Hi Tom,
I made I couple of Terminator full-length fuses, and used balsa for the
plug, mainly because it was easier to shape. But you have to handle the plug
carefully, so as not to introduce dents and tool dings. Later, the paint
will lock in your surface though.
After much experimenting, here's what I found to give a nice plug finish and
doesn't require much of your time waiting for epoxy to cure, or elbow grease
finishing tough to sand finishes.
I've found that regular spray paint like Krylon Triple-thick Crystal Clear
gives a nice base. I used, I believe 3 or 4 layers to prevent runs. I
finished my plug surface by the progressive sanding method.
The key is to start coarse, use say 220-grit, stay on that till the WHOLE
surface is covered with only 220-grit deep scratches. Next go to 320-grit,
stay on that till all the 220-grit scratches are gone, and replaced with
only 320 deep scratches. Repeat this with 400 then 600.
The 400 and above grits I found to give a much better smoothness when using
it wet. I just used a bucket of water, and periodically dipped my sandpaper,
to clean it off.
I spent about 25 minutes at each grit, so in my opinion, this method is not
as time consuming as you'd imagine. Just stay at each grit only until all
the previous grit's marks are gone. The 400 and 600 wet grit marks are very
fine, so you can judge whether to continue or not.
After 600, I moved over to the "glass" finish stage. All the fine
"scratches" of the 600 grit were taken care of with liquid scratch remover.
I used Novus - Fine scratch remover. You can get a small bottle for $2.45 at
a local TAP Plastics store or any place that sells plexi-glass. It's a fine
grit liquid used to clear off scratches mainly on plastics. But, I found
gave me that pool stick smoothness.
I discovered that the more gradual you make your grit step-ups, the less
time you'll need to spend at each grit. So, stick in a few intermediate
grits, if you have them.
My last Terminator fuse plug, had the smoothness of a billiard cue-stick.
That was good enough for me to make the fiberglass mold.
And, the finished fiberglass fuselage popped out almost as smooth as glass.
-Cesar
www.compositehawk.com
Home of the take-along tip-launch
- Original Message -
From: "Tom Baffico" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:03 PM
Subject: [RCSE] finishing a fuselage pod plug
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to finish up a plug to be used in creating a pod fuselage
mold.
>
> Before I get to my specific question, I have a general question about what
> people use
> to finish the surface of the plug. From bare wood to final finish.
>
> I took my bare wood plug and painted on two layers of resin (laminating
> resin is all
> I have and that could be part of the problem.) I then tried hitting it
with
> some sandpaper
> before the third layer. Didn't sand very well. Felt waxy.
>
> With the third layer I was really trying for the final coat but got some
> particles in the resin
> and had to sand it down more than I wanted. This is taking a really long
> time with the slow
> curing time for the resin and I'm getting a bit impatient.
>
> I have hopefully the final coat on now (resin with some microballoons and
> graphite, microballoons
> so a slight depression that has refused to go away will go away and
graphite
> to hopefully
> give me a really slick finish.) I dry sanded previously, any thoughts on
wet
> sanding this plug
> for the final finish?
>
> OK. Here are my questions:
> 1. Am I really screwing up using a laminating resin? (Is there an epoxy
> "finishing" resin?)
> 2. If I get a smooth finish should I stop here or do I *need* to paint it
> too?
> 3. If this last layer of resin doesn't work I want to try spraying on
> "something".
> Can I spray on lacquer over resin?
> Can I spray on paint? Is Krylon too soft for this purpose (it's
> something that's already on the
> shelf.)
>
> Thanks in advance, Tom
>
>
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