Has anyone used west epoxies for model R/C aircraft building??? I have a quantity left over from buiding a Dinghy. I need epoxy for the front-end (firewall etc) of my 1/4 scale Taylorcraft I am presently constructing. Is there any reason it should not be suitable I wonder?

I know a lot of people on here have said they use it for various things. I only use it on my full scale long EZ mixed with micro as a finishing resin. I was told never to use it on structural things.

Seems there are a lot even using it for the epoxy in fiberglass fuses. Must be working. Haven't heard anyone argue with them.

I have used it successfully (on RC aeroplanes and sailboats). I'm surprised you never see microballons, wood flour or cab-o-sil (colloidal silica) in the RC catalogs. Additives are what give epoxy the ability to perform multiple jobs. Only hard part is making small batches as needed for RC. The pumps give about a full ounce of mixture.

Charlie P.

Thanks for the info. SP Systems developed the range with structual and coating in mind. Most wooden and other "one-off" yachts are built using this system. Described as "Welding in Wood" is a very accurate description. Mixed with microballons, Micro-spheres, wood flour (ground up nut-shells!) west epoxy has great Gap-filling properties and on most pieces of wood to be jointed, there is no need to ensure a straight clean edge as it will vannish under the "liquid joint".

I've just bonded pieces of balsa to balsa, balsa to beech ply and balsa to other softwoods. My Son came home from college and I asked him to destroy all the joints. He did manage to break the wood but never pulled the joint apart.

I've used West Systems for both laminating and construction. It's fairly thin so I use a bit of Cab-o-Sil and milled fiber to improve viscosity for construction. The milled fiber adds a lot of strength when using it for gluing firewalls and such. Generally, epoxies are relatively heavy and I only use them in the highest stress areas and for reinforcing.

I have built 12 58-60 inches ultralight propeller using the west sys. to laminate the blanks.
all stood up well. more than 10 years.
My Skypup ultralight was built using it for everything ( sugested by desingner of aircraft ) still have samples of assembly ( built in 1985 ) all perfect still
I am still using it for models

My experience

Thanks for all the info.

I also asked the question about West Epoxy on other forums, including here in the UK. Bearing in mind that a large proportion on these Resins sold are used for Yacht/Boat construction and most aeromodellers have not build a full-size boat, most replies said "don't do it".

So, I did! Not having any proprietary thickening mediums, I used hardwood sawdust and made nice thick glue to test. It would fill a nice big 1/8" thick gap in a joint . . . not even my woodwork was that bad! When cured, I could not pull the joint apart, only breaking the wood else ware.

I've now done one the gluing jobs around the front end ~ firewall and Engine box and I have 100% confidence in it.