I stumbled on an approach to hide those chipped cowl mounting bolt holes when Iwas assembling (not building )an Aeroworks Edge 540T .46/.60 ARF. Aeroworks uses Ultracote. I just happen to use Ultracote for all of my covering needs so Ihave a ton of scraps. During the fitment of the cowl it needed to be installed / removed / installed / blah blah blah. The top two holes on the cowl sides (all holes provided by Aeroworks before the cowl was painted red) continued to look good while the bottom two started chipping around the edge exposing white gel coat. The top two holes have cub yellow trim on the cowl which protects the painted surface. Iwent upstairs and grabbed a hole punch. I put a strip of red covering on a piece of card board and ta da - beautiful circles just a tad larger than the screw head. A trim iron and those ugly little chips are history.

Good tip. I iron covering down onto paint as well for trim. Now to keep those hole looking good. Take a CA hinge and CA it to the inside of the cowl where the hole is. Of course you will want to roughen the glass a little after cleaning the area. Then use a bonded washer under the screw head

I figured a way to fix all that as well a while back, and you can remove the cowl as many times as you want, and it won't damage the cowl.

Once you placed the cowl of your favorite ARF or Kit on the fuse and marked where you are going to drill the holes, make sure you drill the holes wide enough to be able to tightly push the brass or steel servo eyelets through the holes. A 1/8'' hand drill bit will work just fine for the perfect size hole you will need.

Once that is done, Medium CA them in place. You don't need much!



The next step, take your Dremel and put the metal cutting disk in and grind down the other end of the eyelets flush with the inside of the cowel. Take your time, don't grind into the back of the cowl, or atleast try not too. When I grind them down I use a old nail to heat sink the eyelet from the other side while I'm grinding, the eyelet tends to get a little hot.



Now you are all set. You are ready to use your button screws or cowl screws. It takes a little time to do, but it looks good and will last. Everyone who has seen them think it's a great idea, so I figured I'd share it with you all since you mentioned it.

Pete

Excellent tips!

A hole punch should be always around.

Nothing like those to perforate thin surfaces, in which drill bits make a mess while trying to make a hole.

Bonded or sealing washers.

Available from rtl fasteners or J&R Hobbies.

second that idea used them very successfully

Use little nylon bolts let into basswood blocks glued to firewall to secure cowls. They won't chip your glass cowls!

Grommets are your friends!

On bigger stuff, www.pspmfg.com sells something called a cowl binder. It's too thick for a .40 size cowl but worth looking at for bigger stuff. I also order fuel dots from them. They make several colors.


David

He's got some neat stuff Dave

It's not the cheapest place to buy stuff, but it is top notch.

David

Hi!
Best way is to skip the small bolts all together and mount the cowl from up front with four metal screws!
Four 3mm glass plates glued in the cowl with 24 hour epoxy.

Magnets