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Glassing and Painting techniques

sweetpea

100cc
good read.....

I have done minor painting. Started with Airbrushing RC car body's (lexan). I found a pascha (sp?) single stage was good for that. I learned to paint backward designs because you paint the inside of the body. That has screwed up my painting on outside layouts! I have done cowls/canopy's/ wheel pants and used rattle cans, automotive paints and Klass Kote. I really like the easy of application on Klass Kote and the ease of clean up.

For primer, I have not tried anything but rattle cans (rusteloum sandable/filler). Mainly because there is no clean up and I can spray small sections without cleanup. Worked good on my P-47 I did with rivets and panel lines. I do think its heavier and a touch more expensive to do it this way so I'll probably try another primer for my gun.

Since I'm no "expert" and I don't paint all the time I bought a water filter and spray gun from Harbor Freight. I know, not the best, but I've been happy with the results.

For fiberglassing I've done Zpoxy Resin on my P-47 and a couple canopies. I thinned mine with denatured alchohol and you put it on in thin coats. Sanding it is still painful but the result is a very hard surface. I started a jet (Falcon 120) with Minwax poly. I had the sealer and I think I put it on too thick and it did bow a flap but I fixed it. Since I have not used the sealer and put the poly on very thin and things have been fine. I really like the ease of this product. You can put 2-3 coats on in one day (very thin coats!!). With Epoxy I had to wait overnight. Sanding is also very quick. The parts feel pretty light as well. But I don't think you will have the strength on hangar rash that epoxy has. But if you treat your planes like film covering than it shouldn't be an issue really. I still need to finish my jet (maybe this summer??).

One thing I totally stink at though is clear coat and buffing etc. I just don't know how to do any of that. I need to really sit down and watch someone do it and learn the techniques.
 

HRRC Flyer

GSN Sponsor Tier 1
In an effort to share what little I can, in an incredible thread like this, I'd like to tell you guys about something that I've seen done quite a few times on my "Other" home away from home (RCSB). It's a method of filling the weave in your fiberglass without the need for allot of filling and sanding. It's called the Peel Ply method and involves laying down your glass and resin, then embedding a layer of 100% Darcon into the wet resin. Then you let everything dry thoroughly then peel the dacron off and it leaves an incredibly smooth surface requiring very little if any filling and sanding. The Dacron also removes the excess resin as well, saving weight. I'm sure there are many more experienced people in this thread who can explain the process better than I can. Also, from what I've read, this system seems works allot better when the heavier weight fiberglass is used so it might not be a viable process for our purposes. Hopefully, if there is someone who has experience with the peel ply method will chime in and show us the process, in action.

Thanks guys for an AWESOME thread. I'll probably learn more in this thread than anyone else here.
 

Pistolera

HEY!..GET OUTTA MY TREE!
Figured I'd throw these here as well...Finished glassing the new single seater Raven canopy. Sanded a bit with 150 then applied lightweight joint compound and sanded again. It is now baby-butt smooth and ready for some primer. The joint compound only added 1 oz, which surprised me, but then again, damn near all of it was sanded off.

1st pic is glassed, then joint compound applied, last is sanded. First time I've tried this method, BIG THANKS to you guys :cheers::cheers::cheers:

Oh...another thing that seems to be working great as a sanding block for curved shapes is a piece of pink foam board. It is stiff enough not to bend into small depressions, but has a little flexibility to help with the curves.
DSC04121.JPG
DSC04122.JPG DSC04123.JPG
 

Jlc

70cc twin V2
Figured I'd throw these here as well...Finished glassing the new single seater Raven canopy. Sanded a bit with 150 then applied lightweight joint compound and sanded again. It is now baby-butt smooth and ready for some primer. The joint compound only added 1 oz, which surprised me, but then again, damn near all of it was sanded off.

1st pic is glassed, then joint compound applied, last is sanded. First time I've tried this method, BIG THANKS to you guys :cheers::cheers::cheers:

Oh...another thing that seems to be working great as a sanding block for curved shapes is a piece of pink foam board. It is stiff enough not to bend into small depressions, but has a little flexibility to help with the curves.
View attachment 12728 View attachment 12729 View attachment 12730
Looks great. Did you use two coats of resin?
 

Pistolera

HEY!..GET OUTTA MY TREE!
Nope.....just one coat and scraped off as much as I could before it started kicking off. There was a LOT of FG weave showing, but the JC filled it beautifully. I used 2oz glass as that's all i could find around here.
 
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stangflyer

I like 'em "BIG"!
Figured I'd throw these here as well...Finished glassing the new single seater Raven canopy. Sanded a bit with 150 then applied lightweight joint compound and sanded again. It is now baby-butt smooth and ready for some primer. The joint compound only added 1 oz, which surprised me, but then again, damn near all of it was sanded off.

1st pic is glassed, then joint compound applied, last is sanded. First time I've tried this method, BIG THANKS to you guys :cheers::cheers::cheers:

Oh...another thing that seems to be working great as a sanding block for curved shapes is a piece of pink foam board. It is stiff enough not to bend into small depressions, but has a little flexibility to help with the curves.
View attachment 12728 View attachment 12729 View attachment 12730
Dang, that I really nice. I looks so...."factory" built.
 

3Dchief

70cc twin V2
A good source of a wide variety of types and weights of fiberglass, kevlar, and CF is Raka, Inc. I buy all my glass and epoxy for boat building from them. I haven't tried any of the really light stuff, I use 4 oz, 10 oz, and 20 oz on my boats. I'll probably throw a few yards of 1 oz on my next order to have laying around the plane bench. You guys are tempting me to try my hand at glassing a plane!
 

Pistolera

HEY!..GET OUTTA MY TREE!
Painting question (although not RC related :oblong: ).......I'm looking for an aerosol paint manufacturer that can color match some of our interior wall paint in our new house. Would like to spray paint the HVAC return grills on the walls to match.

I've been scouring the web, but most hits are for automotive stuff. Haven't found any that will match up Sherwin-Williams paints.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated !!!!!
 

mndless

Don't know a thing..
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