RC Airplane Fiberglass Cowl Refurbish. RC-AIR How To
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- Опубликовано: 24 янв 2021
- Simple steps to refurbish fiberglass remote control airplane components. In this video I am demonstrating how to fill multiple holes in a fiberglass cowl as part of converting a gas/glow plane to electric. Multiple steps are demonstrated in this tutorial to move from preparing the cowl to completion of paint.
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Nice job Don. Couple of things, just off the top of my head, that I have also learned over the years, it's important to know whether the original part was layed up with epoxy resin or polyester resin, because they don't stick to each other well. Generally you can tell which it is, by smell, when you start sanding it. The best adhesion comes when you use the same type of resin doing the repair.
Also, after wetting up the cloth if you take a hair dryer and warm up the resin it will flow out more evenly, then take some paper towels and blot up all the excess resin, it will give you a smoother surface that requires less sanding in the finishing stages, and as a bonus,, it also reduces weight. Fillers, like Fast and Final spackle, and primers are lighter than resins and easier to work with. You can also use a heat gun to heat up the resin but you have to be really careful not to get the surfaces to hot or they will usually deform, especially if they were made using polyester resin.
Quality job, keep up the good work!
Ken
This is great! Thanks for sharing! I have a large PAU Extra 300 60-inch wing span and they don't sell replacement cowlings! This is by far the best video I have yet seen on how to repair and finish. Again, thank you!
Tha k you that means a lot!!!
Epoxy sticks well to polyester but polyester not very well to epoxy .
You will smell polyester when you sand it ..
If you wash it all in warm water and soap it takes the pva off . Which was likely on the outside if it was painted in the mold .
Looks good
Nice work
Great tip on this. I purchased a Great Planes U-can-Do 3D, and just like your video, the pervious owner cut the heck out of the cowling. Now that I want it to make it new again, I will try your tip!
Great! I have two new in Box U-Can-Do’s that I plan on building out this year. By all means let me know how it goes for you! Subscribe if you’re willing and stay in touch! Happy Landings sir!
I'm trying to finish a u can do that I started building about 15 years ago. Lol when it came to the Cowell I could never get myself to cut it open. Plus the engine that I had never really ran very good. I'm glad I never cut the Cowell, because I'm converting it to electric. And I'm using another tip from RC air on how to line up the engine with a cowel.
great job!
Thank you
Great tip! Great repair
Thanks!!! I truly appreciate the complement!
@@RC-Air i’ve repaired multiple cowlings over the years and actually have a video on my channel as well. But I like your way with the tape and from the inside. How are usually repair holes like that is blue foam sand to shape make a plug and glue it in but your Way is much easier so I’ll definitely be doing that in the future.
I just subscribed, great work on that cowl repair. My method would work well with Bondo for a more perfect finish, like you stated in your video, it really depends on how much effort you want to put into it. Sometimes functional is enough, sometimes perfect is the goal. My luck is such, if I make it perfect, I’ll crash the plane on the next flight. I look forward to seeing more of your work.
@@RC-Air greatly appreciate subscribing, I just subscribed to your channel as well. All depends on how much work you want to put into the repair. You can make it brand spanking new or just make it look good enough for you. The best part is everybody has their view of perfection and some people like them to just work some people like them to look good both methods work extremely well. Keep the great videos coming as well!
What is the black material that your wrapped the holes in the front of the cowl. I can't find how to do that anywhere.
There should not be any release agent on the inside of that cowl, only the outside!!
Good to know. Thank you for the insight.
There is a possibility for a release agent on the inside using vacuum forming. If it's hand laid only, than there shouldn't.
I have never put any release on the adhesive side of masking tape and it always comes off. Another good release film is vinyl shelf paper. Again, epoxy does not stick to the adhesive side or really, either side.
There will be no factory mold release on the inside. Still a good idea to sand.
I fill the outside with epoxy and micro balloons then good autobody filler. If you play your cards right, the tape will mostly match the outside lines of the cowl so the glass will conform to the outside. Especially if the hole is small.
Nice! This is some great information!
What type of tape did you use and where can I get it?
It’s called Blenderm Tape made by 3M. I buy it off of Amazon in bulk (dozen 1” x 5 yard rolls for $20). It’s great for sealing hinge lines as well.
Kapton tape also works well... you also dont have to put lube on it to prevent sticking.... the kapton tape easy release from the epoxy.... it works really well. leave super smooth finish. (its yellow tape used for electrical isolation.
I bought a 1/4? scale China Models Cessna Bird Dog from a guy who cut the cowl for a 4-stroke twin. The motor is too small for the aircraft. I'm putting a larger two stroke gasser on it but first, I need to patch the cowl. I've been sanding off the old paint off and on for a couple days. I'll be using your advice to fill in the large holes. I'll be trying to make the repairs as undetectable as possible so I'll be using micro balloon filler and a lot of sanding. Automotive filler/primer will be the primer coat with a lot of sanding through finer and finer grits until I have a very smooth finish. NAPA Auto Parts matched the paint and it's just about perfect. I'm not in a hurry so this will take a bit of time to finish the cowl. In between sanding sessions I'll be finishing the build. The gentleman never completed the model.
Excellent. Please take photos of your work I’d love to see the progress!