Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
No, the wings, rudder and elevators will be covered with Solartex.
Scale 50cc Scratch Build From My Own Design Revisited
- Thread starter Jetpainter
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Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
The Solartex will be painted along with the glassed areas. I've painted Solartex many times with great results. I have a Great Planes Super Sportster hanging from the ceiling in my garage at home that is about 25 years old. It's covered with either Worldtex or Solartex and painted with automotive paint. It still looks great after being in an unheated, unairconditioned garage for most of that time.
Snoopy1
640cc Uber Pimp
@Jetpainter hi there, can I ask you a question. Seeing you are doing as much sheeting as I am presently would like to compare notes with you please. Just finished glueing 74 sheets together that are 48 inches long and 6 sheets 60 inches long. I have experimented with a way that is often mention on this form. That is just taping the sheets and then vacuum banging it. Tryed it on a small piece of curved foam and found that the joint opens a little note it is filled with epoxy and the joint is strong but it was very difficult to sand the joint smooth on a curved surface and the soft balsa on either side even with tape on either side. So I have gone back to edge glueing tapping and sanding the full sheet on large glass plate. This way I have very little or no shading required after vacuum bagging. How are you doing it and if you have any suggestions your help will be appreciated.
Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
Mine was all done with narrow planks glued on one at a time over stringers attached to bulkheads. Each plank is beveled on each edge by a modified balsa strip cutter. I used CA to glue the strips to the airframe, and Sigment to glue the planks to each other. Sigment sands really easily.
Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
I sanded the top, bottom and trailing edge of the stabs and then finished up putting the glass cloth on the stabs by doing the tips. After the resin cured I sanded the tips and put the second coat of resin on both stabs.
Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
Well progress creeps on. I sanded the second coat of resin with 120 grit and now the stabs are ready for primer. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but they turned out nice and smooth.
I also started getting the wings ready for covering. Last night I removed all the aileron hinges on one wing. I hate that job. It's not that it's that difficult, just a pain. The ones in the open bays are easy, just melted them from the hinge side then give them a twist from behind and pull them out. Some of the balsa blocks they were glued into were cracked or barely attached so I'll need to deal with that as well.
The next step is deARFing wing by fixing the wide gaps in the ailerons at each end and filling all the seams and bad spots to make a nice smooth surface for the Solartex. ARF companies do a pretty good job for the most part, but if I'm going to go through the work of covering and painting I want them to look better than they did when they were on the Yak 54.
I also started getting the wings ready for covering. Last night I removed all the aileron hinges on one wing. I hate that job. It's not that it's that difficult, just a pain. The ones in the open bays are easy, just melted them from the hinge side then give them a twist from behind and pull them out. Some of the balsa blocks they were glued into were cracked or barely attached so I'll need to deal with that as well.
The next step is deARFing wing by fixing the wide gaps in the ailerons at each end and filling all the seams and bad spots to make a nice smooth surface for the Solartex. ARF companies do a pretty good job for the most part, but if I'm going to go through the work of covering and painting I want them to look better than they did when they were on the Yak 54.
