Don Smith A-26
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Hi Eric,
nice to hear from you again !!
Had to do quite a bit of travelling the last few weeks, so I haven´t been able to do much lately ...
All I´ve done is getting most parts sanded and ready for glasing, but outside temperatures dropped to sub zero C° and I´m having difficulties keeping my workshop heated for optimal work with epoxy ...
Still hunting on E-Bay for landing gears, even though they´re not very common around here in the sizes I would need ... I´ll just wait ´til Xmas and if I can´t find any I´ll just have to buy a new EuroKit 15 kg set ...
We could make a deal though ... I´ll send you some real swiss snow if you could only direct some nice warm Panama weather our way ...
Regards,
Charles
nice to hear from you again !!
Had to do quite a bit of travelling the last few weeks, so I haven´t been able to do much lately ...
All I´ve done is getting most parts sanded and ready for glasing, but outside temperatures dropped to sub zero C° and I´m having difficulties keeping my workshop heated for optimal work with epoxy ...
Still hunting on E-Bay for landing gears, even though they´re not very common around here in the sizes I would need ... I´ll just wait ´til Xmas and if I can´t find any I´ll just have to buy a new EuroKit 15 kg set ...
We could make a deal though ... I´ll send you some real swiss snow if you could only direct some nice warm Panama weather our way ...
Regards,
Charles
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Looking good Charles.
I'll pass on the snow, surprisingly it has been raining here nonstop for 48 hours. I don't you'll want to trade for all of this water. Try warming the area with a heat gun before applying the Epoxy
I'll pass on the snow, surprisingly it has been raining here nonstop for 48 hours. I don't you'll want to trade for all of this water. Try warming the area with a heat gun before applying the Epoxy
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Hi Eric,
most people just try to thin the epoxy with additives (alcohol, aceton) to keep it more liquid while applying it for glasing ... but it usually does more damage than good, like playing havoc with other materials (glue, foam, etc..) used in the construction ...
What I normally do, is to place the mixing cup in a larger plastic pot, half filled with warm (35-40 C°) water, thus keeping the epoxy mixture in a more viscous state while working with it ... this way the epoxy keeps its temperature, even during application to the fiberglas cloth for a minute or two ... this method works for me in workshop temperatures even down to 15C° ... below that, just forget it ... all you get is just an unconrollable sticky mass that pulls on the cloth when applying ...
To cure the glasing I usually place a couple of IR lamps above the glased surfaces ... with enough distance to just keep normal room-temperatures around the materials ... it´s still cheaper than installing central heating in my garage workshop
Charles
most people just try to thin the epoxy with additives (alcohol, aceton) to keep it more liquid while applying it for glasing ... but it usually does more damage than good, like playing havoc with other materials (glue, foam, etc..) used in the construction ...
What I normally do, is to place the mixing cup in a larger plastic pot, half filled with warm (35-40 C°) water, thus keeping the epoxy mixture in a more viscous state while working with it ... this way the epoxy keeps its temperature, even during application to the fiberglas cloth for a minute or two ... this method works for me in workshop temperatures even down to 15C° ... below that, just forget it ... all you get is just an unconrollable sticky mass that pulls on the cloth when applying ...
To cure the glasing I usually place a couple of IR lamps above the glased surfaces ... with enough distance to just keep normal room-temperatures around the materials ... it´s still cheaper than installing central heating in my garage workshop
Charles
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Dave your right, but I've always used alcohol as a thinner because it evaporates even as the epoxy starts its chemical heating. Acetone and other thinners like lacquer or MEK will break up the properties of the epoxy severely weakening it; I only use them for clean up.
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Hi Guys: A Happy New Year to you and yours.
Dave any word of progress on the 26 from the modeler who is finishing it?
Charles how are you coming along with your project. Did you get the epoxy mixed right.
Dave any word of progress on the 26 from the modeler who is finishing it?
Charles how are you coming along with your project. Did you get the epoxy mixed right.
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Hi Eric !
A happy, healthy and successful New Year to you as well !!
Freezing our rear ends off over here ... it´s -11C° outside, in my shop just above freezing point at +2C° ... so I´ll just have to sit it out for a while ...
Just purchased a set of plans for an 80" Grumman Widgeon ... I´ll be looking this over, maybe even get the main landing gear built, cut the ribs etc.. by hand ... just to keep warm ... it´s going to be a good diversion for a while until I can continue on the 26 again ...
I always liked this little "Duckie" so this could be my next project ...
Charles
A happy, healthy and successful New Year to you as well !!
Freezing our rear ends off over here ... it´s -11C° outside, in my shop just above freezing point at +2C° ... so I´ll just have to sit it out for a while ...
Just purchased a set of plans for an 80" Grumman Widgeon ... I´ll be looking this over, maybe even get the main landing gear built, cut the ribs etc.. by hand ... just to keep warm ... it´s going to be a good diversion for a while until I can continue on the 26 again ...
I always liked this little "Duckie" so this could be my next project ...
Charles
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RE: Don Smith A-26
c
Charles: That little "Duckie" is a fine ship, I just downloaded a walkaround of the Grumman Goose from RCSCALEBUILDER.COM. Check it out if interested also check Ichy's latest post
Sorry that I can not send you any of our warm weather, but you take care.
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RE: Don Smith A-26
Hi Eric,
sorry about the delay, was again doing a bit of travelling ... but (just) made it home alive in 20" snow on 2500 meters high mountain roads ...
Weather is getting better (+10-12C°) too ... a couple of more weeks and I can start in my workshop again ...
I finally got my "legs" for the A-26, at least the retracts from RCSkylight.com ... pretty sturdy and strong too for the price ...
I´ve also ordered a new set of plans and a set of fiberglas cowls/nacelles for the 80" (1/6 scale) Grumman Widgeon from W.E. Technical Designs as well, they´ll be shipped too pretty soon ... a bit of something to build in between, just in case I get tired of the final works on the A-26 ... I´ll probably open a new thread on the Widgeon as well, hardly any of them are being built nowadays ...
I´ve seen and downloaded the walkaround on the Goose as well ... really nice reference photos !!
But if some of us enjoys scale building, should take a look at Paolo´s website ... I got a real "high" looking at his works ...
http://www.paoloseverin.it/
Charles
sorry about the delay, was again doing a bit of travelling ... but (just) made it home alive in 20" snow on 2500 meters high mountain roads ...
Weather is getting better (+10-12C°) too ... a couple of more weeks and I can start in my workshop again ...
I finally got my "legs" for the A-26, at least the retracts from RCSkylight.com ... pretty sturdy and strong too for the price ...
I´ve also ordered a new set of plans and a set of fiberglas cowls/nacelles for the 80" (1/6 scale) Grumman Widgeon from W.E. Technical Designs as well, they´ll be shipped too pretty soon ... a bit of something to build in between, just in case I get tired of the final works on the A-26 ... I´ll probably open a new thread on the Widgeon as well, hardly any of them are being built nowadays ...
I´ve seen and downloaded the walkaround on the Goose as well ... really nice reference photos !!
But if some of us enjoys scale building, should take a look at Paolo´s website ... I got a real "high" looking at his works ...
http://www.paoloseverin.it/
Charles