Vortex Vacform P51 Mustang

[Mac]

Hi everybody.Thought I'd just drop a line and say hi, as I haven't been around for a while.
I've almost finished building a Vortex Vacform P51 Mustang now. I just need to balance it and aligh the tail , then it's ready to fly.
If any body should happen to build an aircraft out of EPP, and you use glass reinforced tape to strengthen it, YOU MUST USE 'STIKATAK SUPERSPRAY ADHESIVE' TOCOVER THE AIRFRAME/WINGS BEFORE PUTTING ON THE TAPE! Firstly, the tape will not stick properly to EPP on it's own, and secondly, that is the only adhesive that works, (as I found out!) All the other adhesives seem to alow the tape to lift after a day or two. Adhesive is available at B+Q DIY shops.
I saw a Vortex Vacform P51 in the photo gallery, and saw that it's up at about 5lbs in weight. Mine is going to come in at about 3lb 14oz. Is that going to be heavy enough on a 60" model? I thing it should be ok, because I'm not flying in particularly strong winds. Any ideas anybody?

Mac.

[Phil Cooke]

Mac,
Don't worry about the weight being too low - if you do fly in conditions where a higher wing loadng is preferential you can always add some ballast - remember - adding weight is easy - its building it out thats hard, so really you should be congratulating yourself on your below 4lb achievement!!! Simply cut a hole in the fuz underbelly (over the CofG) where some ballast could be pushed into the foam and you have a model fit for all conditions!

Re: your comments on adhesive selection on EPP - I read this with interest as I am just about to apply the tape to an EPP T-33 - I have bought (but not yet used) some 3M77 spray adhesive (on good advice) so hopefully that will adhere - but to save me making a huge mess of it all I will take your advice and do a scrap piece trial immedialtey and give it a couple of days to cure before proceeding on the airframe proper!

Did you try this 3M spray adhesive too and prove it not to work??

[Mac]

Hi Phil.

Actually no, I didn't try the 3M adhesive. Funnily enough, a mate of mine built a Phoenix Model Products 'Rico-She' and he used the 3M spray. He said that he had no problems with it at all. I only found this out yesterday, (22/09/03) sorry.
The sprays I used were the 'Gripps Spray' by Gripperrods and another that I forget the name of now, (I binned it immediately! ).

For the next bit, I hope I'm not 'teaching grandmother to suck eggs' but hope it helps:-

Another thing I found is that there are varying qualityies of glass reinforced tape. The best I have found so far is 3M Scotch 'Pressure Sensitive Tape. Using this combined with the Stikatak spray adhesive make for an almost unremovable covering, (after it has had an hour to 'go off', it requires an almighty tug to get it off, and there's much wailing and gnashing of teeth ).
Once you have finished putting on the glass tape, (dont forget to lay it wing tip to wing root for strength and with approx a 1/2 to 3/4 inch overlap), then you will need to sand it[glow=red,2,300]LIGHTLY[/glow] with some P240 grit wet and dry/sand paper. Only sand it lightly or it will 'bobble' at the edges of the tape where the overlaps are, or worse still it will actually start to peel up, (I found this out too, most infuriating )
Once it has been lightly sanded to flat off the overlap edges and give it a key all over, spray it again with the adhesive. It will now accept Profilm covering really nicely. and dont worry about any over spray on the model after covering, it cleans off with a tissue and white spirit. . I did find that I got a lot of air bubbles under the profilm if I didn't iron it on in the same style that you would apply stickers.
Hope this all helps and I haven't wasted time. Good Luck.

Mac.

[PSS-Rez]

Hi Mac,

Thanks for the tips mate! It's never wasted time or space to read tips like these!

Cheers,

[glow=red,2,300]PSS-Rez[/glow]

[Mac]

Hi Rez, No worries.
Have you not built an EPP model with Tape and Film covering?
I have to say that although it's a long and fairly drawn out process, at the end of it, it's good to know that if you do have a wee accident the model isn't going to get totally destroyed. ;D