Yes, plans come with the short kit. I bought 3, sold 1 to Free Bird, and Dean Pappas has spoken for theother one. At the kit price, 3 is not really that much.

I haven't posted in a couple of days because, well, there's not much left to do. Finish sanding with 320 grit, but you won't really see a difference in the photos.

I'm waiting for the LHS to get delivery of my covering material. Hopefully I will pick it up this w/e.

Sig Koverall for the wings (dyed yellow), Super Coverite for the body. Klass Kote epoxy paint. Original color scheme.

What type of dye are you using? Will Rit work on polyester? I've been using Koverall for the last couple of years and love it.

David

I'm hoping Rit will work. Otherwise I'm SOL, I think. Test patch is definitely in order, along with photos and conclusions. Stay tuned........

Been reading up on dyes - Polyester itself does not dye. They described it as trying to dye a plastic bag. However, Koverall is polyester-BASED, so maybe it will work. I am also worried that the boiling water of the dye may shrink the fabric.

Plan B is to lightly spray yellow enamel on the inside part of the cloth.

Plan C is to paint the panels solid yellow.

Went to the LHS today, because this came in! Great Planes 10 3/4 bubble canopy. Wouldn't look right without it.

Well, it seems super coverite is discontinued. Koverall is problematic. So this morning I did a little internet surfing, and now have a NEW plan "A"

Wing - Solartex Vintage yellow. Iron-on fabric, semi-transparent (like silk, they say), and can be painted.
www.solarfilm.co.uk/solartex.html

Body - see below. Since I used to use Polyester & glass on the .60 PPs, this should be a stroll down memory lane, without the smell.

OK, played with the glass cloth last night on the hatch, the first coat seems to be what I expected. This morning I put a second coat on, we'll see how it sets up.

Now it's time to get serious with the body. I cut a piece of cloth 42x9, it should do 1/2 the body. Lay it over the fuse, and start to paint the poly right through it. Do about a foot at a time, starting in the middle. The idea is to just stick the cloth to the wood, not do any filling. Use paper towels to blot up the excess. You want only enough to stick, the glass fibers should be very visible.

Don't worry about getting the cloth into every corner and crevace, like around the stab. If some wood is exposed, it will still be sealed by the poly, and primer and paint. This is unlike Monokote, where you have to cover every bit of wood. Besides, around the stab there will be epoxolite fillets later.

OK, now I'm ready to glass the left side. First, I lay and smooth the raw glass cloth. Notice it's not too smooth, that's not a problem, as you will see.

Next, I start in the middle with a patch of poly. You can see the 2 inch disposable brush. After brushing the poly on, I get as much as possible off with the paper towel.

Working towards the rear, but only on the sides now. Top and bottom will come later. Look close, you can see I missed the very rear lower fuse by about 1/8 inch. Like I said before, that's not a problem with this method.

Working up to the nose, all is nice and smooth. The glass cloth just clings to the surface, and can wrap around some pretty complex shapes, like this nose. If you do get a wrinkle that won't pull out, just slice and overlap it. Later on during the sanding process, that will disappear.

Once the poly is cured, it is time to cut off the excess. where there is an edge, the easiest is to just take some sandpaper (320) and scuff the edge, the cloth separates easily.

However, on flat areas, that is not possible. Here you just pull the loose cloth at 90 degress to the surface, and use an Xacto knife to separate.

As I said, don't worry about the edges being uneven. Here is the cloth overlap on the top of the fuse. A couple of coats of poly, some sanding, and it will all be smooth.

It is really amazing how much the glass cloth will mold around curves. Just look at the stab tips:

So now the entire fuse is glassed, and it's weigh-in time.

I am happy to report that the gain was only 3/4 ounce for all the glass cloth and polycrylic. I am a happy camper!
Next, we need to see how much the 3 coats of poly gain, and how much I loose by sanding. Then I wonder if primer is lighter than poly to fill the weave????
In other words, should I add more poly, or just do 3 or 4 coats of primer?

I think at least 2 coats of poly are necessary to cement the cloth, then primer is the best filler. What do you think?

PS - sorry for the crappy pix, you can't see that the scale sez 12 3/4

Sorry for my ignorance, but is this water based polyurethane that you are using? Polycrylic sounds more like acrylate or so ... There was a description of the use of water based polyurethane+glass in RCM quite a few years ago, and they used toilet paper to soak up the excess, and that is why I am assuming that you use water based polyurethane. Do you use straight lacquer to fill the weave, or do you add something to it?

Water based lacquer is supposed to be very light, as the water evaporates, so the weight of the water in the lacquer disappears.

Thanks for a very interesting thread!

Kris G

Yes, this is Minwax Polycrylic.

http://www.minwax.com/products/prote...polycrylic.cfm

Great job on the glassing! I am going to give Polycrylic a try the next time I glass. I have used it over Solartex iron-on fabric as a clear coat, but this looks like a great use for it. Thanks.

David

Good morning eh, one question as I review your build thread.

Did I miss any mention of what you used to seal the wood before applying the Minwax Polycrylic and fibreglass cloth to the wing and fuselage? On Jeff's thread on the Aurora he is using dope, others have mentioned sanding sealer to coat the balsa before applying the minwax. Other wise the balsa would swell from the water based minwax (so I have read).

Jim

Nic, I have never used the Minwax method but have heard of it. I've done the resin method and like you can't stand the smell!! In your opinion is the finished product just as good as the resin method? This would include hardness, sandability, and ease of putting a laquer base overcoat on. Any issues you've run across? Sounds like there is no weight difference I can see.

Thanks,

Bob Harris

I was under the understanding that the water based poly's are not glow fuel proof and that the oil based poly's are resetant to abiout 15% nitro.I was going to use the oil base for glassing as I used it over some white latex on some panellg in the house and it dried real hard almost scrath proof.surface feels as hard as if it was coated with polyesrer resin.Have I been mis imformed?