JW Büker Jungmeister build
01-22-2023, 04:01 AM
#303
So there are some great points to using Stewart Systems and some not so great points. The real deal-maker is lack of toxic fumes. After all these years of torturing my lungs with nasty chemicals, it's worth the down sides.
The down side is that once you paint on the initial coat of EcoBOND (same green stuff used as the adhesive to glue the fabric on) to fill the weave, the surfaces can no longer be sanded in anyway. EcoBOND is basically a water-based rubber contact cement that once cured is completely waterproof. That is why Stewart systems recommends it. The subsequent coats of EcoFILL will complete the filling process and give you a surface ready to paint, HOWEVER EcoFILL is NOT waterproof. So unless you apply the base coat of EcoBOND your paint job will not be waterproof from the INSIDE.
I was introduced to this paint process by a friend and he did not know about this characteristic and used EcoFILL as the initial weave fill and has had great success with his paint jobs. Of course once you paint the Ecofill with latex or epoxy the outer surface is waterproof and in almost all cases this will be just fine for our RC purposes. However, for this giant beast I'm building I wanted it to be a sealed paint job inside and out so hence the green initial coating.
Now back to the down side of not being able to sand the green stuff. There are times when you would definitely want to sand that initial coating. At the seams there are always loose cut end and stray fibers that you could normally sand off if the fabric is initially coated with a sandable coating like the EcoFILL is. However, all is not lost: I discovered that once it's completely cured you can go back over all the seams and iron all the ragged edges smoothly down. The EcoBOND will melt/smear down to the surface and re-cure to a (mostly) smooth surface. The subsequent coating of the EcoFILL filler will be completely sandable and help to further smooth the seams. However, my friend that has been using this process says that the EcoFILL will not hide very much so we will see how all my seems turn out. Fingers crossed!!
Green = waterproof. And also unsandable!
By the way: EcoBOND comes in two colors: one is cream colored for see-thru paint jobs. I happen to have some of that to start and that is why my fuselage and other surfaces did not show the green adhesive under the cloth.
The down side is that once you paint on the initial coat of EcoBOND (same green stuff used as the adhesive to glue the fabric on) to fill the weave, the surfaces can no longer be sanded in anyway. EcoBOND is basically a water-based rubber contact cement that once cured is completely waterproof. That is why Stewart systems recommends it. The subsequent coats of EcoFILL will complete the filling process and give you a surface ready to paint, HOWEVER EcoFILL is NOT waterproof. So unless you apply the base coat of EcoBOND your paint job will not be waterproof from the INSIDE.
I was introduced to this paint process by a friend and he did not know about this characteristic and used EcoFILL as the initial weave fill and has had great success with his paint jobs. Of course once you paint the Ecofill with latex or epoxy the outer surface is waterproof and in almost all cases this will be just fine for our RC purposes. However, for this giant beast I'm building I wanted it to be a sealed paint job inside and out so hence the green initial coating.
Now back to the down side of not being able to sand the green stuff. There are times when you would definitely want to sand that initial coating. At the seams there are always loose cut end and stray fibers that you could normally sand off if the fabric is initially coated with a sandable coating like the EcoFILL is. However, all is not lost: I discovered that once it's completely cured you can go back over all the seams and iron all the ragged edges smoothly down. The EcoBOND will melt/smear down to the surface and re-cure to a (mostly) smooth surface. The subsequent coating of the EcoFILL filler will be completely sandable and help to further smooth the seams. However, my friend that has been using this process says that the EcoFILL will not hide very much so we will see how all my seems turn out. Fingers crossed!!
Green = waterproof. And also unsandable!
By the way: EcoBOND comes in two colors: one is cream colored for see-thru paint jobs. I happen to have some of that to start and that is why my fuselage and other surfaces did not show the green adhesive under the cloth.
Last edited by mitchilito; 01-22-2023 at 04:08 AM.
The following users liked this post:
mitchilito (01-23-2023)
02-07-2023, 12:26 AM
#306
Mitch I have a question, when you bolt the landing gear to the bottom of the bottom wing centre section do you tighten the 4 x 5mm bolts up tight or do they need to be left loose enough to allow the gear to flex?
How is the covering coming along?
How is the covering coming along?
02-08-2023, 02:41 AM
#307
Originally Posted by tmac48
Mitch I have a question, when you bolt the landing gear to the bottom of the bottom wing centre section do you tighten the 4 x 5mm bolts up tight or do they need to be left loose enough to allow the gear to flex?
How is the covering coming along?
How is the covering coming along?
It has been FREEZING cold here (opposite of you, right?) and even though I've got plenty of heaters it's still not fun to go out in the shop. Plus, painting in freezing temps is not ideal to say the least. However, spring is about to arrive and that's the perfect time to spray paint.
But you don't have to feel bad for me. I've been keeping busy with my bourbon collecting hobby. . . . . .
02-08-2023, 04:09 PM
#308
Thanks Mitch I thought that may have been the case, can't wait to see just how the whole undercarriage works.
Do hope you are just collecting all that BOURBON and not consuming the majority!!!
Do hope you are just collecting all that BOURBON and not consuming the majority!!!
The following users liked this post:
mitchilito (02-09-2023)
