Correx/Coroplast/Flute-board scratch building techniques

[Dyzel]

Hi!
I have been watching the flite-test How-to videos for the longest time and have finally decided to venture into the world of fixed wings.

I would really love to see an episode covering the Use of flute-board for building RC aircraft.
Foam board/Depron etc. is hard to come by where I live and I have been looking into alternate, cheap materials to use.

There are plenty of plans for aircraft built out of this material, but it I have been hard pressed to find any worthwhile video guides on working with it. The fit and finish of the craft also look amazing to boot!

If any one can make a topic understandable, it's you guys! Please help me out!!

Thanks :applause:

 

[earthsciteach]

Welcome to the forum, Dyzel! I have seen a recent post on here where someone was building an FT plane with coroplast, but I don't remember who it was. Here are a couple of links with a lot of plans and info for building with coroplast. Hope this is helpful!
http://www.spadtothebone.net/
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?221347-Let-s-see-the-S-P-A-Ds

And here is a set of build videos: http://spadworld.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17203

 

[Dyzel]

Thank you. I have seen the resources you have provided, but like I said, you guys just make things so much more understandable!

 

[Dyzel]

I actually am looking at building a corsair from the RCgroups Thread

 

[PsyBorg]

I actually sat and watched the guy build that this evening. Seems like it has potential. How he worked it was interesting like when he would "Flash" the plastic before working with it or how he removed the parts between the flutes to make it more bendable. I do however have questions on the durability as it did not seem like there was much for support structure at all. Maybe that's just because its not a tested build method for as long as Flite Test has been evolving what is done with foam.

 

[Dyzel]

The guys using these corroplast wings generally are flying combat! From the videos I have watched so far, they seem pretty durable. More so than foam!!

 

[PsyBorg]

hrmm maybe they use better build methods then the guy I watched as his were pretty minimalistic on the engineering side.

 

[earthsciteach]

Coroplast planes have been around for a long time, quite a bit longer than DTFB planes. I have an old US AirCore Cub kit from the early '90s that I need to finish building someday. They are very rugged airplanes.

 

[Dyzel]

I downloaded the corsair plans and ordered some 2 and 3mm sheets of the stuff. Will see how well it goes!
Unfortunately, the only foam board available to me cheaply and readily weighs more than double that of DTFB. It has some super thick poster board laminated to both sides with the most stubborn glue imaginable!

I will try and log the build a best I can.

 

[Pete7694]

I myself am attempting to build a SPAD airplane out of coroplast but I'm having a hard time trying to find red coroplast. However, I did find 18 inch by 24 inch red coroplast on Amazon but I think that's to small for the design I plan on building. I want to find a sheet or two that are 4 foot by 8 foot. If anyone knows of a place that sells it cheap and ships for cheap let me know.

 

[Craftydan]

Pete,

Don't have a good source for specific plywood-size sheets of coroplast (I'd check with local sign shops), but . . .

For color, Krylon Fusion paint. It's what the manufacturer recommends. Easy to find in a variety of colors at most any hardware store.

 

[Dyzel]

Strangely enough, here in Kenya, they only sell it by the full 8x4 sheet!

Suggestions on what sort of glue would be best to hold this together? I have tried CA glue..But it makes the joints very brittle.

 

[PsyBorg]

RTV. The guy building the corsair called it "Goop" we called it "Gorilla Snot" when I was in the Navy. There are many types and colors for different applications but all are really grippy and some are more flexible then others but should work fine. The only down side is full cure time can be 12 to 24 hours so building will be no where near as fast as foam and hot glue.

 

[Dyzel]

Nice.. Have lots of RTV silicone kicking around. Though that ridiculously long cure time is what has kept me away.
Thanks!

 

[earthsciteach]

I myself am attempting to build a SPAD airplane out of coroplast but I'm having a hard time trying to find red coroplast. However, I did find 18 inch by 24 inch red coroplast on Amazon but I think that's to small for the design I plan on building. I want to find a sheet or two that are 4 foot by 8 foot. If anyone knows of a place that sells it cheap and ships for cheap let me know.

Check with a local sign shop. They probably get coroplast in the largest sheets available.

 

[Pete7694]

Pete,

Don't have a good source for specific plywood-size sheets of coroplast (I'd check with local sign shops), but . . .

For color, Krylon Fusion paint. It's what the manufacturer recommends. Easy to find in a variety of colors at most any hardware store.

Thanks Craftydan, I'll try the krylon fusion paint. I did look into a sign shop near me but they wanted to charge me almost $80 for one 4x8 sheet. Can we say ripoff. Lol. I may Look into other sign shops.

 

[Pete7694]

Check with a local sign shop. They probably get coroplast in the largest sheets available.

I did look into one sign shop but they wanted almost $80 for one sheet. I got a sheet of white at Home Depot for almost $17. I'll try painting and see how that turns out.