Sheeting Foam Wings
Rajul, and nmills -
Yup. It sticks right away and the times I have had to pull it apart (like making an opening for a servo or landing gear or something) the wood is firmly bonded to the foam.
Give the cores a VERY light sanding with some 150 grit or finer paper to make sure there's no bumps or lumps. Take it easy here, they may not need it.
Glue up your skins using the masking tape and wood glue method. I weight them with boxes of model plane magazines (have plenty of them!) under wax paper for a day or two to make sure the glue is set. Make the skins about 2-3" larger all around to make sure there is some room for error. Coat the cores and one side of the sheeting. The sheeting will curl some during the 30-40 min the glue takes to set up - pin it to the workbench to keep it reasonably flat. Be careful to get the glue evenly spread (I use a disposable acid brush) and get it coated right to the edge. The few drops of water-based paint mixed with the Sorghum helps to see where you've been - out of the bottle the glue is kinda balsa-colored.
Lay a sheet of waxed paper on the core, covering all except the very leading edge. (or trailing edge, doesn't matter) Lining up the sheeting, bond the edge and smooth down firmly. Pull out the waxed paper 3-5" at a time and press the skin to the core. I use my hand on the upper side while the lower side rests in the 'shuck' or the waste part of the blank. This will make sure any washout cut into the core doesn't get pressed out, or you don't build in a warp. When the wax paper is all the way out, you may 'roll' the leading edge on the workbench to insure it is evenly bonded. Some trimming may be in order here if the skins overhang the edge too much. With Sorghum, you'll find the edges bond down just fine. Do the other side, some more trimming may be needed as you go.
If, for some reason you 'miss' and the sheeting is off - it's misaligned and doesn't cover the core all the way, don't worry about it. Glue up another piece of balsa, let it set up and patch it. Or just cut the needed piece off the skin overhang - it's already glued up. The edges will grab fine and you can sand the patch smooth. If you're finishing with epoxy and fiberglass the edges will get bonded. If not, you can rub a little glue on the seam and smooth it down. The important thing is that if it looks like you've made a mistake, keep going! You'll wreck the core and sheeting if you try and pull it apart after you've started sticking it down.
Using 80 grit paper and a long sanding block, trim and smooth the leading and trailing edges, the root, and tip flat and square. Cut your ailerons, flaps, etc. as needed. I use fast epoxy to bond the LE and TE, held in place with strips of masking tape. Epoxy the wingtip on the same way. Sand to shape "as shown." Epoxy the cores at the root - add a strip of epoxied fiberglass around the root joint cuff. Finish with glass and epoxy or your favorite method.
Good luck!