tph1

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When you did the epoxy finish on the hor. and vert stab., did you thin the 30 min. epoxy or prep the balsa any way before starting it?
thanks, Tom

8178

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Tom,

I just did the vertical stab with the epoxy and about ½” out from the fillets on the root area of the horizontal stab. The horizontal stab will be covered with Monokote. The vertical stab balsa was sanded smooth like you would to prepare for any finish. The 30 minute epoxy was applied with a squeegee and the epoxy was not thinned. The balsa surface absorbs a small amount of the epoxy and on the first coat the idea is to squeegee most of the epoxy off other that what has been absorbed into the surface. After the first coat sets the surface of the balsa is very hardened with the epoxy. Before you start sanding the epoxy it must be fully cured and hard to make it sandable. You might try the process on a scrap piece of balsa before you start on your aircraft but it isn’t very complicated.

tph1

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OK thanks. I think I will experiment with it on a scrap first but I think I'm going to paint the hor. stab on my Temptation. I only want to cut the trim scheme once and painting the stab would help that.
Tom

8178

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That will work fine too. The epoxy finish process is pretty light and requires very little primmer to prepare for paint. I usually paint the horizontal stab too but I thought I would use MonoKote this time like I did on my Tipo.

tph1

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I just tried it on a scrap piece. I put it on with a plastic cake icing spreader and it looks like it did well. I will know later when it dries.
thanks again

8178

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Sounds good! The key thing is to let the epoxy setup real well (usually over night) so it is easer to sand and use fresh sand paper to sand each coat.

tph1

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Did you do any filling before the epoxy? I'm going to do the bottom this afternoon and the top first coat tomorrow if it looks good.

8178

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No I didn’t use any other filler other than the micro balloons for the fillets. It works best to let the epoxy soak into the bare balsa. You should only need two to three coats to make it very smooth and ready for a light primmer coat. It’s important to sand it well between coats. If you find that you have some gaps in the balsa glue joints I’d use some micro balloons mixed with epoxy to fill them.

tph1

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What grit sandpaper did you use?

8178

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I used 215 dry paper to start and then used 220 dry before the primmer. The epoxy tends to clog the paper so you need to change to a new piece of paper often.

tph1

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OK got it. I will sand them tomorrow and see what it looks like.
thanks, Tom

8178

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You’re welcome and glad I could help.

8178

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After the vertical stabilizer epoxy finish was completed I covered the horizontal stabilizer, which will be covered with MonoKote, with plastic wrap and taped it off. I then washed the outside of the fiberglass fuselage with warm water and dish detergent (making sure no water got inside the fuselage) to remove any finger print oils or other contaminates from the surface. I dried the fuselage well and then sprayed on a light coat of the LusterKote primer and then a couple of heaver coats. I consider the first primer coat expendable because it really helps to highlight any areas that need more sanding and finish work. I was extremely happy to see that the fiberglass repair work I did looks excellent, very smooth and straight

One of the advantages of the fiberglass fuselages like the Howard Engineering fuselages that are not jell coated is that any pin holes in the surface are readily visible on the first primmer coat. Often with jell coating they hidden under the thin layer of jell waiting to break though the jell to expose a big nasty pin hole. Also the non jell coated fuselages let you see through the glass when you are installing firewalls, etc. There were very few pin holes and I filled them with automotive glaze. I use an artist spatula to apply the gaze. The artist spatula is used for mixing oil paint and doing certain types of oil painting. It has a very thin faxable blade and is a perfect tool for the glaze. The images below show the first primer coat and one of the pin holes that I circled with a red line.

To be continued..

8178

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The images below show the automotive glaze I use and the artist spatula.

To be continued..

8178

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Using the spatula a very small amount of glaze is forced into the pin hole. After the glaze is dried the area over the pin hole is wet sanded with 800 wet paper and a sanding block. This should remove all of extra glaze and make the area smooth. The before and after images are below.

To be continued..

8178

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After all the pin holes are located and filled with glaze I wet sanded the complete fuselage removing much of the primmer so it will fill any low spots and not add weight. The fiberglass has had thirty years to cure and shrink on this fuselage so a little more weave shows but not much.

To be continued..

Warren

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Looking great! Nice work.

8178

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Some views of how the fuselage repair looks and the epoxy finish on the vertical stab with the second coat of primmer and wet sanding.

To be continued..

8178

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Thanks Warren! This is the time consuming part but I just take my time and enjoy the experience.

Warren

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Yup, but as you know, the more time spent here; the better she'll look!

8178

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I found some heaver coat hanger wire that is close to 1/10” so I replaced the thinner white wire with the heaver gold colored wire. I expect that the 1/10” is the type of wire I used on the original not the 2005 vintage thin wire.

To be continued..

tph1

My Feedback: (12)

I just got home and took some 220 grit sandpaper and sanded the coat I put on yesterday, basically knocked the shine off of it, I'm going to go for coat #2 now. I think it is working according to the 8178 plan, looks good in other words
thanks

Jim_Purcha

My Feedback: (8)

Will you upload some photos when it is complete. Great posting, I have an old fibreglass fuselage which has cirelated around the local rc club for 20+ years. It needs a cowl and a similar treatment as your kwik fli. Your posting is a great help. Thanks.

8178

My Feedback: (17)

Will do! This is a real time build thread and I’m posting images as I go along with the process. The preparation of the fuselage takes awhile to get the primmered surface ready for paint but the paint job will only be as good as the work done with the primmer so it is very worth while. I’m spending more time on it than is needed for a good paint job but I’m shooting for a really great paint job. Sometimes it works best to set the work aside for a few days and then come back fresh and work it some more. I find that I can see the imperfections in my work better when I take a few days off.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

Actually, if you liked Hobbypoxy Formula II, it's still made, more or less:

http://www.pettitpaint.com/products2...=3&SubCatid=10

So's the Formula IV 5-minute:

http://www.pettitpaint.com/products2...=3&SubCatid=10

And Formula III Thixotropic:

http://www.pettitpaint.com/products2...=3&SubCatid=10

They got out of the hobby business and now sell only to the marine business, but you can still get the products.