I shaped the leading edges on a Lanier Giant Stinger I'm building, I bought a MicroLux electric planer to do this with and got them nearly perfect. But, I can't get the glue joints to completely disappear, I used white glue like the directions said but no matter how much I sand the glue area looks different than the surrounding wood. Will this be a problem when covered, any hints or helps greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dave

I hate it when that happens! In the future use Pica sandable glue. Drys fast, strong, and sands more easily. The problem is that all white glues are harder than the balsa, so when you sand over it you sand more balsa around it than the glue. The only thing you can do is carve out some of the glue joint and patch it with your favorite patching material. Is this the joint between the wing tip and wing? Or did you have to splice shorter pieces together to make you giant wing? If you use fabric covering it will hide the joint somewhat.

On the Stinger you glue a 1/2x7/8 in slab on the front of the foam wing core and sheet behind it, about 80 inches across. After sheeting you carve and sand the leading edge to shape, the glue joint ends up about 1/2 inch from the forward edge across the entire length of the wing. I'm going to try BalsaRite and see if will make the surrounding balsa a little harder. Thanks for tip on the Pica. Dave

I have a question for you have you ever used the hidden control horns before?

I have had this same problem. Best solution is to use the sandable glue, but if you're like me you discovered this too late. Doooh!

What I have done is to use one of the mini planes (cheap plastic one that Dubro, or someone else sells) that uses a one sided razor and set it very shallow. If you are careful, you can plane off the glue line.

Best of luck.

Can you feel the seam? Or is it just visual? If it's just visual, no problem with covering. If its a difference in surface height, as already stated, a planer is best.

Lay Masking tape on both sides of the seam then useing a long sanding bar with course paper sand the glue joint down to at least flush or more ,then its very easy to blend it in. Use only good sharp paper and don't apply very much pressure ,but sand diagonally almost cross grain but not quite . This will usually get rid of your glue joint and if you go to far, shoe shine it with some 180 -220 while pulling the strip towards you . I hope this make sense , its easier to show than explain.
I get rid of CA joints like this also works great for me.

Just sand slightly more than you need to and follow with a light coating of Elmer's Wood Filler (For light colored wood)

Did anyone notice this thread was dead for over five years?

Geeze, I just love it when people dig these things out of nowhere [:@]

If he builds like me he still might be working on it.