Richard Say

Hi folks,
Has anybody tried latex paint on Ace foam wings. Perhaps with an overcoat of polyurethane.
I have been thinking of giving it a try.
Rich

1/2A forever

Bipe Flyer

As I understand it latex is gasoline proof, but not glow proof. A coat of polyurethane should work though.

propbuster

My Feedback: (1)

Richard, I use acrylic paints on my foam wings and then coat with polyurethane. Be sure and not to use the poly in the spray can as the propellant will eat the foam. I learned that the hard way! The poly will tend to yellow with age somewhat and my white Whizard is already turning a little cream colored. Almost forgot, Walmart has all sorts of colors in acrylic and small bottles are 44 cents each.

Richard Say

Propbuster
Bipeflyer
Right you are. Acrylic (with poly overcoat) is perfect! Covers great, tons of colors, thins with eater and cheap! I overlooked the obvious. Must be my age. [:-] This forum is a great place.
Thanks
Rich

Andrew

Hi Prop and Richard --

I've used both oil and water based polyurethane over foam. Actually, I covered with .5 oz glass cloth using each with good results -- the wings were noticeably stiffer. The waterbased has remained white without yellowing (the oil based is discolored), but the waterbased I used got sticky from the fuel. I believe Bipeflyer has posted a waterbased brand that was fuelproof or at least fuel resistant, but I don't remember the brand name.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think a good water based poly with lightweight silkspan would work well -- smooth surface and added strength and stiffness.

Bipe Flyer

The brand is Behr.

I know someone who used water based Polyurethane with light fibreglass cloth instead of resin on his foam Combat Models F16s, to save weight.

Richard Say

Hi Andrew & Bipe,
I slotted the spar track on the wing to full depth and epoxied in a full depth lite ply spar, same span as the original. I'm going to fill all with LITE weight spackling, sand & paint with acrylic. Finally an overcoat of polyurethane. I will just cover the fuselage with an iron on. Incidentally, I flew a "Whizzard" in the 60s' but made by Midwest I believe. The same company that made the "Lil Esquire". It was powered with a Medallion or TeeDee, Ace Single stick (single channel galloping ghost) propo trans, Ace rec. and Rand (motorized) actuator. I believe the trans was called a Jantzen trans. The radio came as a complete package. The wing was 1 piece semi sym tapered expanded foam!. It was a great flyer! Utterly reliable, until the inevitable!
Rich

propbuster

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Rich, Your Whizard has a spar embed in the wing? I built mine from scratch off plans and they didn't show any spar.

Richard Say

Andrew,
On the plans that came with the kit, it shows a 1/8 inch X 18 inch square hardwood one piece spar imbeded in a slot in the top of the wing at about the high point of the camber. The plans say to"bend" the spar at the dihedral joints and glue it in place. I will scan it and e-mail it to you if you want.
Rich

Andrew

Hey Prop --

My Whizard wing also has a spar on the top that runs 6" into each outer panel and across the center section.

Richard --

I've mixed the LITE spackling with water to a slurry then 'painted' it on with a foam rubber brush -- sanded, then painted over. Painting on seems to fill better and with a lighter coat than spreading it in its thicker form.

warbirdcolors

My Feedback: (5)

If you are in the market for a water-based, fuel-proof, acrylic polyurethane...GO HERE

http://www.warbirdcolors.com
Authentic WWII Colors for your Scale Warbird

Thanks,

Chuck Graves

Richard Say

Chuck,
Wow - I sure am interested! There is a problem with the site though. The only way I could open the home page was from Google's cache'. Then I couldn't navigate to any of the pages.
Take a look. I will keep checking back as I put the home page in my favorites.
Rich

propbuster

My Feedback: (1)

I guess the plans I used were from an older version of the Whizard without a spar. I bought a really old Ace High MKll kit and it didn't have a spar, as the newer one I allready had built did. Maybe they added that later on. I guess I could always add one. I've only had one flight with the plane as of yet so I don't know if the wing's flexing a lot or not. I'll try some loops on the next flight and see what she does. Andrew, Good tip with the lite spackel! I'd like to fill in some of the small gaps around the foam pellets on the wing panels that sounds like the trick!

old git

Hi there, I am looking over your shoulder from UK, lots of interesting things but you don't speak English. I wondered what is 'spackling'. I was about to question you but tried Google first. It came up with Gypsum to repair dry wall (Plasterboard here) but no mention of lite, I presume the mix is more than plaster. Please describe 'Spackle' in greater detail, it sounds very useful and cheap.
Thanks,
John.

Andrew

Hello John --

We may not speak English, but we still have to figure out bonnets and nappies.

Spackling or spackle is a generic name for plastic or plaster based filler -- dents, cracks, nail holes, etc. usually in sheetrock, drywall or plasterboard -- the three are used interchangeably.

The product I mentioned is manufactured by DAP and is called Fast 'N Final Lightweight Spackling. Try this [link=http://www.dap.com/retail/retail_detail.cfm?subcatid=75&catid=5&prodhdrid=61]link[/link].

The manufacturer's site is www.dap.com

Richard Say

Hi John,
What's a crumpet?
Lite Spackle is about the same consistency and weight as the commercial light weight model fillers we use on balsa only much less costly.
Rich


1/2A Forever