Atom Ant

I am considering fiberglassing a 8-9 lb plane. I would prefer to fiberglass because it has many compound curves and the finish will look much better. If I fiberglass I would use 3/4 oz fiber and Minwax polyurethane. My question is about how much weight gain will I see compared to traditional Monokote/Ultracote covering?

bruce88123

MINWAX? Is this something people have been using and I have just missed. I've never heard of using MINWAX but I'm new to this stuff too. [sm=confused.gif][sm=confused.gif] Sincere question, I've never heard of this being used.

Atom Ant

It is fairly widely used. There are many post about it. It is typically lighter than traditional epoxy resin.

NAES

The Minwax is a waterbased polyurathane that is a lot easier and safer to use for many applications such as glassing wings and fuses.

It's fuelproof up to 15%, is a single process application, no dangerous fumes, you can get it on your hands without worrying about toxins and is water cleanup.

I personally use Varathane semigloss. What you do is paint on a sloppy coat of varathane on your wing, fuse or tail, lay on your glass, and then squeegee and dab it on. Start in the middle and work your way out, add Varathane where needed and then squeegee off the excess, trim as needed. Put it out in the sun and your done. Give it a day and then paint. I like to use latex house paint as it's also 15% fuel proof.

Give it a try, it works great.

Oh, and to the original question, weight gain will be about the same.

NAES

bruce88123

I am going to try the Minwax Polycrylic clear. Do you recommend the gloss or satin finish? For painting afterward, is the Klasskote a good paint product to use on this and will it raise the nitro resistance? I'm only using 15% but wouldn't mind a little extra protection margin. Would a different paint be better or a different primer system? Kinda new getting back into painting and glassing. Nothing has been bought yet except the glass itself, .7 oz stuff I believe and even that could be changed.

All/any help appreciated.

Thanks,
Bruce

NAES

I'm not sure that polycrylic is waterbased polyurathane. I have found what I like and have stuck to it. Let us know how it works on a test scrap.

I do prefer semigloss as you don't then have to scuff the surface to prep it. Gloss will not hold paint as well.

As far as the paint, once again, practice on a piece of scrap first. It's a lot less expensive to test first rather than ruin a part of a plane. Plus the added advantage of keeping your sanity.

NAES

warbirdcolors

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Check out the Vance Mosher thread on rcscalebuilder.com. He is a designer of kits & has a thread dedicated to him. He is using a water-based polyurethane to glass his latest kit design, a T-28. He talks about the weight savings etc.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

Check out the 2 informative articles I attached to the message. It should answer your questions on the glassing, and if you are interested, in painting with latex.

FWIW - I use MinWax Polycrylic (usually semi gloss or satin ) for glassing and an EXTERIOR flat latex for painting (sometimes I will use a gloss, but it does take substantially longer to cure )

bruce88123

BTW for NAES, it is water based.

I have found it stocked at Lowes. Have not checked Home Depot yet.