cotman

My Feedback: (10)

Anyone have ideas of how to harden balsa before covering. I seem to get lots of dings while sanding before covering. Hait to spend lots of money using thin CA, althrough I know that works great. As always..thanks for any suggestions

KitBuilder

Hangar rash is a problem... no real way around it other than:

plenty of room
cleaning off all building materials, etc
careful attention to moving the plane around.

Since most dings are on the egdes of all parts.. corners, leading edges, etc.. I have read where you could dilute wood glue with water and brush it on. I have not done it but it apparently offers some hardness and sands glass smooth.

Live Wire

Have you tried Window cleaner to raise dents, I have been doing it for years. Just on scratches and dents a drop or 2
Larry K

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Fill the dents with plaster wall spackling compound

Lnewqban

Tip copied from http://www.gmaa.org.au/tips.html

"If you ding your balsa while building, place a few drops of water on the dent and steam out with a covering iron. If the piece is covered (Hanger Rash) use a small diabetic needle to inject a few drops of water under the covering and they use your heating iron. The dent will come right out."


Tip copied from http://www.fatlion.com/sailplanes/knighttips.html

"There are several ways to reinforce the trailing edges to make them truly ding resistant. Roughed-up 14 mil mylar (with 80 grit sandpaper) sandwiched between two vacuum bag wing skins works pretty well. Fiberglass cloth works even better (2 to 3 oz. variety). I personally use .007 x 1/2 inch carbon fiber tape. I pre-laminate the carbon fiber tape to the lower wing skin, then place a layer of two-inch wide 1.4 ounce fiber glass cloth from the middle of the carbon fiber tape towards the center of the wing. Next use a light spray of 3M77 or other spray on contact cement to hold the fiberglass cloth in place. Once cured, just sand the TE until you see the black carbon fiber on both sides. This provides very light, extremely ding resistant trailing edges. If you vacuum bag wing skins of either obeechi or balsa wood, make sure you put the sheeted wings back in the beds with weights on top of them until you're ready to cover the surface. Once the sheeted wing is removed from the vacuum bag, it may change shape as the wood skins absorb moisture from the surrounding air. It becomes critically important to place the wings back in the beds if you use a filler compound that is water based, such as vinyl spackle."

ro347

My Feedback: (13)

Thanks for that one!

bps

My Feedback: (3)

I coat my balsa structures with a latex product called ModPodge purchased at Michael's Craft Stores. It is a latex glue and sealer made for wood and paper projects. I use this as a sanding sealer and then a light sanding toughens up the balsa before covering. I now cover with Sig Koverall so you would need to test it with the plastic iron ons to make sure they reacted well. I know any sanding sealer under the plastic iron ons makes the removal or moving of the covering tough. Let us know how it works if you decide to use it.

pappywolf

Kitbuilder, you stated watered down wood glue. (Name of glue ) Wouldn't this add alot of weight ? Also you said it will sand smooth. How many treatments to get smooth ? I will give it a try. Thanks

Broken Wings

My Feedback: (20)

Try Coverite Balsarite.

gene6029

I have used the dilluted wood glue (elmers white ) before covering with Monokote with excellent results. I read about this process years ago in an article by Jeff Holsinger. He has had several models win best finish, so i gave it a try. I have had problems keeping my Monokote from lifting & that was why i tried it. Im not sure if the glue has any effect on keeping the Monokote from lifting, but i can say it does harden the wood and it sands out nice to give you a Monokote finish like glass. I still cover some of my vintage models in period correct Monokote & am fanaticle about how they look, so i can say it does work. I put on several coats with sanding between. The wood will take on an egg shell type hardness. I,d try it first on a test piece to see if its for you......Gene

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Elmers white will act a lot like Balsarite

SteveR Rambin

Great tip Gene. I'm rebuilding a Sig Kavalier as a mid wing and was looking for a wood sealer before covering. Just wondering if you ever used paint after sealing with the glue.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I have used two coats of sanding sealer then sanded it then used one coat of Deft sanding Laquer then sanded again. Not very much added weight and the wood is a lot tougher. I have never tried the watered down glue though?? I just watch what I'm doing {like that helps!} and when I do get a deep ding I just use light weight spackling paste like 8 mentioned. I really hate sanding!!!