Hai-Lee
Old and Bold RC PILOT
I was gifted an E-Flite Mentor about 18 months ago and it had suffered from some water damage. Some of the plywood was de-laminating and so I stripped all of the covering film off and stored all the electrics for later re-installation.
Anyway I was unable to remove all of the old film as in many places the colour and glue remained after the covering was removed. This stalled the project as I was stumped on what to use to remove the old covering completely.
Having some time on my hands I went back to the project and after repairing the damage I tried to sand the glue off but it just spread and clogged the sandpaper.
In desperation to leave no residue on the wood I experimented with solvents and actually found that Metholated Spirits actually seemed to dissolve the glue and with some elbow grease and time, (it was a slow and tedious task), I managed to clean up the fuselage completely.
Now the fuselage is ready to be covered. Wings are next and their condition is a little worse.
If anyone has a better method to remove the residue of the covering film from the balsa without damage I would like them to provide some details of what materials and techniques they use for myself and others who find themselves in the same situation.
Have fun!
Anyway I was unable to remove all of the old film as in many places the colour and glue remained after the covering was removed. This stalled the project as I was stumped on what to use to remove the old covering completely.
Having some time on my hands I went back to the project and after repairing the damage I tried to sand the glue off but it just spread and clogged the sandpaper.
In desperation to leave no residue on the wood I experimented with solvents and actually found that Metholated Spirits actually seemed to dissolve the glue and with some elbow grease and time, (it was a slow and tedious task), I managed to clean up the fuselage completely.
Now the fuselage is ready to be covered. Wings are next and their condition is a little worse.
If anyone has a better method to remove the residue of the covering film from the balsa without damage I would like them to provide some details of what materials and techniques they use for myself and others who find themselves in the same situation.
Have fun!