Zim5

Hi, I'm building a dominator 500. I am pretty new to the racing scene. The kit has foam covered wings, and the instructions are printed on the plans and does not have any pics, also the instructions are pretty vague.

-I was wondering what are some good techniques for covering the foam-core wings? The instructions say to use white glue for the foam/balsa, is there a better glue to use?

-How and where should I place the carbonfiber strip. The plans show the strip on the balance point all down the wing. But the instructions say to cut the strip into 4 pieces, each 18" long.

-If there are any tips for building this plane, I would greatly appreciate it. I wish lanier would include a real set of instructions with the airplane instead of writing a long paragraph on how to build the plane.

-Also, I am going to run a thundertiger pro 46 on this plane. What would be a good prop? Does anyone know how fast this plane can go?

thanks

rcrobby82

My Feedback: (14)

hello, yes lanier is very shady on thier directions. i have a dominator that i am just finishing up (v-tail version) and i had the same questions you do. after calling many of my club memebers and discusing thier building techniques i chose to apply a thin coat of 2 hr epoxy to the skins, set them in thier forms, and put about 300 lbs on them. let them sit over night sot eh epoxy cures. i chose epoxy over white glue because of the added strength (and i just cant see using white glue on a 145 mph plane) as for the carbon fiber strip, i cut 4 pieces 18 in. long and put them as shown on the plans, however on my plans the strip is shown to be 18" long not the whole span of the wing. as for building tips, be sure to pin your wing blocks in place with toothpicks (easy insurance), cover your tail and then glue it to the fuse (instructions say to install it then cover it)i epoxied in my tail and reinhforced it with a small amount of gorrila glue to make fillets aganst the fuse and tail section. other than that take your time and build it srtaight and all will be fine.good luck

Zim5

Thanks RcRobby, I will attempt to start building this beast on the weekend. The 2 hour epoxy seems like it will be a lot more strong than brittle white glue. How do you spread the 2 hour epoxy- do you use a small brush? Also a question about glassing the wing. Did you glass according to the plans? what did you use for adhesive, and how do you make the glass look smooth?

rcrobby82

My Feedback: (14)

glad i could help you crash. believe it or not i spread the epoxy over the skins with a thin piece of balsa wood (acts much like a squeegee) this puts a nice smooth coat on that is thin enough not to add much weight and strong enough to hold up to the beating it is gonna get in the air. remember if you are going to race you want to keep it as light as possible without sacrificing the strength of the structure. as far as glassing goes i used the spray 77 adhesive (works well lets you move it around a little to get it where you want it) use a piece of balsa to work out all air bubbles and fuzzie buildups and spray a light coat on after you apply the second sheet of glass. smooth it out again and let it dry. then i used the 2 hr epoxy again and put a very thin coat on top of the glass. smooth it out, put just enough epoxy on to give it a glossy,semi-wet look. then let it dry. sand it good (start with 180 go to 220) it should be pretty darn smooth after that. hope that helps [&:]

daven

My Feedback: (1)

For fiberglassing, I prefer using a finishing resin instead of 2 hour epoxy. 3m 77 works ok, you just gotta be very carefull to only use a tiny amount, I actually prefer a 3m product call Spray Mount Adhesive, its not as agressive as the 77 and you can reposition it if you put it down crooked or it starts to wrinkle. To help smooth things out, after i wet out the glass, I lay a piece of freezer paper (coating down) on top of the glass and squeege over the paper so that the paper is tight to the glass. Let it dry like this, and you will end up with a very smooth glass job.

ejames7699

My Feedback: (18)

Hello,
I'm building a dominator and step 9 of the instructions talks about a shuck and I don't have any idea of what they're talking about, do you remember anything that will help me or if there is anyone that can help, just jump in and stir up the pot.

Ejames7699@aol

Bill Vargas

My Feedback: (5)

The "shuck" is what your wing core came in or the wing core is in between the shucks,

If you want, and when your ready to fly it shoot me an email and we'll go from there,,, I'm up here in Corona


BV