January 22nd involved a lot more fiber-glass and wet-sanding so thought I’d provide the gist of the process, which is as follows: Make templates of areas to be fiber-glassed (I used cereal box cardboard) Measure and cut the fiber-glass to size, approx. piece per surface area Wear disposable clear plastic gloves Mix up epoxy Lay …
On January 20th, since the fiber-glass placed around the edges of the bottom of the aircraft was dry it was time to prep for the next phase. If you look closely at the fiber-glass along the edges in the previous post you’ll notice some really rough spots where glue pooled and dried. This involved wet …
On January 16th I continued work on fiber-glassing the bottom of the fuselage. This day was focusing on applying fiber-glass all around the edge of the bottom of the fuselage as well as on the nose. This ensures the seams, spaces between where the bottom connects to the sides, are thoroughly covered. Also fiber-glassing of …
Building Seamaster Day 47: Fiber-glass Bottom Edges Read More »
On January 14th I continued with the fiber-glassing process. This time, seen above, I applied fiber-glass to the keel of the fuselage. The process was similar to before, this time cutting strips that would wrap over the keel and about equal parts on each side. This is done prior to the remainder of the bottom …
On January 13th the fiber-glassing process started with the wing tip floats. This is my first experience working with fiber-glass. Peter has a big sheet of the stuff. The first step was to cut out the pieces for covering the floats by creating the least amount of waste possible, it’s expensive stuff! The pieces need …
Building Seamaster Day 45: Fiber-glassing floats Read More »
On Dec. 18th I could really start to see things coming together as I worked on putting the bondages for all the control surfaces into place. The first step was to ensure the hinges fit into the slots off the main surfaces (wing for ailerons and fin & stabilizer for the rudder & elevator respectively). …
Building Seamater Day 44: Gluing Hinges / Control Surfaces Read More »
On Nov. 27th I started the process of covering the elevator and rudder for my Seamaster. This day consisted of covering the ends and trailing edges of the two control surfaces. This is done first in order to ensure the edges are properly covered and ensure there is no exposed balsa in the end. In …
Building Seamater Day 42 & 43: Covering Rudder & Elevator Read More »
On Nov. 26th I covered the fin of my aircraft. This entailed cutting to pieces with some excess for each side of the fin. I ensured a straight edge was used along the bottom and top. I ironed along the top edge first and then worked my way across the surface and folded the one …
