Karl,
Would the window kit shrink plastic work over the compound? you could then make a mold off of that.

Yep it will work. I proved it on the Monster's cowl. But the problem is then concave areas of the part. Getting the film covering to stay down is the trick. You could spray 3M77 heavy and then iron it I suppose and leave slack to carefully heat shrink it. Haven't tried that yet but I think it should work. The covering shrinks like crazy when it goes.

One other thing you have to be carefully of if your base is foam. When you shrink the film you can melt the foam. NOT good. I had this happen a bit on me with the Pitts. But I fixed it in the molds. If the joint compound is thick enough that shouldn't happen. It a delicate process.

Monocoat works great for a parting surface as well. Resin and epoxy does not stick to it. Especially with partall sprayed on it.

Rob I will help you with yours. I promise. We need to get together to have a look at it.

Originally Posted by lakerider8

I made my plug slightly undersized,then covered it with glass cloth and poly glue,sanded it smooth ,then used autobody filler for the final shaping and sizing. When that was done I primed with automotive primer,sanded that smooth,and the mold was formed from that. I'm not sure what would be a good SAFE finishing process over drywall compound. You don't want your finish to come off of the plug when you make a mold.

One more on this. As long as the finish doesn't crack while you are handling it you are ok. You can make the molds without an issue. But I will almost guarantee you that you will not get the plug out of the mold with out destroying it. But.. that is not an issue because it has served its purpose in life. Throw it away.

I spent a couple winters making my F16 plug. It was all balsa and joint compound covered with .75 oz glass and then painted. Rich Hamel pulled molds off of it. The work of 2 years ended up in about 1000 pieces when we tried to get the plug out of the mold. Not a problem because it served its purpose. We have gotten several nice parts out of the molds. Or at least Rick has. I haven't made mine yet.

Originally Posted by Krazy Karl

Rob I will help you with yours. I promise. We need to get together to have a look at it.

Karl, I think I am gonna take you up on that. I am not sure if my attempt can be salvaged or not.

Originally Posted by rcpilot82

Karl, I think I am gonna take you up on that. I am not sure if my attempt can be salvaged or not.

It can be salvaged. You wouldn't believe the wrecks I have recovered. Your place or mine anytime Rob.

Originally Posted by Krazy Karl

Yep it will work. I proved it on the Monster's cowl. But the problem is then concave areas of the part. Getting the film covering to stay down is the trick. You could spray 3M77 heavy and then iron it I suppose and leave slack to carefully heat shrink it. Haven't tried that yet but I think it should work. The covering shrinks like crazy when it goes.

One other thing you have to be carefully of if your base is foam. When you shrink the film you can melt the foam. NOT good. I had this happen a bit on me with the Pitts. But I fixed it in the molds. If the joint compound is thick enough that shouldn't happen. It a delicate process.

Monocoat works great for a parting surface as well. Resin and epoxy does not stick to it. Especially with partall sprayed on it.

Rob I will help you with yours. I promise. We need to get together to have a look at it.

Where can I find this film at, sounds interesting. Also I have plenty of left over Hobby King covering left over might try that. Would the covering have the same problem as the window film getting it to stick?

Originally Posted by cbarnes0061

Where can I find this film at, sounds interesting. Also I have plenty of left over Hobby King covering left over might try that. Would the covering have the same problem as the window film getting it to stick?

Home Depot of course. It's in the weather stripping stuff. Chris I would do the faom base and drywall mud. 3m77 after and let it dry. Iron fiberglass on. (The iron heat will activate the glue)
Work it first with your hands and then iron it to stick it. Thin poly glue and brush it on THIN. As dry as you can get it. Then do body fillers like Scott said. Nothing is for free. Everything takes work and time. No way around it.

Just peck away at it and it will be done before you know it. Lots of luck.

Thanks Karl, I know it is going to take time and I have plenty of it. Heck I could go into turbo mode and finish building the plane in prolly a couple of months if I wanted, but then it would just be sitting there waiting for me to purchase all the gear and motor, which I don't have the funds for right now, so I'm just going to take my time make sure everything is right and enjoy building the thing.

i guess it's time to change oreo's dandruff shampoo .... he's a little flaky :-)

Ok I promise I am working on the Cap tonight. It has been a long time, just been busy. Oh yeah I was in Washington DC this past week so I went to the Air and Space Museum. Can you believe I am 27 and have lived in VA my entire life and never seen it? Lets just say it was great. Lots of cool stuff. I love how Patty Wagstaff's Extra had a see through bottom I'm sure to help get her orrintation back. The wife loved Amelia Earhart's Vega, and is telling me once I'm done with the Cap I should build that. Also she doesn't know yet that I got a pic of her actually being interested in the German jet.

Thats right some progress is being made again. Thanks Terryscustom for the motivation. Just some stringers in place, I will let the glue set up for a little bit then add some more.

Glad to see you're back on it.

Originally Posted by wecoyote

Glad to see you're back on it.

I agree Whatever you do, don't work on it so much you take the fun out of building. I can work like an animal on a build at times,but the only time I push myself is if working on a customers plane with a deadline. I have a rebuild/redesign I'm working on now that I haven't made much progress on for a week. If I'm in the mood to work on it I'd finish it in 2 days. Glad to see you working on the bird,and sharing with us. Scott

Ok question for all I have done a few side jobs here recently and I'm thinking I might order a powerplant for this bird. Thinking that most likly will be getting a DLE 55, just going to watch the prices on all sites around this upcoming holiday to see if any sales happen. I think i will go ahead and get a prop and spinner at the same time and I don't know what size prop to get. Any help would be great.

Originally Posted by cbarnes0061

Ok question for all I have done a few side jobs here recently and I'm thinking I might order a powerplant for this bird. Thinking that most likly will be getting a DLE 55, just going to watch the prices on all sites around this upcoming holiday to see if any sales happen. I think i will go ahead and get a prop and spinner at the same time and I don't know what size prop to get. Any help would be great.

22-10 or 23-8 Xoar