sahartman21

The finishing epoxy was cured a few hours later.

Verify the finishing epoxy is hard before removing the peel ply. It was removed by pulling the fabric off the wing.

After removing the peel ply the edges were trimmed with a sanding block. The surface of the wing was lightly sanded with 220 grit sand paper on a block.

Two of the 4 wings are now glassed.

sahartman21

Today I glassed a couple more Q500 wings.

These are strong enough for 426 or 428 classes and are also legal for 424 racing.

It was relatively cold in the garage so an electric blanket was placed over the cores to speed up drying.

paof

thanks very much nice job

sahartman21

Racing season is just around the corner so it is time to finish these up.

The aileron torque rods were based upon Dubro's Heavy Duty E/Z Adjust Strip Horn Set (Cat No. 558). It was cut and bent to shape.

The grove was filled with a mixture of finishing epoxy and micro-balloons. I raised the trailing edge to level out the surface.

sahartman21

Ailerons were added to the other wings in the same way.

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A scrapper blade was used to remove the excess micro-balloon mix from the wing.

sahartman21

The four wings weighed between 15.9 and 16.9 ounces each.

These are fiberglassed and are ready to prime and finish with the paint of your choice.

sahartman21

Some finishing epoxy was mixed and applied at the hinge line. Any excess was removed from the surface.

The purpose is to provide a protective barrier over the exposed foam.

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Some surface filler was made from some spackle and water. The desired thickness is about like thin mayonnaise.

This is rubbed into the fiberglass cloth to fill in the pores.

This is set out of the way to dry.

sahartman21

The wings were sanded with a sanding block (150 and 220 grit paper) to remove the majority of the spackle.

The intent is to leave the fill in the pores and remove the rest.

sahartman21

The wind calmed down so this evening the wings were primed outside.

White KlassKote was used used as it works well with all the paints that I use. I mixed about 3 ounce per wing. This was thinned one-to-one with lacquer thinner.

sahartman21

No, you haven't seen a ghost.

The wings were lightly sprayed with white primer.

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The wings were lightly sanded with 400 grit sandpaper used dry.

sahartman21

This morning the red base coat was applied to my wings.

I mixed some acrylic enamel paint that I got from TCP Global.

I added approximately 25% reducer to the mixed paint to make it suitable for spraying.

An inexpensive spray gun was purchased from Harbor Freight. It is now well used.

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The wings were sprayed and placed out of the way to dry.

sahartman21

I wet sanded the surface of the wing to remove any dust and imperfections that were in the finish.

A cloth was used to dry the surface of the wing.

sahartman21

A stencil was applied to the wing and the rest was masked off.

Any area that is not masked off will likely get overspray.

sahartman21

I used a rattle can to spray the stripes and stencil.

Lightly spray a coat. Let it dry. Then apply more coats to cover.

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A few minutes after spraying the surface is dry to the touch.

I removed the masking tape and stencil and let the paint continue to dry.

sahartman21

After a weekend of rain, snow, and wind Monday was much better for painting.

I mixed about 4 ounces of clear coat. It was thinned out 30% and filtered prior to spraying.

Several light coats were applied and the wing was set out of the way to dry.

sahartman21

The wing was very lightly wet sanded with 2000 grit wet and dry paper used wet.

I followed by buffing with polishing compound and a coat of wax.

sahartman21

The aileron hinge line was freed up by running a cutoff wheel across the internal fiberglass cloth.

Ailerons were later cut free and covers were added.

sahartman21

A small amount of lead was added to the left wing to counterbalance the weight of the engine.

I've found that this can be approximated by moving a balance line approximately 5/8" to the left of center.

Add lead and a mix of micro balloons and finishing epoxy until the wing balances at the new point.

sahartman21

Here is a picture of the polished model.

Engine and radio installation remain.

sahartman21

The Sam-Rai model was completed and is ready to fly.

I am in the process of finishing a couple as Seekers: