Cpt Biggles

Nice colours I always like red and yellow I have to stop myself from doing all my models red & Yell. Then I am dissapointed if I see the same model in red and yell as I then think I should have done that. I took my intro out last week (still in foam white) ........... broke it and the motor so need to send for a replacment and rebuild the fuz nose or I may remake the whole fuz as it is cheap enough. if I do remake I may do it red and yell. That is your fault!

Hi All, Happy New Year. Just back from me jollies. Well you have all been bizzy. Now that we have moved away from the Introvert just a tad I thought that you may like to look at this. I have built one and can say it is a good design and great fun to fly   I am now going to look at your vidio  Edited By Tim Mackey - Administrator on 16/05/2011 18:08:33

  Hi Mike, Glad you’re enjoying the Into! I have a key fob cam and it is light enough to stick it on to a small plane also as Andy indicates put it on a cap / hat you won't know its there. Very envious of the weather we are in deep winter here in the UK barely getting above 0* deg. We spent three months in Oz your summer our winter two years ago and would love to return. I do not go flying much in winter as it is not fun with cold arthritic fingers and feet. So I cannot wait for some warm sunny days to fly my Introvert again.

Hi Andy, I thought that this thred had died the death! nice job on your little plane. I to had loads of probs on take off with it banking over on full thrust, by the time i had relised that it was the motor torque I had just about kitted the model so I have rebuilt it with the outdoor wing now and I to waiting for weather break to test fly it. Has anyone tryed this plane indoors? I have not as my plane flys far to fast in fact quite a beast at full chatt. But as you said definitly a winner! and well worth the building.

Hi Tim, Very nice finnishing job must try ink jet on one of mine.

No just make two Gnosis!!!

Hi The childrens acrilic pain that I used was from Wilkinsons hardwear but I have seen the same type in the pound shops it is a tube ready mixed and I thined it down with just water the trick with it is to spray very thin coats and let it dry. Gental heat from a heat gun used a long way away from the model so there is just a slightly warm air flow over the model will help the drying times put only just enough paint on to get the finnish that you want. It will not be like solafilm or a car spray finnish but you will get a good looking model.   Just remember that foam models tend not to have a long life due to "handeling rash or Wear&Tear" so do not be to fussy nice but not concorse.   regards Peter

Hi Barrie,  I have used evostick solvent free to stick doublers the only problem I found was that the glue is white and the foam is white! the trick is to add a drop of food colour to the pot of glue then you can see how much glue you are putting on. As for painting I have used trial pots of emulsion from diy stores and also used acrilic paint made for children aprox £0.68p per tube watered down to spray both have given good results. if you use sticky tape to hold parts together it may pull the surface of the foam off. Then to spray it is wise to give a light coat of acrilic primer as sold in DIY stores again watered down to spray on. It is more important to keep the paint coats thin, light coats is the order of the day to keep the weight down.

Hi all, For many years I have used PVA on g/f bandage or cotton bandage with very good results. It is easy to use with little smell and is all foam safe. I have never had a joint fail. The PVA has a small amount of flex which helps in a bad landing but is stiff enough for the hardest flying that you can give a model plane. I hope that this comment helps. Regards Peter

Hi Erfolg,   I started to use PVA glue in the 1970's along with glass bandage then swapped to cotton bandage, WBV has the "feel" of PVA so I would think that it will react very similar. The information that I have gleaned from to many hard arrivals (read crash) is that the re-enforcement from the PVA/WBV has always held its integrity and it has never failed. Repairs using PVA have always been clean and easy to use with little smell and foam friendly.   Hope this is a helpfull input to the thread.   Regards Peter

Hi All, I am looking for a plan or plan & kit for a Grumman AA5 traveler or Grumman Cheetah - Plans & Kit. A pal has a full size Travler and I would like to model it Can anyone help with info? Peter 

Just looked up di n butyl phthalate on the net you do not want this in your hanger it is not very freindly at all. have used the meth/cel thinner mix and it works, not quite as good as di n butyl phthalate but a lot safer.

I have had a reply from Solafilm as follows Dear Peter  Sorry for the delay in answering your email  Solarfilm Solvent was discontinued over 20 years ago.  This liquid was di n butyl phthalate.  This product was not cost effective (we had to buy large drums and we did not sell enough of it).  We only sell Solartrim for trim for this purpose.  Sorry we can not be of any further assistance.  Best Regards Valerie Hardman So now we know twenty years ago! well time is flying.   Now I wonder where I can get di n butyl phthalate?

