I've painted many models. CL with only a brush, (I was a kid), plenty of RC models using the best of spray equipment. In all cases the control surfaces were already in place permanently.

I see that some prefer to paint their control surfaces removed, and they are put in place after paint.

My interest is advantages and disadvantages? Hinges stay in place? Slow Epoxy used? Preferred hinge?

What's your view and what do you do?

Thanks,

CB

I inspected Paul Walker's Impact at the Fireball's Spring Tuneup this year.  All of his surfaces use barrel-type hinges, with long music wire pins.  Combine that with access hatches or plug-in elevator and flap horns, and that means that you can fit everything up when it's in bare wood, disassemble, get the paint perfect, then reassemble.  It also means that if you need to take a surface off for maintenance or crash repair -- zip! it's off.

I'm not sure what the best time to glue the hinges in would be -- probably either at the bare wood stage, or about 1/2-way through priming, to give you a least-frustration opportunity to fix up any appearance-destroying boo-boos in the hinge installation.

I'm no Paul Walker, but my next plane is going to have long music wire pins holding the hinges together...

I'd like to see a visual of this? Any photos here or there?

For how nice it looks, or for how it's done?  You have to get your nose pretty close to the plane to see it at all.  Basically you bend the end of the wire into a square "U" shape, then thread the wire through all the hinges, to replace the individual pins that would otherwise be in there.

For how nice it looks, or for how it's done?

Nice? I haven't seen it yet. How it's done? Absolutely.

I've used Kleet hinges that hold a wire with a 90 degree bend. Not rocket science there.

Just a guess, but placing these hinges close then use only one long wire to reach first hinge to last hinge?

How do you get the wire in place?

Photos?

Nice? I haven't seen it yet. How it's done? Absolutely.

Trust me, they're nice.  I used to do my RC planes like this, then got out of the habit.  I need to get back in...

I've used Kleet hinges that hold a wire with a 90 degree bend. Not rocket science there.

Any pinned hinge.  The ones that I've seen all have what looks like a sewing pin, either installed and pre-bent, or supplied with the hinge.  Set those aside (or take them out).  Then find the size of music wire that fits best through the hole.  Put a bluntsh point on the end -- enough to ease it into the hinge, but not enough to hurt if you bump it.

Just a guess, but placing these hinges close then use only one long wire to reach first hinge to last hinge?

Use your normal number of hinges, and a wire that reaches from the outer edge of the surface to at least an inch inside the inner hinge, or the center of the aircraft.  There's no real reason not to have the wire extend the entire width of an elevator, if it works out.

How do you get the wire in place?

Bend the surface to its full deflection, thread in the hinge pin from hinge to hinge.  You may need to "coach" it a bit with tweezers or needle nose pliers, but with the surface deflected you should be able to get in there OK.  The way I retained the pin was to just stick the end of the "U" bent section into the balsa of the surface -- it looks like that's what Paul Walker does, too, but I couldn't say for sure.

Flap and elevator, I leave a gap between the surfaces just big enough for the continuous pin wire.  Bend a "U" in the end about .75 each way, push into balsa and put a little clear drying glue on bottom of wire.

Allan...thanks for the tip...I haven't used the long wire yet but I'm about to put together an ARF SV-11 and I think
I'll do it your way.

You only bend one end, correct?
Is this your only method?
I think both models look nice. Could you provide information about the covering and finish?

Yes only the outboard end is bent.
Yes my only method.
Finishes on both are transparent, covering is Polyspan.  
I basically followed Pete Petterson's method as he outlined in Stunt News article, Jan 2009.  
Clear dope tinted with    House Of Kolor    Kandy Koncentrates.    10oz dope,  10oz thinner,  1/2oz tint

Polyspan is available in colors other than white, but a number of people reading this are raising their eyebrows and saying "oh, really?", because as near as I can tell it's mostly the free flight community in the US is aware of the other colors.

At any rate, the technique he's talking about is to use white Polyspan, then use clear tinted dope for color.

OK,

So the builder started out with white and just tinted the material with translucent no opaque paint. Correct?

I've had, and expect to have good results with silk. Comes in many colors if you elect to have some of it showing. Easy, just simply clear the stuff.

Polyspan? Why not just use a color for starters?

Polyspan is applied same way as silk?

The models do look good.

I think there may be at least two different products called "Polyspan" -- the stuff that I've gotten through Hobby Lobby is denser, and the colored stuff is definitely toward the opaque end of translucent.  The stuff that I've gotten from control line channels is less opaque than silkspan, and that's what I've seen on Pete's planes.

And yes, the the House of Kolor tints are just that -- tints, like food coloring in water.

On the red plane (SV-11), I covered the flap with cf veil, thats why it darker. 

Spacer ?     Not sure what you are talking about.

Allen,

I like the tint idea. Much can be done with that. Just about any color?

What is cf Veil? There's a tiny piece of material, applied to the tip faring at the end of your flap.

Do you have photos of your other CL builds?

Thanks,

Charles

Allen,

I'll go there, I'm a member of that site.

cf veil  =    .2oz/yd  carbon fibre tissue      used as a covering to add torsional rigidity to flap

Where do I get this product?

What do you do around the area where the control wire goes into the flap?

CB

As far as the original part of when to permanently install control surfaces, I always have every thing finished then I glue in the hinges.

I also have made a few different size "sanding sticks" to allow the barrel of the hinge to sink into the control surface.  Simple tool made from ply with a scrap piece on the back to grip and the face holds a strip of ply the width of the hinge barrel and is the same "thickness" (depth off the backing plate).

Big Bear

Look Allen,

Just send me a few of those. :-)

OK, The "pocket" is separate and you don't drill the flap.

Glue the "pocket" to the end of the flap, then sand flush. Trust the glue?

Finish with a layer of silk or Polyspan, or 2oz CF Veil.

Am I getting it?

Allen,

PM me for my address.