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- Newsgroups: rec.models.rc
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!news.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!liggio
- From: liggio@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Vincent J. Liggio)
- Subject: Re: Foam Cores
- Message-ID: <1992Aug24.013843.17930@news.columbia.edu>
- Sender: usenet@news.columbia.edu (The Network News)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
- Reply-To: liggio@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Vincent J. Liggio)
- Organization: Columbia University
- References: <1992Aug18.214800.1782@iex.uucp>
- Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 01:38:43 GMT
- Lines: 51
-
- In article <1992Aug18.214800.1782@iex.uucp> djones@iex.iex.com writes:
- >I am expecting my foam cores from Wing Mfg to show up most any moment. These
- >cores will form the wing for my Jensen Stick. Having never worked with foam
- >before I am curious what folks use to cover them. I have considered the
- >following options:
- >
- >1) Completely sheeting them with 1/16" balsa and the using Monokote.
- >2) Completely sheeting them with 1/16" balsa and then glassing and
- > painting.
- >3) Using leading and trailing edge 1/16" balsa sheeting with cap
- > strips and then covering with Monokote.
- >4) Glassing over the raw cores and then painting.
- >
- >If I should try glassing (something I have never done before...at least not
- >like this) what weight of glass? And do I use epoxy thinned or polyester resin?
- >
- >What are the techniques that have been tried. Please post or send
- >email and I will post a summary.
-
- Glass it! The foam is really not strong enough, and the balsa will not be
- strong enough by itself since it is just sheeting. I don't know if
- monokote would do.
-
- I have a 1/5 scale Rutan Long-EZ (canard-pusher w/wingtips), which has a
- wing built of 8 sections. The main wing is six pieces, and the wing tips
- the other two. The middle sections are glassed using 2 layers of 2 oz
- glass, overlapping 1" into the next wing section. The outer sections are
- glassed using 2 layers of 3/4 oz glass. The glass is applied in the
- following manner:
-
- Using a spray on contact adhesive (available at any art supply store),
- spray the piece to be glassed with a layer of adhesive. (The less the
- better, but enough to make it stick). Then apply the first layer of glass.
- Using a mixture of 30 minute epoxy and rubbing alcohol (2x more epoxy than
- alcohol), thinned to just above watery consistancy, 'paint' onto the glass.
- Then repeat after the epoxy is dry with another layer of glass at a 45
- degree angle. Overlap at the different sections of the wing by at least 1"
- (if your wing is only two pieces, then do the center separately from the
- outer edges) The glass will feel rough, but this is fixed by using a
- brushable filler (Something like Hobbypoxy H90 filler). Use the filler to
- smooth out the roughness. Do not sand the glass itself... Then paint with
- your favorite paint (I used epoxy paint).
-
- This method is not as hard as it might seem. I used it with my Long-EZ,
- which was my first RC plane I built (at the age of 15), and it came out
- beautiful. This is a similar method used to build the actual Long-EZ, so
- it has to be very strong!
-
- Good luck!
-
- Vince
-