fabricating a cowl
 

how would you make a cowl out of a 2ltr. coke bottle or sprite and make the cowl to work for a .40 starfire arf? someone at the hobby shop mention 'have you tried to use a 2 ltr. bottle?' and i thought now thats an awesome idea. its just a plane to fly ill get something better like the little tony from great planes. this plane is like a back up. so has anyone tried this before? what should i need to know? thanks

RE: fabricating a cowl
 

its simple, ha-ha. cut the bottom off, say 2". add a inner ring of balsa to the end. also add more formers as required. CA will work, I usualy drill a few pin holes in the plastic, for the CA to grab hold of. its all an experiment, sometimes they don't work. try it. dick

RE: fabricating a cowl
 

or how about this take some balsa blocks the width and hieght of the 2 ltr bottle carve the balsa into the cowl style you want take the bottle slide it in then take the heat gun and begin molding it into shape of the mold you made now that might be a better way of making a cowl anyone?

RE: fabricating a cowl
 

I do it the "hard way".

Sand/carve a block of foam to the shape/contour I want.

Cover it with some scrap low temp film.

Apply 2 layers of 2 oz fiberglass cloth (or more depending on cowl size ) with finishing resin.

Let dry 24 - 48 hours

Sand and fill as needed

Make an X in the open area through the film and pour in a LITTLE gasoline (do this outside )

Come back in 20 minutes and scoop out the "sludge" and film

Wash thoroughly with soap an water.

Reshape cowl to desired final shape and let dry for an additional 72 hours to harden up.

Prime and paint.

You will have a lightweight cowl that is substantially more durable than the "Pepsi" bottle and a lot more heat resistant also.

RE: fabricating a cowl
 

I also do it the way campy does it. Takes about a weekend to do a cowl ready for finish sanding. And they really are very durable.
Edwin

RE: fabricating a cowl
 

yes it works but you might need a 3 liter water bottle all yo du is make a plug out of wood or glassed foam insert it into a cut bottle ensuring the prop hole and bottle hole line up and us a heat gun to shrink the bottle down tight do not use balsa since when the bottle is shrinking it can produce upto 75psi