Originally Posted by
Capt Crunch
Excellent post. I was just thinking of tossing all the monokote since it doesn't work as well as it used to and going to fiberglass. This looks like much better alternative.
Using CF is also very interesting since I like to build strong. However, I don't understand why a person would apply CF on the bottom only. Does it add that much weight or is it a finish issue?
Can't wait to learn more about your painting and graphics techniques. Thank you for taking the time to do this.
Thanks. It's nice to know there is more than two or three of us following this thread.
One of the main reasons I do silkspan finishes is to create a surface for my painting. To me the painting is the creative and fun part, but if you don't put in the time and effort up front, it will hurt in the end. If you haven't figured it out already I am ultra picky about this stuff.
Carbon tissue will give you extra stiffness, but at the expense of a bit more weight and a lot more work. The way Matt uses it is not as finish surface rather a structural component. He (and I) have used it on the surface, but are not using it for this purpose anymore. Matt is using it under the balsa sheeting and as he said under the silkspan. In this case the carbon adds strength and the silkspan produces a smooth surface for painting.
There is a learning curve doing what we do, but it's worth it. For one thing, you have the ability to go creative on the design side and are not restricted like you are with wrinkle (Mono) kote. Also utilizing computer graphics along with a cutting plotter (vinyl cutter), the lid is blown off what you can do paint and design wise. I can assure you no one will have anything like your stuff at the field.
That being said, if you want to go this route, you better do it for yourself, because very few people have a clue what goes into creating these type of finishes. I have had guys walk up and look at my stuff for ten seconds and just walk away. In their mind they are thinking big deal I saw something like that at Tower Hobbies.....em no you didn't but they are clueless. I used to take it personally, now I just brush it off as "it's an ARF mentality". When I was a kid ( a long time ago), if you wanted it, you built it and everyone had an appreciation for what you did...not anymore. I call it the thirty to one rule. For every 30 hours I put in, guys look at my stuff for 1 second! Don't laugh...it's true.
You can see how low the interest is in this stuff by the lack of response on this thread, but no big deal. I figure if I can give one or two guys in the world some incentive to do this stuff, I have accomplished something. Matt gave me the incentive, maybe I can pass the baton to the next guy.