soholingo

All... Thanks to the usual suspects for your help, I have a few questions. I am about to repair a VERY nice hollow molded f5b wing and I have the broken tip on 1 side, and the other tip is gone. Here are my questions...

1. How do I make the tip on the other side of the wing?

2. How do I get the same smooth molded finish as the rest of the wing?

3. Anyway to make the repair invisible? This isn't a load bearing piece its strictly for aesthetics and practice...

Thanks,

Here are some pics...

davidfee

Tack the broken tip back in place with CA. Drizzle thin laminating epoxy into the remaining cracks. Add bits of balsa to fill any large missing chunks. Thicken up some laminating epoxy with microballoons (like toothpaste). Apply the thickened epoxy to the cracks as a filler. Smooth the epoxy as much as possible before it hardens, using a spatula, credit card or popsicle stick (etc). Sand smooth when hard. Sand the paint away, about 1/4" back from the cracks. Apply 1.5-2oz fiberglass over the breaks, in strips about 1/2" wide. Sand smooth when cured. Mask off that last color on the tip... prime, sand, prime, sand... paint.

Trace the outline of the newly repaired tip. Use the tracing as a template to make balsa or foam pieces to rebuild the lost tip. Glue those pieces in place. Cover new tip with 1 layer of 1.5-2oz glass with laminating resin. Follow above procedure for finishing.

good luck,
-David