windsurfer

My Feedback: (37)

Hi guys,

Over the years, I have accumulated many kits, and they simply don't fit in the closets any more. I have to store the boxes in the attic :-)
The maximum attic temperature is about 100F; it has a gable vent that blows in cool air and whole bunch of passive vents; so, the temperature rarely exceeds 100 degrees.
My question is how to store the balsa kits, foam kits and fiberglass kits in the attic so that they don't get warped after some period of time with the attic temperature.
I put the balsa wood in plastic bags and tied their ends so the wood inside are not exposed any air. I took out all the molded PVC parts from the kits. I didn't do anything to the foam or fiberglass kits.
I am in California; the year around temperature does not fall below 40-50F and does not exceed 90F.
Thanks for the help.

jester_s1

I don't think you need to worry. It's moisture that warps wood, not temperature. Here in Texas our planes get up to 115 just sitting out at the flying field this time of year. Your attic isn't going to hurt them. I'll suggest if there are any lipo batteries you don't store them up there in the cold, but wood and Monokote will be fine.

perreback

I hope you're right. I once left some 8-foot floorboards in the attic of my garage, intending to nail them down later, as there wasn't a proper floor yet. Some weeks later, when I went up there to finish the job, some of the boards had warped to the extent that the ends were literally perpendicular to each other (I'm not kidding). Now, this obviously wasn't balsa wood, nor was the wood fixed/fastened the way it is in a finished product such as a model. I don't know whether it was moisture (or lack of moisture) that caused this warping. The attic was certainly hot, though. But as I said, loose floorboards are not the same as a model. I'll bet your models will fare better than my floorboards.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

It's the moisture for the most part. I live in an area where the humidity is only about 6 or 7 percent and I never have a warp problem. The OP is in the an area of Calif. that can be much higher. When I lived in the mountains just outside of Yosemite I stored my kits in an unheated shed during the rain and snow of winter and the heat of summer. As long as my kits were kept dry I had no trouble. I did wrap the boxes with some cling wrap though just to be on the safe side.

bob62

My Feedback: (28)

Were your floorboards plywood

perreback

No, I believe they were solid spruce.

aspeed

I got a Seamaster at a swap meet for $50 with motor(Supertiger .51), and servos that was left in an attic too long. The wing had at least a 1" twist in it and all the paint on the fuselage was blistered off. I tried many things to get the twist out, as it is a fairly stiff wing. I ended up putting it in the rafters of the garage with a big shim and a heavy trailer strap to tweak it back to the normal shape. I left it there for 1/2 a year, and it is ok now. I guess an unbuilt kit may fare a bit better, but I would not do it, at least without checking up on it periodically for brittleness and warps. On the other extreme, I left an FAI control line speed plane in a crawlspace that was fairly dry? for 30 years, and the wood was fine except where it was resting on the stab, which was bent up. Lots of mildew, and the aluminum bellcrank and all other aluminum pieces turned to powder.