fiberglassing
 

hi. I bought a Viper RTC (ready to cover) plane. The fuselage and wing need some fiberglass.

If I remember correctly, I basically should use some 3M spray to position the fiberglass cloth then use thin CA over the fiberglass. Is this the proper way to fiberglass?

RE: fiberglassing
 

That's one way of doing it. You really don't even need to use the 3M spray but it might make it a little easier if you have it. What technique does the instruction sheet give?

RE: fiberglassing
 

Here is a classic way.

Stretch the fiberglass tight and tack it with CA.

Make dilute slow epoxy: 1 part A, 1 part B and 1 part 90% rubbing alcohol. Glop this on the fiberglass and scrape it down and spread it with a stiff card until you just fill the weave.

After drying, hold a single edged razor blade near 90 degrees and scrape in medium long strokes until the epoxied area has a semi gloss sheen. This removes all the high spots.

Paint or MoneyCote.

Tom</p>

RE: fiberglassing
 

I woud add that if the fiberglassed areas are going to be painted, you would wnat to use fiberglass resin, not CA. CA is hard to sand and paint is tough to get to stick to it. THe 3M spray you mentioned is 3M77. I have never used the spray for the CA method so I am not sure how well it will work. I know it works great with resin. Good Luck, Dave

RE: fiberglassing
 

I use the 3m77 method a lot. I just do it a little different. I lay my glass on a paper (news ) and spray the 3m77 lightly on one side, let it set a few minutes then pick it up and place it sticky side down on wax paper. Now I can cut it ( with shears ) any way I want and "NOT " have a lot of frays and loose ends . Once I have it cut I pick it off the wax paper and it will now tack onto what ever I need to. Then I flow the CA on evenly. If I have some left over, I set it aside and can use it later. ENJOY !!! RED

RE: fiberglassing
 

Another suggestion is to use the yellow glue instead of epoxy. I read about this in the past so I tried it with very good results! Much simpler to use because there is no mixing involved. :D

RE: fiberglassing
 

There are many ways to get this accomplished. On the Viper, you will be glassing the firewall area and the wing center section. Both are high stress areas. For this reason I would suggest against using anything but a good quality epoxy resin. The most difficult task is going to be getting the epoxy mixed with the dead on correct ratio. A scale is best but if you don't have access, you can get the small mixing cups with volume printed on them. Most epoxies are a 4 to 1 ratio. Personally I have never felt the need for the spray adhisive and have always felt the it will contaminate the bond. I lay the dry cloth where in needs to go, smooth it out and start applying resin at the center and working your way out. Once you have the cloth saturated, blot with paper towel to remove excess resin. Nore resin means more weight not strength. The resin should also saturate the wood about an inch past the cloth. This will greatly help sanding the edge of the cloth to a feather edge. Cure the resin at at least 65 degrees, The wamer, the better.

RE: fiberglassing
 

Talk about over thinking a simple process. Do what David said. Glassing center sections is really simple. Epoxy mixed to the instructions, usually 50/50, mix well, place glass over area, use a brush to sort of paint the glass on. If you have some finishing resin on hand it flows better then 30 minute epoxy but pretty much any of the epoxy types work well. CA does work but it's really fast and doesn't fill the weave of the glass so you don't get a smooth finish. If you really want it to be special you can mask off close to the sides of the glass so the epoxy doesn't flow too far. Just remember to remove the tape before the epoxy sets up.

RE: fiberglassing
 

I cut the glass a bit oversized.  I just lay it flat and smooth it out by hand.  Then apply a 2 part fiberglass resin  starting in the middle and working my way out.  Then comes the fun part.  Sanding.  Cant get around that part.

RE: fiberglassing
 

Blotting the resin will greatly reduce the amount of sanding needed. I usually use several layers of 1-1.5 oz cloth getting wider each layer. This spreads the load. The lighter cloth as opposed to one heavy layer will save lots of time sanding as well. Usually I spend about 1/2 hour sanding and when finished the glass is just about invisable under the covering. Using 30 min epoxy will leave you with a big unsandable mess. All depends on your expectations.

RE: fiberglassing
 

Agreed on the expectations thing. Iuse much lighter cloth tho. 3/4 oz. Unless I am doing a wing joining. Then Iuse the heavy stuff.

RE: fiberglassing
 

I just finished a Viper 500 ARC
Used nitrate dope to apply the fiberglass. used the recommended amount of fiberglass on the wing. 3/4oz. fiberglass
Used fiberglass on the complete fuselage. 3/4 oz. fiberglass
Then covered the wing, v-tail, elevators, ailerons and the hatch with 000 Silkspan also applied with nitrate dope.
After sanding painted the complete plane with Klass Kote epoxy