Darran Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Ok so having calmed down and had coffee as BEB advised I started to think if I can recover anything. Above is the extent of the damage. My thoughts are carefully cut out the fus side and f2 and refit new ones. Is this possible with a little care. My concern would be ensuring I don't add a twist etc into the fus and that everything is in line. as you can see there is a replacement fus (I have one and one half cnc packs) I can slot in. Edited By Darran on 23/03/2014 13:14:42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Darran I know how you feel, Looking at the pics I think if it was my DF I'd pull into all back into shape using PVA as the adhesive, wrap it together with masking tape and you will be surprised at the result., it doesn't look like the damage you'd want to write the whole fuselage off or try picking bits out of it. Good Luck. John PS. I pancaked a Funtana resulting in a two piece fuselage and two piece wing where they began life as one, it would have easy to bin it but it was repaired and reflown within a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 That fuselage split looks repairable to me Darren. Whats stopping you getting a bit of aliphatic or PVA along that split and clamping it closed? If the former is broken - again can it be rejoined? A good aliphatic joint is stronger than the wood itself - especially if the joint dries whilst firmly clamped. So provided you can get in to clamp it I would think that, as bad as it may all look, its actually quite repairable. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 23/03/2014 14:52:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Agreed, that does not look too bad, glue up the joint with aliphatic clamp and deal with the formers in a similar way if you can, definitely one to fix. Linds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 It looks like an easy repair! If in doubt see some of the recent articles about repairing models....didn't Peter Miller do one in his column in RC Flyer recently?Almost any split wood can be glued back together unless it is an old oil soaked model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Thanks all for the support. I would never of thought of gluing this back together. I will give it a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Well I have glued, clamped and bandaged up the fus. I will leave it now for a good 24 hrs to let the glue set. Fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Well I am amazed at the repair. I would never have expected it to look like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Well my dad came round today and asked me if I could make use of these whilst building my models. He's had these since he left school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Darran If I hadn't have seen the earlier photo I'd never had guessed there was a repair. Very neatly done. I wonder if the fuselage sides were to be covered in some type of material it could resist splitting. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Posted by John Milne on 24/03/2014 19:08:01: Darran If I hadn't have seen the earlier photo I'd never had guessed there was a repair. Very neatly done. I wonder if the fuselage sides were to be covered in some type of material it could resist splitting. John John i didn't believe it myself. I was certain when I posted the pics everyone would say start again. Just shows how little I know about all of this building game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Fairgrieve Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Posted by John Milne on 24/03/2014 19:08:01: Darran If I hadn't have seen the earlier photo I'd never had guessed there was a repair. Very neatly done. I wonder if the fuselage sides were to be covered in some type of material it could resist splitting. John Strange you should say that John. During a fit of madness I contemplated skinning mine with THIS. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Posted by Kevin Fairgrieve on 24/03/2014 19:39:38: Posted by John Milne on 24/03/2014 19:08:01: Darran If I hadn't have seen the earlier photo I'd never had guessed there was a repair. Very neatly done. I wonder if the fuselage sides were to be covered in some type of material it could resist splitting. John Strange you should say that John. During a fit of madness I contemplated skinning mine with THIS. Kev Kev That would look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 So now I have turned my attention to the wing. And sheeted the front top and underside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 And whilst that's clamped up and drying, I started the second wing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Kevin, Now that would just be showing off... Darran, Be careful when you take it off the plan... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 There you go Darren - lovely job. Well done that repair is completely invisible, . Now don't drop it again! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 24/03/2014 21:32:16: There you go Darren - lovely job. Well done that repair is completely invisible, . Now don't drop it again! BEB Thanks BEB I am pleased with how it turned out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Ok I am after some tips now on covering with oracover. It's time whilst the build progresses to practice a little with covering. Looking at previous posts etc it seems that there are a number of ways to go about it. As a test I have created a second rudder piece so I planed to firstly cover one side then the other overlapping onto the side I originally covered. Never done this before so wish me luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I think the trick with covering is to realise that its a two stage process. And you have to find two iron temperatures: 1. the temperature that activates the adhesive - this is the lower of the two temperatures. 2. the temperature that actually shrinks the covering - this is higher temperature. You can only find these for each covering material by trial and error really. Cut a small square of the covering material. Place it adhesive side up on an inverted warm iron - ie adhesive away from the iron! If it goes wrinkley - sort of bumpy - the iron is at the right temp for shrinking. About 10% lower than this will be the temperature to activate the adhesive. So, cut your covering, lay over what you want to cover. Set your iron to the lower temperature. If its an open framework, like all the covering on the DF- start by "tacking" down the mid points of the sides, then the corners. By tacking I mean just touch the iron to the surface. Like a "dab". That stick just a little spot. Work your work about the outside, tacking spots diagonally - like you would loosen cylinder head bolts! Then work to getting all the perimeter stuck down. When that's done then stick the middle bits down. Once its all stuck, turn it over and do the otherside. With both sides done, crank up the iron to the shrinking temp and laid it flat on the surface slowly moving it around so you shrink the covering evenly. Do this on both sides. Don't worry if it looks like a badly wrapped parcel after the sticking down phase! It always does, then when you shrink it, it all transforms into a thing of beauty! If your covering a sold surface - not an open lattice - the only difference is you start in the middle and work outwards, rather than at the edges as above. Good luck - covering is a knack really, like soldering, and it comes with practice - again like soldering! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 ...and at some point you'll burn your fingers, like soldering! Nice save with the split btw. the joint line is now probably stronger that the wood around it so don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Ok so I had at go at covering my test rudder. Oh dear. All was going so well until I came to the curved edge. This did not go well and I got all sorts of creases. Is there a trick to rounded pieces I am missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Barlow Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Get the covering warm & pliable and stretch it around the curves whilst tacking it in place with the iron. Also you can seperate one crease into many smaller ones that may shrink out. Finally one trick I used on my Ellipse recently was to tack down the covering to the flatter surfaces then heat the film with a craft heat gun whilst pulling & stretching it over the curves but this can go very wrong if the film stretches too much! Best advice is probably to practice and play with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 There used to be a good video on the Solarfilm website - dunno if its still though there - take a look. As Chris says, with film you pull and stretch it round compound curves. With Solartex the other technique works better, work along the edge - gradually drawing it round with the iron. You will get hundreds of tiny little creases forming - but they will shrink out as you flatten it down. Chris is also right about practice - as I say its a knack. Once you crack it its easy, but it takes a few goes to sus it out. Its much easier to do than to describe! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 25/03/2014 22:10:06 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devcon1 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Darran, Take your time when doing the tacking as it's easy to try and rush it, I prefer using the iron to purely tack the edges and pull round corners then a heat gun to pull the film into shape over the structure, Have a look at my pics mid way down the page and you'll see my wing when the edges are tacked and the excess trimmed off, it looks a right old mess but soon pulls into shape after the airgun treatment, don't linger too long in one place though as I did. Re your last post you may have to put some slits in to stop the rucking up around the corners. If you're not sure I'll post a picture. Good Luck John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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