Glassing and painting a wood fuselage

[Mike Hester]

Ok this has been a long time coming. I'm going to take it slow and be very thorough.

Why glassing and painting? Simple. It looks good and is very durable for the long run. You MUST glass the structure to stabilize the wood or else it will eventually crack, not to mention be much heavier. This is not hard and once you do it, you'll hate monokote for fuselages. it's a simple recipe that requires some special items and a lot of elbow grease.

I realize that this is a long list and it's not cheap. But it IS worth every penny.

Anyone can do this and be successful, but you MUST NOT DEVIATE from the instructions!!! The slightest change can cost you valuable ounces.

What you will need:

-.7 ounce glass cloth, 3 yards
-Superfil
-ultimate lightweight bondo
-glazing putty
-West system resin, 105/205 pint or quart kit
-acetone
-balsarite (film formula)
-PPG K-36 primer kit, 20 ounce kit (do NOT substitute!)
-Paint of choice, plus activators and reducers
-twice as much reducer as called for
-5 star cleaner/degreaser
-tack cloth
-sandpaper (220, 400, 1000 grits)
-foam sanding blocks
-foam rollers and frame
-unwaxed dixie cups
-1" disposable brushes
-paper towels
-Masking tape and masking paper
-3m fine line tape
-HVLP spray gun (mini size from Lowes works fine)
-Compressor capable of delivering 1.2 cfm constant with regulator
-inline filters
-gun side regulator (optional but NICE)
-fixture to hold parts (details later)
-PATIENCE!