Thanks for the info 8178!

I noticed that Tower has Sig finishing resin but for some odd reason it is way more expensive than Lowes. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFFB8&P=7

In preparation for glassing the center section of the horizontal stab I glued the two halves together with epoxy. As usual masking tape was used to hold them together tightly. The sweep back and double taper of the stab halves made it a little tricky to make sure that it was perfectly flat. I adjusted the alignment by sanding the root joints. I also made sure that no epoxy got on the outside of the balsa sheeting because it would interfere with the curing of the polyester resin that I will be using to glass the center section.

The double taper of the stab halves and sweep back prevented sheeting them as one piece.

To be continued…

View of the stab seam. Next, I’ll be adding fiberglass to the center section and gluing it and vertical stab assembly to the fuselage.

To be continued…

Fiberglassing the stab with 6 oz cloth and polyester resin. As usual I put masking tape down first to define the edge of the area to be glassed and pulled the cloth down tight at the front and back with tape.

To be continued…

View of the horizontal stab after sanding the fiberglass overhang off. The masking tape acts as a guide so the fiberglass can be tapered down to the tape line without damaging the balsa.

To be continued…

View of the horizontal stab after removing the masking tape. The dark area to the outside of the cloth pattern is resin that was under the cloth and absorbed by the balsa. The area is hardened by the resin. The process makes a very nice taper from the fiberglass to the balsa sheeting surface.

To be continued…

Started work on the fuselage fillets and decided to use fiberglass cloth for the fillet base and to forum a hard surface for the fuselage wing saddle.

First I marked a line on the top of the wing along the fuselage sides to represent the outside edge of the fillet. Then I put clear packaging tape on the top of the wing so it spanned the sides of the fuselage. Then I cut some 6 oz fiberglass cloth strips and taped it down along the line on the wing. I cut the cloth so that the finished edge of the cloth would be on the outside edge. Next I put the wing on the fuselage and bolted it down. I put some masking tape on the sides of the fuselage to keep the resin contained along the lower edge of the wing saddle.

Polyester resin was then brushed on the cloth so that it filled the weave and hopefully wicked under the edges of the fuselage. When the resin tacked up some I removed the tape on the edges of the cloth.

Hopefully I have not permanently glued my wing to the fuselage!!!

To be continued…

So, let me make sure I'm following this... The narrow (silver looking in the photos) strips of 6oz cloth will be attached to the bottom of the wing saddle instead of using, say, 1/32" ply, for example (which is what I used). If I understand it correctly that looks like a better method since it will give you a thinner, more rigid fittet base than ply.

One of the things - among the many - that sets your work apart are these innovative techniques that you employ.

Thanks rainedave! You are correct. In the past I’ve used 1/32” or 1/64” ply to build the base, but I was doing some brain storming with Tony Howard (manufacturer of my Kwik Fli III taper wing kit and currently cool P-51 exhaust manifold kits sold in the RCU classifieds) and he suggested I try the glass cloth. We will soon see how it worked!

The wing and fuse parted company with a little pulling and tugging but was not a big problem. The resin wicked fully under the fuselage edges in all but a couple of spots. The clear packaging tape wrinkled in a few places so next time I’ll need to use something that is more resistant to the resin. I filled in the areas where the resin did not wick and the areas that had lines from the tape wrinkling with resin and sanded it out. I have a little more to sand off the outside edge of the fiberglass to bring it down to the 3/16” width I need for the fillet base.

To be continued…

I used a strip of monokote on the wing before making a wing fillet with microballoons and resin.

View of the first coat of micro balloons and resin. Next, I need to sand off the extra width of the fiberglass base so the width is 3/16” and add another finish coat of micro balloons.

To be continued…

there are some craftsman out there who do not put this much attention to detail into a fiberglass plug !!

Watching as usual ....
bob

I have a Koas which has some large gaps between the saddle and wing. I was going to put Saran wrap on the wing and bolt it down, then fill the gaps with microballons, maybe add a small amount of fillet while at it. Should this work, or do I need some of these fancier methods?

Actually, that is pretty much the proceedure used to "pot" at wing in place. You can start off putting a bit of the fillet material on the wing saddle first - helps assure a surface - then bolt the wing in place (Saran wrap [or I prefer monokote backing] on the wing of course). Bolt the wing down - the excess fillet/potting material will ooze out. You can then fill from the outside and build a fillet as desired. This results in a wing that fits perfectly when done. This proceedure is something we find pretty important with pylon planes - if the wing does not fit well, it will vibrate in the saddle, bolts with come loose - and sometimes the wing rubbing on the fuselage will actually burn the wing mount area.

Something you don't want if you used nitrate based sanding sealer! I remember in the old days on a C/L aircraft while soldering the elevator linkage the flame got too close to the nitrate finished wood (sanding sealer only) and the whole plane went POOF! Fortunately it went out as quickly as it started but the whole plane had a toasty look. Considered simply using clear dope on it and naming it (calling it?) Toast.

View of the fillet base after sanding it down to 3/16”. Next, more micro balloons and resin.

To be continued…

View of the fillet after the final coat of micro balloons and resin. True to the MK plan shape but not balsa.

To be continued…

Thanks Bob! Just trying my best to do it proud as it rightly deserves.

View of the front lower wing fillet completed and sanded so it blends with the fuselage fillet.

To be continued…

Now that's detail.

Thanks Jim.

I’m trying to be true to the plans but a small tasteful mod shouldn’t distract too much! Wouldn’t want Kato and Yoshioka to think I’m a hack!

When I was fitting the plywood plate on the front of the wing I found that I could create the extra space for the lower wing fairing to wrap around to the front of the wing. This extra space allowed for adding the fillet on the lower front of the wing so it could wrap around and blend with the fuselage fillet. On the plan the fuselage fillet just stopped at the front and did not wrap around the wing.

After some final light sanding on the fillets I glassed over them with a narrow strip of cloth.

To be continued…

After the resin set I sanded the cloth overhang off and blended the cloth edge into the side of the fuselage.

To be continued…