Even if you do a decent job of smearing just enough epoxy, you still might get some squeezed out along the seam. Not to worry if you plan ahead.

After I've prepared the 8-10 strips of masking tape and before mixing the epoxy, I also open a bottle of rubbing alcohol and get a couple of paper towels ready. If any epoxy squeezes out, AFTER I've got the two halves taped, I'll wet a paper towel and wipe the squeeze off the airplane. If the towel is wet enough, it'll easily clean the wing perfectly. If the squeeze out is only a bead along the seam, I finish all the spanwise taping and then wipe whatever will wipe.

Check all the spanwise tape strips to see that they're holding and then stack the wing where it'll be safe and LEAVE IT ALONE for at least an hour or so.

The job is dead simple and easy if you do the preparation steps before starting. One of the most important, btw, is to test fit the thing before starting the gluing. Get it to fit beforehand. Gluing the joiner spar into one side and letting it dry is one thing that helps a lot. I will often dry fit and get it right, then glue the joiner into one side, and right away start setting up to glue the two halves. By the time I've got everything ready to go, the joiner is almost set. But it's not rock solid. So if it's badly aligned, it'll show up before it's epoxy is set. And going right into the main part of the job lets me correct the problem before it is a problem.

Epoxy is great stuff, but it's not the only glue that does this job. Don't ever glob it on. Wipe it on is usually the best way. The slower epoxies are way stronger than you'll ever need and you'll never need much of it. If the surfaces show "wet" and then they are brought together to touch, you've got the strongest joint in modeling there is. Having any more than that amount of epoxy in the joint won't do a thing for you other than make the airplane heavy.


And oh yeah, the tape around the wing halves to protect them from getting smeared is a real waste of time and tape. But if it makes you more confident of a good clean job, do it until you get used to how much epoxy to smear on.