Ailerons when glassing a wing?
03-02-2012, 04:38 PM
#1
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Ailerons when glassing a wing?
What do you do with the ailerons and flaps when you glass a wing? Iam going to glass the P-51 wing when its ready and am going to paint it with automotive paint, so what do I do with the flaps and Ailerons?
03-03-2012, 07:16 AM
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RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
Hi!
Most of the time you paint or cover with plastic film, all parts individually! There are exceptions to this though! Like on pylonracers where elevator,rudder and ailerons can be painted after they have been hinged in place!
Most of the time you paint or cover with plastic film, all parts individually! There are exceptions to this though! Like on pylonracers where elevator,rudder and ailerons can be painted after they have been hinged in place!
03-04-2012, 06:35 AM
#4
Thread Starter
RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
So to get the finish to match, what do I use to make the ailerons smooth like the glass will be? If I just paint the wood the grain will show through. Since the flaps were built with the wing as one piece, I should be able to glass those parts, then they will be the same thickness as the wing.
03-05-2012, 01:32 PM
#5
RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
I paint the edges of the control surface and the matching part, wing, stab, whatever first. I have premade wood parts that matches the hinge I'm using. Short dowels for hinge points and 1/64 ply for other hinges. I use my temp "hinges" to hold the control surface in place while I then proceed to paint the rest of the plane. If you don't have any color changes you could just leave a gap and paint with out prepainting the edges first.
Ken
Ken
03-07-2012, 09:50 AM
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RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
Hi!
The best way of making a wooden surface smooth and durable is to cover it with 25g glassfiber weave and 24 epoxy (not the glue variety)!
Then using 2-part automotive paint, sprayed on!
The best way of making a wooden surface smooth and durable is to cover it with 25g glassfiber weave and 24 epoxy (not the glue variety)!
Then using 2-part automotive paint, sprayed on!
03-07-2012, 10:43 AM
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RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
I'm not exactly sure what Jaka means by "25g fiberglass weave", but if the math works right, he may be referring to approximately 0.8oz/sq-yd fiberglass cloth, and 24 hr cure finishing epoxy resin. Usually one uses either .5 or .75oz fiberglass cloth, and there are lots of methods (epoxy resin, waterbased polyurethane, sanding lacquer) that have been recommended for adhering the cloth to the balsa and filling the weave.
In any case, you need to be prepared to spend time getting the glass work finished, filling any dings, then doing the prime/sand cycle until you're satisfied with the surface prep. This step takes time, no matter which method you use. Then you get to spray your automotive paint.
To directly answer the question about separate ailerons (and rudders, elevators, and flaps as well) you cover them the same way you do the wing. They're just smaller, and you need to make sure the glass sticks to the small ends. Acdii mentioned that he was going to cut the flaps away from the wing. If you glass before this step, you'll have to figure out how to cover the bare flap LE and wing TE left after the surgery.
In any case, you need to be prepared to spend time getting the glass work finished, filling any dings, then doing the prime/sand cycle until you're satisfied with the surface prep. This step takes time, no matter which method you use. Then you get to spray your automotive paint.
To directly answer the question about separate ailerons (and rudders, elevators, and flaps as well) you cover them the same way you do the wing. They're just smaller, and you need to make sure the glass sticks to the small ends. Acdii mentioned that he was going to cut the flaps away from the wing. If you glass before this step, you'll have to figure out how to cover the bare flap LE and wing TE left after the surgery.
03-07-2012, 01:43 PM
#8
Thread Starter
RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
Hi, Thanks, Thats what I thought, but wasn't sure. I already have the flaps cut off. I am still a bit away from the glassing. Now that I have the Wheel door mechanism figured out, I now need to open the wing again to get aileron servos installed near the ailerons instead of using the center ball joint link. That area is taken up with the retract servo now. For me the wing skin is too thin and I am finding myself cracking it just picking it up to work on it, so I may put two layers of cloth on.
03-07-2012, 06:39 PM
#9
RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
On my CAP rebuild, I cut the ailerons from the wing after it was sheeted. There is no separate solid balsa trailing edge. I wanted 1 3/4" wide ailerons. I added the thickness of the balsa that wound become the leading edge of the ailerons and the training edge of the wing (1/4" each). So, I cut 2 1/4" off the wing and 1/2" off the remainder of the ailerons. I then glued on the balsa for leading and trailing edges. I glued extra blocks on for the hinge locations to give more gluing surface to the hinges. Cut a bit short so you have some wiggle room to finish sand to your exact line. After adding the .75 oz glass cloth and epoxy, the ailerons are very stiff.
Hope this helps.
Ken
Hope this helps.
Ken
03-07-2012, 10:43 PM
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RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
I think you're building a TF 1/7 P-51? And probably sheeted the wings with 1/16" balsa? Then when you sand it down, it gets thin in places and it's extremely easy to poke fingers through the wing skins, which is what happened on a P-51 I inherited from another guy.
I would not recommend putting down two layers of cloth; the weight penalty would be pretty severe, and you'll want to keep the Mustang as light as possible, especially with flaps and retracts. If you use 0.75 oz cloth instead of 0.5 oz, you should pick up enough surface strength to prevent the cracking problem. Once the resin cures in the glass, it creates a fairly hard surface.
You might also check out the Warbirds forum; there's a product called "liquid sheeting", and it supposedly lays down a pretty stiff surface. The gist of things was that this stuff was a lightweight version of the stuff used to protect pickup truck beds
I would not recommend putting down two layers of cloth; the weight penalty would be pretty severe, and you'll want to keep the Mustang as light as possible, especially with flaps and retracts. If you use 0.75 oz cloth instead of 0.5 oz, you should pick up enough surface strength to prevent the cracking problem. Once the resin cures in the glass, it creates a fairly hard surface.
You might also check out the Warbirds forum; there's a product called "liquid sheeting", and it supposedly lays down a pretty stiff surface. The gist of things was that this stuff was a lightweight version of the stuff used to protect pickup truck beds
03-08-2012, 06:31 AM
#11
Thread Starter
RE: Ailerons when glassing a wing?
OOH Herculine the wing, I have a quart of it sitting around, but man would it look ugly. 
Thanks for the tip on 3/4 ounce, I was going to use the lightest cloth, but will go with the 3/4 stuff instead. I may already have enough in my toolbox to do the wing. I can use the .5 on the fuse and tail.
