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Joined: 11/22/2003 From: arlington,
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Thanks Robert. I think this blue foam is one way to get there, but built up balsa wont have the finishing hassles. Developing the patterns for balsa sheet fillets would be a real test of skill and patience! Ironing film directly to the foam doesn't hold up over the long haul, glassing over foam has its' own drawbacks. It is so easy to shape that the temptation to use it is irrestible.
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Is Model Magic Filler light weight spackle? If it is, I would use it for "finger wipe" size fillets but I think it would take too much and be too heavy to either form a canopy or build up these big, flaring type fillets? These wing saddle fillets would use up a pint size tub of spackle. The other problem is everything that is saturated in CA gets very hard and doesn't want to sand at the same rate as the softer wood, so feathering is a chore. This Red Devil lightweight spackle is pretty easy to feather out into the balsa and is a decent base for iron on covering after being coated with BalsaRight.
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Joined: 9/5/2006 From: Mayking,
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Something that I have not tried, but sounds like a mild possibility, would be to "paper mache" with thin brown paper bag and thinned wood glue over your fillets? It would be sandable and would seem to hold monokote much better than the foam. Just a thought anyways! Looks great so far.
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Yeah, it's lightweight spackle. I've used it for fillets on a US40 before. The trick is to get it all sanded and shaped before you hit with the CA. Get it where you want it, coat it with CA, and then just hit it lightly with sandpaper to do a final smoothing. It probably wouldn't be good for a canopy, but it's great for fillets.
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r2c, dt, one of these days I need to take the time to try ideas like yours out on the side, THEN utilize those techniques on the model instead of my usual M.O. which has been to experiment on the actual model. The master modeling books I've looked at are geared for large planes where weight isn't as much a big deal as it is here.
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What about some of the old time model plans that call out for fillets made out of leather? of course that was probably back when cars had fan belts made of leather and the engines didn't come with oil pumps.
< Message edited by combatpigg -- 5/22/2008 2:35:40 AM >
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quote:
ORIGINAL: digital_trucker
Of course, the easiest way to go is to omit the fillets and declare it 'sport scale'
True enough. The Ace simple series planes always looked good to me nut I gotta tell you that such a minor addition can really add a heap load of character to a plane when you are close enough to touch it!
CP, I never tried leather but it was still used well into the seventies by many a modeler. The main attraction of the leather was that it was very pliable and conformed to the airfoil shape in one piece. Imagine a piece of triangle stock balsa that had been rounded on the long side of the angle. that would be the cross section of the leather fillet material. Come to think of it, If you were to use some really light triangle stock and sanded the long side with a rounded sander, such as a rod or tube with abrasive paper wrapped around it you could then soak it in ammonia or steam it and it should conform to the wing saddle area quite easily. It certainly would be lighter than leather. More appropriate for the smaller models like ours.
Another idea is to mix the lightweight spackling with micro balloons and it would be lighter and sand easily. Add to this the fact that you can use a rubber ball or your finger to gain most of the shaping and viola! pretty and lightweight fillets!
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Robert, if your LHS has a good supply of tri-stock, you can pick out the lightest pieces for fillet material. Some of the Sig stuff is surprisingly light. Kerf it along its' length to make it conform to the airfoil, don't worry if you crack it. I rough shape it with 60-80 grit wrapped around something round, then spackle all the kerfs, voids, etc. To get a perfect fit to the wing, mask the top of the wing off with clear tape and butter the bottom of the saddles with your favorite mud-like substance [I use Bondo, it doesn't take much], then bolt the wing and fuselage together.
< Message edited by combatpigg -- 5/22/2008 5:01:19 AM >
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Joined: 4/27/2003 From: SydneyNSW, AUSTRALIA Status: offline
Here's another option, these fillets were formed from thin cardboard sheet. I cut them to shape, pin in place, then glue on with white PVA wood adhesive. Once tissued and doped they are very strong, but, weigh very little. Very fast to make, I like fast. More than one way to skin a cat, isn't there....John
< Message edited by vauxhall -- 5/22/2008 6:03:57 AM >
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John, those look very nice. Are you talking about material like file folders? I think Sig used to sell something called Rhino Hide? It was a heavy paper you could form into fillets. The bomber didn't get much done to it today, just a couple coats of WBPU on the foam, the nose and nacelles. The grain of the balsa on the nacelles would not sand out, so the poly-u helps raise the broken grain and lock it in place for final sanding. The trick I've learned is to not sand between coats, just let a couple of coats do their magic, then knock the bumps down with 220 grit.
< Message edited by combatpigg -- 5/22/2008 6:30:23 AM >
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Joined: 4/27/2003 From: SydneyNSW, AUSTRALIA Status: offline
Yes CP, old folder files would be great, exercise book covers etc. The glossy on one side stuff means less finishing. Your latest project looks really good, nice plane to model........John
< Message edited by vauxhall -- 5/22/2008 8:09:01 AM >
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RE: TWIN FEVER !!! - 
