I just recently bought this TG F-15 off here. This is my first D/F so I dont know a lot about them. I'm in college right now and it seemed like a good deal to me.

I have enclosed pics of the problems and I need to know what I can do to fix them and how hard it will be.

The other question I have is on the fan that came with it. The guy told me that having nics in the blade and shroud were common b/c of it being a D/F. I just wanted to see if this was true so I enclosed pics of that also.

I gave $340 for the jet, fan and OS .77 engine which appears to be in good shape, just needs some cleaning

Let me know what you think and if I got ripped off or not.

Go to my gallery for the pics

Thanks
Nick

The nicks in the fan are common with the byron fan cause it sucks all kinds of crap through it, but you can, and should buy a new rotor. The housing does not really matter the nicks won't hurt it. The cracks on the fuse look just like any other high time TG F-15. Fix'em glass'em and fly it. The red stuff is putty, use some Evercoat polyester glazing putty after sanding, and cleaning, and you can fill all those cracks and make it look pretty again if you so desire. The TG F-15 is the "Ugly Stick" of jets, fly it crash it fix it fly it again. We used to bounce them off the runway doing low passes and all kinds of abuse, fun to fly. I wore out 3 or 4 OS .91's and 3 sets of retracts in mine. It still hangs in the ceiling in my shop and looks worse than the pictures you have there.....but if I really took the notion it could fly this weekend.

Have fun with it.

DR

Thanks David I really appreciate the input.

I'm going to fix it up and I'll look about getting another fan. Do you have anytips on glassing

Thanks
Nick

Nick call me I live in Silver Spring Md. I can help you on glassing.
My number is 301-384-9782 w- 202-452-4165

Eddie Lozano

If you are a JPO member Gordon Dickens just wrote an excellent article about repairing broken fiberglass in the latest Contrails newsletter.

It all depends upon the specific repairs. Cracks like yours appear to be, scuff the backside really well with a dremel with a ball ended carbide bit (1/4" to 1/2" ball) and roguh up with 80 Grit sandpaper, then glass it back with 6 oz cloth cut into strips, and either polyester or epoxy resin depending upon what the fuselage is made out of. (TGA is epoxy I think) the cracks on the outside black sand and fill with Evercoat polyeter glazing putty and sand smooth. If you have some larger gaps to fill you can use epoxy and microballoons, or sometimes even mix in a little milled fiberglass to fill gaps.

Here is a tip on glassing that works very good for me! First clean the surface! Next cut the glass cloth to the size needed and lay it on a piece of Saran wrap on your work bench. Mix some slow cure epoxy ( Zpoxy works good) and wet the glass until the glue goes through the weave. Next, Pick up the Saran wrap and put it on the plane, ( glass side down). Now carefully remove the Saran Wrap from the glass, Use the tip of a scrap of wood etc. to hold the glass down while you pull the wrap off. Now you can use a brush to apply a small amount of epoxy on the glass and you will have a nice smooth patch and you never even got glue on your hands!

Geez, after reveiw of the pics, you might want to go ahead and use that kwik strip stuff they sell at home depot to take all the paint off, then you can see the nitty gritty of anything that's hidden. I did a Byron F-18 with that stuff and took it down to the gel coat. It didn't attack the gel coat. Good Stuff. Then go with David's suggestion on areas that just need filled. Epoxy and microballoons. It's light weight and works great. Just make the paste and then use one of those yellow bondo squegees or a credit card, sand smooth done. Unless it's structurally unsound, then use any of the glass techniques, but I would try to do the repair from the inside if you couldn on that nose section. Play around with it. At that price, sky is the limit, don't give up, do it over and over. I've found that the more questions you ask here, people like David, and Todd and many others chime in and educate me. Had no idea how useful this RCUNIVERSE tool is. It's all intimidating, but just go for it is what I've found. Worse case, sand it off and try again! Best case, a first class looking and flying F-15. I love mine!!

Man I really appreciate all the good tips and advice. I am going to call Eddie (elrcjets) tonight and see if he can help me with the glassing so I can see first hand at how to do it.

I have one ? though, what are microballons and what would you use them for.

Thanks
Nick

your local hobby shop will sell microballons, it looks like talcum powder, in fact talcom powder might work. The microballons are a lot more finer (bad grammer, but you get the point). When mixed with epoxy (two part) it makes a real paste that is not runny. Then you smooth the mixture into the cracks. It sets up pretty hard, yet, not too hard to sand. Use sparingly, but get it into those fissures.

PS, I used 20 minute and microballoons to fill a whole in my sheetrock wall (3inch in diameter!!) Smoothed it out and painted over it. Wow, did it work great!

I'm glad you told me b/c I didnt know what the heck they were, but I understand now.

I have some 30 min epoxy but I got it from towerhobbies, but what is a good strong epoxy to use?

Nick

Thirty minute will be fine. WHatever your local hobby store sells will be good. Anything 20 min or 30 min. You just don't want to use 5 min, becuase the nature of 5 min, it's a lot thicker. 20 or 30 is thin comparatively. Stock up on 5 and 20 or 30 min. You should always have this on hand anyway for any number of things. Email me some pics and I'll walk you through every step in email, or if you want to talk, I'm in a hotel in Florida right now with nothing better to do.

my email is [email protected]

Well I have some pics in my gallery of what needs to be done and yea send me your number and I can give you a call b/c we dont get charged for LD calls

Thanks
Nick