Hostetler Cessna 336 Skymaster

[Bipeguy03]

The blue icing is a little pricey but you get A LOOOOOT of it and you will be surprised how much easier is sands than resin and micro. The resin/micro mix is great if you need to build up thickness as it is really strong, but is sands about as good as a rock.

The icing putty isn't as strong so don't use it to build up real thick because it may crack.

I'm looking forward to seeing this thing painted, I've always had a soft spot for the 336/337, they are just cool looking airplanes!

 

[Patto]

The blue icing is a little pricey but you get A LOOOOOT of it and you will be surprised how much easier is sands than resin and micro. The resin/micro mix is great if you need to build up thickness as it is really strong, but is sands about as good as a rock.

The icing putty isn't as strong so don't use it to build up real thick because it may crack.

I'm looking forward to seeing this thing painted, I've always had a soft spot for the 336/337, they are just cool looking airplanes!

I'm all about trying out new techniques at this stage. I don't have anything to go off of except the advice of you and the other folks here. I'll invest in the good stuff and see how I like it.

 

[Jetpainter]

The other plus with something like Icing or Dolphin Glaze is that you can sand it in about 15 minutes most of the time.

 

[Patto]

The other plus with something like Icing or Dolphin Glaze is that you can sand it in about 15 minutes most of the time.

Honestly, I'm getting pretty frustrated with trying to fill the low spots on the wings. I've been priming, filling, sanding, repeating, etc., and I'm not feeling like I'm making the progress I should be. The primer really shows a lot of imperfections, which is good, but it means there is so much to do before I can shoot some paint on it.

 

[Patto]

I picked up some "Icing" today from Napa. This stuff dries quickly! But, after I got the hang of it, I just smoothed a thin layer over the entire panels of both wings after trial and error the first attempt. I'm going to get out the orbital sander with high grit paper tomorrow and go over it. I will let you all know how it goes.

I spent some time working on glassing the rest of the bottom half of the center section as well.

Lots of progress. Hopefully I will have some good results to talk about tomorrow.

 

[Patto]

I have to admit, I'm really frustrated with the finishing. When I think I
have it completely smooth, after taking a day off from work and spending ALL DAY filling and sanding multiple times on the wings and all of the control surfaces, they are all still imperfect.

I am getting to the point where I am going to give up on perfection and just paint it. Ugh.

 

[Jetpainter]

It's worth it in the long run. Plus if you ever do it again it will go much quicker since you know what shows, so you can get the surface better before you glass

 

[Patto]

It's worth it in the long run. Plus if you ever do it again it will go much quicker since you know what shows, so you can get the surface better before you glass

Yeah, next time I will have a lot of experience in framing, sheeting, glassing, etc. I know that the next project will turn out better. But, in the meantime, I have to get this bird to a satisfactory finish, and it is not turning out as well as I would have liked. I took a whole day off work to get it nice, and I feel like I wasted it. I'm feeling frustrated, but I will push through and make things work. It may just be a stand-off type of finish for this one...

 

[Patto]

Glassing is finished...

 

[Patto]

Okay, glassing is really done now for real. I finished making the hatches for both wings, center section, and stab, and finally have everything glassed. Now, back to the finishing work... Ugh.