astronomer1

I am in the process of covering the FOAM WING of a new ACE WHIZARD 1/2A kit that is now made in China. I don't know what the foam wings are made of. IE: EPP(Expanded Poly Propylene) spell?, EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), or for that matter some other foam material. I think that the original Whizard's wings were EPS.

The reasons I want to know about the material include the following: Heat tolerance (for selecting various covering materials), Adhesive resistance (old style 3M77, Epoxy, CA, Kicker, etc.), Paint resistance, Hi-Nitro 25% glow fuel. and Various other Adhesives and anything else one can think of like Strapping tape & Packing tape that may get on the surface.

I could probably go through an extensive test program of a bunch of materials listed above but would rather be flying. If I had a sample piece of the the latest Chinese foam wings from someone's unfortunate crash, I would be willing to experiment. I want to keep things simple with a minimum of time and $$$ investment in my undertaking.

I hope that some of you fellows who read this post can relay some empirical information on to me about foam wings....

One last thing. This kit, like I said, is made in China and is of very good quality like a lot of other products from the Far East. A lot of good stuff is coming out of China so let's not be too prejudice. Japan went through a similar image process. Main difference is that Japan started from WWII ashes and had no World Wide Web (WWW.), or Sam Wall and a lot of other retailer's to help enable their efforts.

Just a "Rant". Don't mean to step on any toes or get evicted from this forum. Don't let this keep you from passing on some information.

Regards, Astronomer Bob

kenh3497

One of the guys in our club is covering a blue foam wind with old panty hose and epoxy. I know this doesn't help you much, but may be a viable solution. 1/2 oz glass cloth may work also. Sand the foam well for a smooth surface first.

Ken