I love epoxy too. My most often go to glue. 5 minute is fast enough to set up that I mostly hold parts in place until set. And a little goes a long way (minimal weight). I use plenty of toilet tissue and paper towels wet it with rubbing alcohol to clean up the un-curred epoxy. Almost never have an issue with sanding if there is minimal glue. I just try to pre-round some edges so there is minimal finish sanding after gluing. If you get some white Micro-balloons to mix into the epoxy, a whole new world opens up in gap filling, shaping and lighter joints too.

Back to the great Phantom build log........

Fred

Originally Posted by sloperjoe

yep I used epoxy squeegied on and use alcohol wipes to clean off any that squishes out of the joint. I know alot of folks poopoo epoxy but if you dont over do it useing it its doesnt add alot of weight. I've tried CA but it just seems to be to brittle for foam.
and yes all the joints on the Phantom are butt joints.
as far as sanding it sands fine, if you sand when the epoxy is still "green" it will smooth out nicely, I will generally sand after the epoxy has set for 1/2hr or so, good and strong joint but still soft enough to sand out easily.

so there ya go, I am a taboo builder...

Joe

I love epoxy, I do the same as you with alcohol and use a minimal amount. I have been trying many different glues and have yet to find better when it comes to foam. I have tried many, many of the "foam" glues and the problem is they all dont work with all foam. The most glue sensitive foam I have found is the Dow blue (not the FFF) but the 1/2" and up that you get at Lowes and that is the foam I like the most. So epoxy it is!!!

in response to a question, I have posted some battery access pics. the hole was cut after the canopy was formed, I out lined it while in place then cut the access holes for batts, and RX placement so it would be covered by the canopy, you can see in the pics the velcrow tabs in the bottom of the fuse, the batt has 3 stuck to it and I also marked with an arrow the spot where the front of the batt sits for CG placement, also note that velcrow does not stick to foam very good, so I spritzed in some spray adhesive and put a piece of packing tape down in there that all the velcrow sticky backs cling to like glue.

Joe

Good pics Joe,,, I use the really good Velcro, the sticky on the back is unbelievable, but I always put epoxy on the back of it in the plane, then it will stay. W

Hi Guys, I'm New to RC Groups...Love this site!...Thanks Joe for your hard work on this model, I'm enjoying the build alot!
Here's a couple pics...

Steve

AWESOME! looks really good! cant wait to hear how she flies for you! vids maybe?

Joe

Steve,welcome to RCG! Your plane looks good! What power Re you using in it? Looks like it is getting pretty close to a maiden.. Glad your here, RCG is a great place to share and learn.w

Hi Walt, I'm using the same edf setup as Joe, the Detrum 70mm edf / 60 amp esc.

great fan for the price...But the only thing that i dont like about those setups is the lack of bullet connectors on the esc?????? They ship connectors on the motor but not on the esc. of course your going to plug the motor into the esc... where's the connectors?????? oh well i'll have to solder the connections....

I'm far from the maiden flight...Lots of work still to go....
Thanks for the welcome....

Steve

I've printed out the plans and they look great Joe! After re-reading the thread, I have a question about securing the fan in the plane. I see the fan mount made of foam (as in Steve's pic above), but did you glue the unit in the plane, or just tape it?

Hey all, a little progress report here....
much more sanding needed...
watch out for the length of the wiring, I came up short on the stock lengths of Batt and esc wire..
I just hot glued the motor in....
happy modeling !
Steve

hey BillO,
yep just glued mine in to. used epoxy to glue the fan onto the motor mount then also to glue the fan/mountplate into the plane.

@Steve, lookin good, I had to lengthen the battery wires on mine too, I dont cover allot of the "make it go stuff" in my build threads because everyone seems to have their own favorite way of doing things, so in the future I will attempt to show a little better what I do to mount some of the components.

oh.. one thing I didn't cover is how the canopy attaches..I buy little rare earth magnets from Harbor Freight..they are like 1/4" diam by 1/8" thick and are super strong, I use 4, 2 epoxied into little pockets on the front and rear of the canopy, then 2 more epoxied into carved pockets in corresponding spots in the fuselage. you can see the mags in the pics above...works awesome... don't use regular magnets...they aren't strong enough, Harbor Freight sells then 10 for $2..I usually buy a couple packs whenever I go there.

Joe

Got started on the build this week. I had a bunch of Square Edge on hand, so I am using it for this plane. It's a 25 psi 1.6 lb/cu ft foam similar to Depron.

The plan is to glass the airframe as I would like it to be bit stronger than pure foam. Hopefully it will add less than 4 oz. My sanded wing is 3.1 oz, so the foam I'm using seems about right.

nice work BillO, I sanded my wing faster only because $tree foam sands down very easily, blue core is a little denser and takes a little more elbow grease
nice FeatherCut set-up, I have cut sheets from 2" bluecore kinda the same way you did, works good!
Joe

Thanks Joe. What do you think about putting in another wall in the intakes to direct all the air to the fan? On the plans it looks like there is a way for air to escape out the back without going through the fan. Might increase thrust and reduce drag I'm thinking.

howdy BillO,
cant say if that would help or not..never had any trouble flying, I know most folks use a thrust tube, and intakes that divert all air into the fan...I've flagrantly violated the rules of thumb in that regard ...so far successfully, ..your Phantom can be built any way you want to do it,..

Joe