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Thanks Randy I cleaned them with alcohol and then a coat of primer. They need just a little sanding and should look fine when they are Navy blue. Now I can glue my retract beams in, remove the units themselves and continue on finishing the middle section cosmetics prior to glassing. And I did get all the other surface finished glassing, glad that's done. J |
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Comparing the gear doors on the A-1 and on the A2D, the engineers didn't spend a lot of time making them pretty on the A2D. Of course, for the A2D, the wing was a lot thinner and the wheels couldn't be completely hidden as they are on the A-1. I think that you captured the design very well, though. and they really came out very nicely Doors don't have to be pretty any way. Their only purpose was to reduce drag and in our case to add scale appeal to your finished rendition.
Jim |
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Nice work on the doors J as others have noted. I was wondering if you have used polyester gelcoat and resin for work on cowlings, doors etc. I have been using it for boat renovation recently and been pleased with the results. It sets up faster and is a lot cheaper than epoxy. Any thoughts on pros and cons in aeromodelling applications?
All the best Alec |
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Man, I wish this website would get straight. I really tired of fighting logging in and then once it lets me, can't post on my thread.
Sorry for the rant but it just shouldn't be this hard. Jim, Thanks. Yeah, the A2D are sort of funky but it was an easy solution for them I'm sure. These should look fine but really only will be seen at 50 mph and 50' altitude. Like I said, the difficult part coming up is the hinges and servo linkages. Alec, Thank you. You know, I started out yrs ago using polyester resin. It was all I could get where I lived and that was before the supremacy of internet shopping. I changed to epoxy and this is from memory, so sort of suspect, but I thing I changed because of the smell. I mainly made cowls with it and it worked fine for that. I tried epoxy and liked it. You are correct, polyester is cheaper and I've seen where several people use it. I purchased the polyester at the auto parts store along with their small packages of FG cloth. If you've ever seen that cloth, it looks like about 50 oz/yd weight, really heavy and huge weave. Of course they were using it for auto repairs. Really as far as pros and cons, I'm really not enough of an expert. I added a 1/4" ply piece to the front of the main door mold. I'll coat it with epoxy and sand smooth as I can. Pretty sure when they come out of the mold that they will need some cosmetic work on that seam but that's no big deal. And I don't have to make a new mold. I do need to be more careful mixing up the surface coat, making sure the silica doesn't have any clumps in it. That gave me some blemishes. Another thing, I brushed on the PVA and you can get very tiny bubbles that dry and they can leave more blemishes. Had I paid more attention, I wouldn't have to do anything to the finished doors. J |
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I brush PVA and what I do is hit it fast with a heat gun. Not to dry it but the tiny bubbles expand and pop. I do the same with the first coat of epoxy for the same reason.
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Just FYI: polyester gelcoat does not add strength. Its a pigment filled resin intended to fill remaining weave and provide a base for paint or even be the sole finish. As such, it only adds weight, even tho it pulls easily from molds. Better to develop the technique for releasing epoxy layups directly on mold surfaces.
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Why I ask is that, unless I run aground, I too have ended up with a lifetime's supply And you are right about the weight of the mat. I ordered 3 metres each of chopped strand, woven rovings and biaxial in the 300-600gsm range. I could just about build another boat with whats left over. Alec |
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That's a good tip Pat, thanks, hadn't even crossed my mind to try that. I'll try that on the next layup. Appreciate it.
Thanks for the info Ken, good to know. Alec, Yes, it has been years but I still remember the smell. Your post reminds me. I know that epoxy resin lasts probably forever. Back in the 80's we had what we called the Great Wabash Cannonball Race on the Wabash River. Each year we built a new boat. One year it was a Viking ship, next a catamaran, our last was a Vietnam Riverine Monitor Gunboat. And it was really a cool boat too. Yeah, big boys and their toys. I had ordered WS epoxy because someone suggested it. We bought 5 gal at a time. Race was finally cancelled and what was left( about 3 gal) was put on the shelf at our plant up in Illinois. About 5 years ago my brother ran across it and asked me if I could use it. Well yeah, if it's still good? I picked it up on my next trip up there and it was as fluid and clear as the day we bought it. It is now flying around in several planes that I built with it. Had to buy new hardener though, that will only last for a year or maybe two. So save all that stuff Alec, you will eventually find a use for it, maybe something that you would never have thought of. J |
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I have used polyester resin for molds to save costs on a thick layup. But only in the summer when I can work outside. The smell is awful.
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This morning I bit the bullet and laid up the other side doors. They are curing now, I'll trim once they get stiff enough. Also trimmed up all the other surfaces that I glassed. Glad that chore is over but not comes the part where you have to sand, fill, sand, fill, sand.....yada, yada. And I guess I better get my list together for Callie for the decals. She's really busy. J |
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kind of paint I was using. Can't remember which worked best so I just go w/o now. I mean, how long does it take to wipe it clean and spray primer on it? J |
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Been working on the wing mount and blending those pesky strakes/sweep in the LE. Also trying to get some of these surfaces finished and in primer.
There are several ways to finish glassed surfaces. Don't know which one is best, but I went back in time to do these. Filling weave is just a , no getting away from it. I'm doing these like I did 10 yrs ago. on my F-4E. Sand the glass surface and then take the light weight spackle and hand rub it into the weave. This makes sure the weave is full and leaves no pinholes. After thoroughly dry, sand smooth and then give it a coat of straight WPBU, no talc involved. Then wet sand that and primer. It leaves a very nice smooth surface. Here is one of the flap bottoms. It takes some time but getting a good surface does take time. J |
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Some more good tips for me, J, since I haven't done a lot of glass work in the past. I'll try it when I get to that part on the A-1. Those parts look really nice.
Jim |
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Last edited by parkcityskier; Jun 23, 2019 at 02:20 PM.
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Thanks Jim
Work continues on finishing the surfaces but I ran out of filling primer. Started on the tailwheel, it's pretty funky too, trying to figure out how I can make it sort of scale. Looking for some help in locating these small tailwheel units. I bought a bunch of them years ago from Phil's R/C ( China). Back then they were only like $15 each. He's evidently out of business now and I have searched but can't find these units anywhere. If anyone runs across them, please let me know. I've never had a problem with them, they work great and make tailwheel installs easy. Working on the wing too, trying to finish up the strakes/sweep on the LE. Getting close, just need to clean up the part that is fixed to the fuse. Once that is done I can work on the wing saddle to give it a small fillet and close the small gaps in it. Finally got the middle section bottom glassed. Gave it a 6" strip of 3 oz cloth on the seam just to reinforce a bit and then 3/4 oz over it. The top will get that too. J |
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