F-100 Super Sabre 1/8th Build (70")

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
Thanks for sharing the experience with laminating dtfb and GG. I am considering that approach for a big C-130 build but wasn't sure it would work. Do you thin it, or perhaps heat it to apply to large surfaces?

DamoRC
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
Mentor
i have never tried that. I squeegee it very thin and mist with a little travel hairspray bottle of water. Both glue and foam is pretty cheap so it wouldnt take much to do a test just to gain some confidence in the material. Im my memory of the end product it seems much stronger than 2 pieces of foam. I believe you have a similar situation as what you achieve with two kite rods separated by foam. What EPP wing builders call an I beam setup. When the foam bends it is pulling on one side and pushing on the other. It will still snap at some point but its pretty strong.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Finally shaking off the winter blues and getting back to work on this project. I had sanded down the fuselage a couple months ago and now filling in the cracks with Spackle. As i said before after doing some testing, this doesnt add any strength really or noticeable weight, but the finish on the paper compared to not using it is very noticeable and doesnt take much time to apply or sand, just the 24 hrs of drying.

I need to remove the canopy area, harden it up with some kind of covering, and make a clear plastic canopy from it. I had considered doing this before wrapping the plane in paper, but now i think what i am going to do is cover the plane in paper. Even the copy area. Than i can use a sharpie to mark out where i want to cut, razor blade cut a slit on those lines, and than slip the hot wire in that cut. That way the hot wire will have something hard to ride against.

After that i can hog out the foam inside to make room for the battery and other misc parts. Afterwards i can take that top canopy "plug" and shrink some plastic onto it like in the video below.

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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I've got that same bucket of filler - and I've found if I don't let it try out for at least 24 hours it loads up sandpaper like crazy. Josh recommended trying the 3M lightweight spackle as being better for that.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Is that gonna be an air plane or a paper mache whale shark for her science fair project?
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Is that gonna be an air plane or a paper mache whale shark for her science fair project?

Hey that would be a fun project!

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When i applied the Spackle i used my hands and fingers spreading it nose to tale, or left to right as it was in front of me. When i went to sanding the first thing i tried was medium 3m sanding sponges. I found that i needed to go 90 degrees, around the fuselage, to remove the ridges i created from the spackle process. I tried a few other sanding applicators and the only thing i found even usable was a "sponge" for scratching up metal surfaces. But it was too flimsy in most areas.

I am not going for a perfect glass finish, just even it out. The paper tightens up crazy tight as it dries so it will bridge over any low spots or holes.

I got one half of the top done as my 3m sponges are about 3 years old and quickly shredded to pieces. But really happy with the result. Im sure it will have many imperfections at close range, but it will look great when flying in the air.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Weigh in after spackle shows it only added about 100g, which is crazy light considering the surface area.
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This process can be pretty messy with lots of water. So putting down plastic sheets and getting everything ready. Not shown is a pot with water and a sponge. The process is to cut the paper to size, wet both sides with watered down glue, wet the plane, apply paper, squeegee, and finally wipe excess glue away with wet sponge.
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The paper went on well and after drying the wrinkles are all gone, but its kind of scary at first as it looks like its going to be bad. I found that i was using too big of pieces of paper to wrap around the contours. It was warping. On the other side i went to much smaller pieces and that allowed the paper to fold correctly.
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The nose was actually alot less of a problem than i thought it was going to be. Just lots of little pieces of paper.
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
This is looking pretty neat as a different way to build. I am curious however. The glue is water based, you thinned it out with water, how does that effect the spackle underneath? Does that get re wetted or suck the moisture from the glue to help or hinder the drying and bonding process for the paper?
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Im not really sure what happens, but i can tell you the wing i covered 4 months ago is rock solid still.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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I have been working here and there getting the plane covered. Learning stuff along the way. If i did this again i would make sure to have the paper on the two sides symmetrical, but this is the first time and i didnt know. After paint it wont be noticeable except right up close.

Mainly wanted to post about the weight increase. At the stage shown below, about 75-80% covered, the fuselage weighs 1,400 grams. This means it has only creased by 150g (10% increase) and it is still mostly wet and drying so it will get lighter. Pretty impressive, i thought it was going to add a lot more weight as this is pretty heavy paper. Probably i am used to the much smaller aircraft where parts and materials have much more impact on weight.
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thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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This is a kraft paper that is very similar to a heavy paper grocery bag. I have seen guys use newspaper and even just ripping pages out of old books. First time myself so not really sure what thickness is good.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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I have been told that the "right" way to watch that above video is a 2x speed.
 

thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Lots of stuff done this week.

First off i got some 1s powered lights. They stick on with double sided tape and are charged with a hobby charger or the included adapter and a usb phone charger. They have 3 flashing modes. I did run wires to various places for static lights but i wanted some flashing light.
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The wing saddle area is one of the weaker points so i decided to wrap that area in paper to make it stronger.
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I want a consistent finish and as i was planning on using coroplast for the tail feathers i wanted to test covering the plastic coro with the paper and glue. I sanded it well before hand and than applied the paper the same way as the foam. The hardest part was figuring out how to allow it to dry while keeping it flat. I found some old flooring that had a rubber finish on the bottom and cleaned a spot on my concrete floor. This worked well and the glue didn't stick to anything. A couple days later it has dried and it is sticking to it just as good as the foam.
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I got out my pencil and started laying down light lines designating the cockpit area i was going to be removing. I moved on to a razor blade pen and traced that line thru the paper. Than i took my hotwire and using the paper as a jig, just followed that cut.
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thenated0g

Drinker of coffee, Maker of things
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Using my 5200mah 10c 6s pack as a template, i traced the whole the length of the canopy section and cut thru to the inside. I will need to place some plywood down inside, but the battery will have a good long area to play with CG.
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Adding some wood for keeping the canopy in place later.
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Thats a big 630g battery
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