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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: john e. holliday on December 02, 2013, 09:02:08 AM
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Well, it had been a couple of weeks since I got my order of Super Fil. Ordered it one day and received the next. Decided to try it on the Ringmaster I am refinishing/putting back together. Measured the parts by eye, but think I will use my scale next time. Cured overnight and is very sandable. Was not too neat about putting it on the plane joints. But, after reading Dave's post about his build, I wonder if this stuff would work for putting wings into fuselages or reinforcing the wing/fuse joint on the inside of built up fuselages. I know on this Ringmaster it has stiffened up several places on the wing joint to where it does not flex now.
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Doc,
Superfil is great stuff but you'll like it a lot better if you smooth out your fillet work before it cures. One of the nice things is that you have a lot of time to work with it before it starts to set up. With a steady finger and some rubbing alcohol you can finish your fillet work to where the only sanding it will need is to scuff it before painting.
I haven't tried it yet but I've also wondered if you couldn't install a wing with the stuff. It is epoxy based so in that application it may work as well as epoxy and micro balloons, while possibly being a little lighter.
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Another idea to shape this stuff for the fillets other than the use of a finger --
Depending on the radius desired for the fillets, you can use the sockets from your ratchet wrench set. For smaller radius fillets, you can use a length of tubing or even wire. Smear the Super Fill around the root (or wherever you are applying it). Use whatever you select to form the radius (even your finger as suggested in a previous thread), dip it in alcohol or thinner and draw the item around the fillet. (Water even works for this but I think alcohol or thinner is better.) You might need to do this several times to get the fillet completely uniform. Then you can take a pallet knife and scrape off the surplus left by the "radius forming tool". For me, the working life of the Super Fill is good to complete one fillet, top and bottom on one side of the fuselage. Done right, the fillet is smoothly formed without any more shaping, then all that is needed to do before continuing the finish process is to sand the surface of the fillets so they are not shiny to allow the paint to adhere to them.
And you can clean your "radius forming tool" with that alcohol or thinner.
Keith
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For me, the working life of the Super Fill is good to complete one fillet, top and bottom on one side of the fuselage. Done right, the fillet is smoothly formed without any more shaping, then all that is needed to do before continuing the finish process is to sand the surface of the fillets so they are not shiny to allow the paint to adhere to them.
Yep. y1
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I use a broken prop as a tool. One end is rounded to the desired radius for forming the fillet, and the other end is cut off square for scraping off the excess beyond the edges of the fillet.
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I use a broken prop as a tool. ---- the other end is cut off square for scraping off the excess beyond the edges of the fillet.
I think you will find that a pallet knife will work really well for that job. It will leave no residue except for what has been soaked up in the balsa at the edges of the fillet.
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Doc,
Go the Getting All Amped Up Thread.
Bob Hunt shows the entire Super Fil application technique in Reply # 319.
That is exactly how I do it too. The material scraped off the masking tape is there for application elsewhere... much less waste. I would also suggest that you do not over work the fillet. Usually one pass with the prop blade or other tool will do it.
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Thanks for all the advice gentlemen. Now on to my super stunt model now. Getting some organizing done in the shop..
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Super stunt model? What'cha up to now Doc?
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Took some pictures, but the project doesn't show up that well. Later when I find a darker back ground.
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Some replies to this topic seem to indicate "ease of sanding" with Super-Fil. I find just the opposite. My "Super Fil" comes from Brodak, and it looks like the product shown (blue and all that). BUT, it sets up like concrete!
I can get semi-acceptable results by adding a LOT of microballons, and thinning slightly with alcohol.
Am I missing something? Is there more than one kind of "SuperFil?
Foyd
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Super Fil is the product name of the blue stuff that comes from Aircraft Spruce. I have found that it is an order of magnitude easier to work with than the Brodak or Sig two part epoxy filler material. I have thrown away my sets of Brodak and Sig stuff.
Keith
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I like the Sig stuff better.
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I don't know what blue stuff Brodak is selling. If it comes with a Brodak label it might actually be someone elses product, just repackaged.
My "blue stuff" is Super Fil and I got it from Aircraft Spruce. It works very well for me, well enough that it's hard to imagine anything working better. Until a couple years ago I used to use 30 minute epoxy and micro balloons for all of my fillet work, but I'll be using the blue stuff from now on. y1
Many years ago I used Sig's two-part "Epoxolite" a few times. I remember that it was a brownish color and it set up extremely hard, it was next to impossible to sand.
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Super Fil is the product name of the blue stuff that comes from Aircraft Spruce. I have found that it is an order of magnitude easier to work with than the Brodak or Sig two part epoxy filler material. I have thrown away my sets of Brodak and Sig stuff.
Keith
Super Fil is, as you stated Keith, sold by Aircraft Spruce, however it is made by PolyFiber products in Riverside, CA. I think that Wicks aircraft supply also sells it. I have used this stuff for years and have found, as you have Keith, that it is by far the easiest epoxy filler material to work with.
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How about posting the address for aircraft spruce co. I's like to try this product. How much is it?
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Shop on-line at
www.aircraftspruce.com
info@aircraftspruce.com
Keith
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Thanks Keith
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I like the Sig stuff better.
I'm curious, why is that?
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I'm curious, why is that?
The Super Fil I got is very thick. I asked Aircraft Spruce if it was an old batch. They said it wasn't. I think it is more difficult to use than Epoxolite. Mind you, you gotta microwave the Epoxolite to dissolve the chocolate chips.
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The Super Fil I got is very thick. I asked Aircraft Spruce if it was an old batch. They said it wasn't. I think it is more difficult to use than Epoxolite. Mind you, you gotta microwave the Epoxolite to dissolve the chocolate chips.
I can see that Howard, it's maybe a little thick, but I didn't think so much so that it was a problem. We all have products that we like and prefer to stick with, I just never found total bliss using Epoxolite.
Granted, this is all opinion, but I thought one nice thing about Super Fil's consistency is that once you set your shape and finish, it stays put as it hardens. I don't know if it's just my imagination or not, but it does seem to me like it helps the more thoroughly you mix the Super Fil before application. Kind of like when you think you're done mixing, keep on mixing it for another minute or so after that and it thins just a little more. Roughly the extra amount of time it takes to melt chocolate chips in a microwave... ;D
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I noticed that when I started mixing the separate components before putting them in the cup to mix together. I also noticed that it stayed in place better while I was smoothing it. As far as sanding, I had a couple of spots where I didn't get it scraped off. The sandpaper was not taking it down, so I grabbed the old file for shaping metal. A modeling friend taught me that using files did the job better than sandpaper at times.