense at least for the packaging. The product (EZ-Cote) is a white, milky liquid in a clear plastic bottle, probably(?) Pet G, which has resistance to UV exposure. I am eager to try it but haven't. I have the product in hand. There is a demo on Youtube. It seems to be very user friendly. Hope this helps!

mred33

The developers (Ontario Adhesives) say light from outdoors (but you could buy a UV lamp if desired or put your airplane parts to be cured in the tanning bed!). Further inquiry by a reviewer on RCScalebuilder -the crosslinking was found to be activated by UV wavelengths. Makes sense at least for the packaging. The product (EZ-Cote) is a white, milky liquid in a clear plastic bottle, probably(?) Pet G, which has resistance to UV exposure. I am eager to try it but haven't. I have the product in hand. There is a demo on Youtube. It seems to be very user friendly. Hope this helps!
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Isaw a glue on TVthat sets up with UVlight, but never heard of this paint. I would be interested in trying it. Have any idea where it can be found? Lowes, Home Depot?? Great to have a new paint to play with and maybe change over to it if it works out right.

Ed

ccrebidoux

My Feedback: (3)

Eze-Kote crosslinks with UV light from EITHER indoor or outdoor light. Once dry it is compatible with all paints & fuels.