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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Dave Rountree on July 30, 2008, 09:18:10 PM
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Hi I am putting a ARF super clown together for my nephew. He is a beginner, (and in the event that the plane does last a while), I was wondering about sealing the fuse/wing joint to try and keep out any fuel or oil. This is my first ARF and I am not used to working with pre-covered componets. Any ideas or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Dave R.
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glue the wing in with epoxy - that creates a fuel proof joint - you can also use the epoxy to create a small fillet at the joint if required
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Dave,
When you remove the strip of covering at the center of the wing, remove ONLY that which is necessary for the fuse to have wood-to-wood contact with the wing. Apply a couple of strips of masking tape to the wing center section, leaving the bare wood + about 1/16 inch of the remaining covering on each side of the bare wood exposed.
Use 600 grit paper or fine scotchbrite to lightly scuff the two 1/16 inch strips of covering so that the epoxy will stick a bit better. Then, jig up the wing/fuse assembly so that everything is lined up and tack glue with a a few small drops of thick or medium CA.
After the CA cures (it may take a few minutes), carefully turn the assembly over and tack a few places on the bottom side. You can then apply 30 min. epoxy with the assembly positioned so that the epoxy will seep down into the joint. Don't pour the epoxy on--use a little so that you can make it go where you want it. I use a narrow strip of plastic electrical tape stuck to one side of the fuse/wing joint to keep the epoxy from running through the joint--just seal the joint with the strip of tape.
After the epoxy cures, remove the tape and apply epoxy to the side where the tape had been. With care, you can make small radius fillets with the epoxy and the covering will be seen through the clear epoxy.
Sounds complicated but really isn't........hope this helps a bit.
Cheers,
Jim
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I do pretty much the same thing that Jim does but I mix micro baloons with the expoxy (makes the expoxy more sandable). A good way to get the expoxy into the joint as Jim was talking about, is to put the wing down into a big garbage can and let the fuselage rest on the rim of the can.
Mike
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Mike,
I use as little epoxy as I can to get a small natural fillet--no sanding, maybe just a little smoothing with an alcohol wet finger before the epoxy cures.
Cheers,
Jim