Phil's Phase 6 Build

www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/polyc.html
I covered a foam model once with this + lightweight cloth and seem to remember it did rather well.

Chris001 wrote: Hi Phil, What weight of glass cloth did you use and what resin? Did you weigh the wing before glassing? It would be interesting to know how much weight it adds.
And are you going to spray it? or will covering film adhere to the glass/epoxy?

No idea on wing weight Chris and anyway it had two Hitec slim wing mg servos installed. Glass cloth was from RC World 25gram/mtr www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/RC-Worlds-Lig...RCW4838.html#SID=114 Zap finishing resin, virtually no smell unlike GRP resin which when I was repairing a cowl stunk the whole house for a day much to my wife's dismay. :( ;)

Using the roller method was easy and therefore the underside came out much much better than the top. Learning fast here! After a few hours I just trimmed off excess cloth and carefully cut away cloth above servo bays. Using the roller you only apply resin where you want cloth to stick

Once primed and sanded, the former discloses any pin holes and highs n lows, then prime again and then wet n dry. Followed by a few coats of Halford's finest acrylic car paints. Hundreds of colours to choose from! Well, that's the plan :lol:

With the wing earlier set on to the fuselage and the securing bolt and captured nut installed I can now finalise sanding on the fuselage too and permanently install the hardware. Cannot decide whether to film cover fuselage or glass that as well. Might toss a coin on that one.

Veneer looks nice Mike bringing out the grain but I don't want to show off......:lol: Might not be too visible at height though.

davidbright wrote: www.rcworld.co.uk/acatalog/polyc.html
I covered a foam model once with this + lightweight cloth and seem to remember it did rather well.

Yes Dave, seen a few videos on this method. Easy to clean up too being water based. maybe a HK Phoenix wing glassed with this stuff in the future?

Phil

It would be worth glassing the fus for extra strength. The Phase 6 fus being ply is strong anyway, but if you break them, they are really hard keep straight when you repair them as the ply is hard to manipulate and rejoin, trust me I know from painful experience

I was thinking the same thing Jon. No runways on slopes! Landing is the most testing time for glider and pilot . For the extra work with glassing I think I will follow your advice. Better order in some more Zap.

Well after making a few errors or "learning curve" as it is called, now got the wing coated with primer-filler. Now shows me more things to do. The leading edge balsa now appears to be NOT level with wing surface yet I spent ages sanding that area down. So now had to wait for the primer to cure through. Flatted down with added lite filler paste, flattened down again. Still faintly showing through. Would've been so much easier to have Profilmed the wing. Gone back over once again and a bit better but not perfect. If I keep sanding I will end up going through veneer. 800 Wet n Dry and now a smooth finish mostly. Had enough for the day!

When you've sprayed the wing with a satin finish it'll hardly show at all. There's nothing wrong with a "twenty foot" finish. Looking good though, keep it going!

Brian wrote: When you've sprayed the wing with a satin finish it'll hardly show at all. There's nothing wrong with a "twenty foot" finish

It will be a gloss finish so maybe make that 25 foot. :lol: If it flies nice that will make me happy.

If I keep fiddling I will either break through the skinning or worse still a TFU.. Thanks for your support Brian.

It has been a bit slow recently. A few mistakes plus the sudden cold weather has curtailed working outside and also spray painting. Plus my enthusiasm. I now have some form of ARF. The wing is painted (Appliance White) The control surfaces are covered with Profilm and pin hinge holes were made prior to covering.

Using Epoxy resin for glassing I was able to do complete the fuselage indoors (no smell). Yesterday I managed to get it rubbed down, and a coat of High Build primer on it. This afternoon I made a quick sortie outside so I could wet n dry the primer. A few dents to fill but it will do.

Now waiting for some better temperature days so I can put the final colour on.. After that I can started putting in the hardware. Meanwhile, I can get the control surfaces located.

If I was to factor in my man hours at my going rate I could've bought a full blown composite ARF.

Looking good Phil.

The thing with actually building (not assembling) is the satisfaction you get from actually creating something yourself which is also unique and not identical to several others on the flightline.

It's a shame it seems to be a dying art

Also if you break it, you'll have some idea about how to fix it!

Looking good, Phil.