ORIGINAL: tschmidt

I'm not a manufacturer but I'll try and explain the process I use. I've made about 5 glass, balsa fuselages and seem to learn something everytime. But here is how I do it.

1. I use 1/32 balsa and glue it together with medium CA then sand the seams to a smooth finish. (wood glue will not hold up to ammonia water)
2. Using a pattern I made off the inside of my mold, I cut the balsa the shape of the fuse.
3. I wet the balsa skins with ammonia water then bag them in the mold to form it, leaving it in the bag for 24 hours.
4. After the balsa skins are dry, I seal the wood with hairspray on both sides so they will not soak up a lot of resin. The hairspray will somewhat relax the formed skins so I lay them back in the mold while the hair spray dries.
5. Wax and PVA the molds, then prime them with PPG epoxy primer
6. First layer in the mold is 2oz cloth from nose ring to tail post and 5oz carbon from nose ring to slightly past the chin cowl
7. next lay the wood then glass it with 1.4 oz cloth to complete the sandwich.
8. Cover with peel ply, then release film and finally breather cloth. ( use the release film so the peel ply doesn't stick to the breather cloth)
9. Put it int he bag for 9 to 10 hours pulling 8 to 9hg.

Attached are some pics of my latest 2 meter pattern design. This fuse is quite tall at 14''. The total fuse weight is 31oz including canopy and chin.

Hope this helps!