buzzard bait

Great tests and information, GN, thank you. I've wondered about Modge Podge, which came out well in your tests too, but have not tried it

Painting a single unbraced sheet is a severe test, which makes it very revealing. I suspect even nitrate dope would show some curling if you used a couple more coats.

Shellac smells a lot when sprayed out of a can, but the smell dissipates quickly. Probably I was smelling the aerosol from the spray and it drops out quickly. Brushed on it should be much less. On my light aileron structure it seemed to me that it sealed quickly, much like nitrate dope, but I didn't do the thorough kind of comparison that you did, so I'm not sure.

Since the solvent is just alcohol it doesn't worry me. A lot of people use Aquanet hair spray to stabilize glass fiber and other materials. I think it is shellac.

The down side to shellac is it has a fairly limited shelf life. If I decide to use it regularly I would buy the solid chips and dissolve it as needed. I think the spray can lasts longer than a regular can, but solid form is probably best.

Noticed Nelson doesn't offer a silver. I tried mixing artists' aluminum powder with Polycrylic and painting it on silkspan and fiberglass adhered to balsa with Pc. I just brushed on two coats and it looks quite promising. I think it would take 4 or 5 coats to look good. Photo shows the trial.

The other photo shows the Big John wings glassed in the center, brown paper bags strips glued on for ribs, and silkspan over the whole thing. Two ailerons are from the original crashed plane and the other two are the new ones made from 3/32 sheet. The original had 2 ailerons on the bottom and I'm adding two more for the top. Everything was done with Polycrylic, except the "rib" strips were attached with white glue.

Jim