Hi all Just found this on another foum http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125688   It just may work   Peter   Re: Howto stick down Profilm without using heat ? Here's a hint I sent to our club news letter a while ago. I believe the same type of coloured adhesive is used on Profilm/Oracover as on Solarfilm. "Until I discovered this trick, I never had much success with sticking Solarfilm trim onto Solarfilm base. I always end up trying to get the bubbles out by pricking them with the point of a scalpel blade and ironing them out - quite a laborious process. I have used Solartrim with mixed results - it tends to peel at the corners after a while, and you can never find the right colour, can you? Here is the `solution'. Pour a single measure of methylated spirits, and add a dash of cellulose thinners. Avoid any temptation to drink it at this stage. The proportions do not need to be precise, but I would guess about 10% thinners. After cutting out the Solarfilm trim, mark the position on the surface to which it is to be applied with a permanent marker pen - just dots, as the ink can stain the trim. Apply the solution to the sticky side of the trim with a soft brush. You can then position the trim accurately on the surface - it will slide around - before squeegeeing out the surplus liquid with the edge of a piece of balsa or a beer mat. Smooth out the trim and mop up the drips with a tissue, and leave to dry. NO NEED TO IRON! You will also find that the `permanent' pen marks have been wiped away. The theory is that the meths wets the surface of the film, and the thinners partially dissolves the adhesive. I tried using neat thinners at first, but that just washes off all the colour and leaves a sticky mess. The big advantage is that no heat is needed, so no bubbles. The method works well on sheeted and foam wings, and on adhesive tape on Zagis, etc. I have not yet tried it on open structures, and it certainly would not be any use for double curvature surfaces. Getting the Backing Off Ever had a piece of Solarfilm from the middle of the sheet, so you can't peel the backing off? Picking at the edge with a scalpel blade works eventually, but you run the risk of poking it right through the film. Just stick a bit of masking tape or sellotape to the backing, and stretch it. Works a treat!" John Bennett

Hi Chris, I have two irons from the 80's one is coloured with solafilm residue one is not are you shure that the colour is glue from the solafilm and not just dye that has got its self into the non-stick coating, cos that will not come off short of taking the non-stick coat off. (do not ask how I know). do you or others use a "sock" for your irons and are they good?   Hi Miron, I must admitI have not tryed to use the iron on cool to stick the film on film I still have a bee in my bonnet obout the solvent I WANT SOME NOW some one must know what it was.   Still no reply from Solafilm re: solvent. Regards Peter 

Hi John L, That little bottle must be worth its weight in gold (solafilm), I have tried White spirit and meths and cel thinners white spirit did not work nor meths there was a limited sucsess with cel thinners but the film tended to wrinkle.     More ideas please there must be somthing out there the somone is useing please share your knowlage with us all waiting to stick film on film.

Hi Chris, Yes thats it, but it was around at the same time as the trim. The solvent was not user freindly as more that just a smear of solvent and the adhesive/colour would run. There was only a handfull of modelers in our club could get on with it. I have emailed Solafilm but as yet no reply, maybe there is no one in the company old enough to remember it! lol Acording to the Solafilm web site you can just peel the film and stick it onto the base covering ... smooth flat, but I have tried it and I am not convinced that it will be there after the first flight. Solartrim sheet size is to small and to darnd expencive for the kind of decor that I have in mind. I only use it for very small trim bits or as a patch to cover a ding. I have tried the above solvents as well as White spirit and Meths but no go yet. someone must know what to use.   Peter

Hi Kc, what I am looking for is a solvent that will stick solafilm to its self without useing heat as in trim. I use to have a small bottle of solvent that you wiped on to the surface of the base colour let it dry for a short time then place the trim over the base colour smooth it down and that was it stuck with no heat, so I would put trim on open areas no heat means no shrinkage.

  Hi David, How would I use Solarlac thinners. will it desolve the glue enough to stick without heat?

Hi IanN, No I don't think so it still needs ironing on. the solvent was in a small bottle 15ml or so wipe a very thin film on the base, let it dry slightly then rub down the trim. The solvent desolved the glue and it sticks like the brown stuff to a blanket. To much solvent and the colour from the solafilm would run.

Hi All, I need to "stick" solafilm to itself as in trim, I used to have a solvent for solafilm but it looks like it is not around now. what can I use instead?  Balsa lock will not do it for me nor the iron so is there a solvent that will soften the glue? Regards Peter

Hi Jon, As you can see from my postings I made the plane as plan and I could not get my RX in! but I rebiult the fuz 2mm wider and it flies great IN THE CALM!!!!! it gets very lively in more than a gental breeze. I built the indoor al wing but it flys to fast for th indoor site that I use so I fly it outside on my regular site. I would sugest that you put tape along the leading edge of the wing to give it some ding resistance.

Hw nooooo!Finished the building, but I can not get my RX in the fuz even with the plastic case off it's still to big to go in I need the fuz to be 1-2mm more wider. That will teach me to check that all will fit before starting. I may just leave the canapy off and test fly with the RX sticking out the top just so it's not a compleate waste of time. I suppose I could put a "power bulge" in the fuz so that I could shoe horn the RX in. Mmmm we will see.

hi Andy,It looks good and flys great.The build of my plane is on temp hold domestic jobs have pulled rank! hope to get back to it later this week. I have done the indoor aileron wing with carbon  spar i had some carbon spar left so put a short lenght (1 inch) in the finit has made the fin very ridgid, will install radio & motor next will test fly by the end of the week.I tend to finish foam models with air brushed acrilic pain from Wilkinsons hardwear I am wondering how the finish compairs with tape and what the differance in weight there is? not a lot in it I suppose. nice to see yours flying Peter

Hi Mark,If you want a better responce to your battery conector question it would be better to start a new thread because this thread will not get that many hits.I use gold bullet conectors and buy them in multi packs from Giant cod but at the flying field others use all sorts of conectors I think a popular one is called Deans conectors but I have heard that they take some pulling to seperate. If you start a new thead I will watch to see what others say.regards Peter