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Take Care:
Composite sandwich parts are extremely strong, but fragile at the same time.
Always keep in mind that these composite airplanes are designed for minimum
weight and maximum strength in flight. Please take care of it, especially during
transport, to make sure that none of the critical parts and linkages are damaged.
Always handle your airplane with great care, especially on the ground and during
transport, so you will have many hours of pleasure with it.
To protect the finished surface on the outside of the model from scratches and
dents during building, cover your work table with a piece of soft carpet, cloth or
bubble-plastic. The best way to stop small spots of glue getting stuck to the
outside painted surfaces is to give the whole model 2 good coats of clear car wax
first, but of course you must be sure to remove this 100% properly before adding
any additional paint, markings or trim.
Adhesives and Solvents:
Not all types of glues are suited to working with composite parts. Here is a
selection of what we normally use, and what we can truly recommend. Please don't
use inferior quality glues - you will end up with an inferior quality plane, that is not
so strong or safe.
Composite models require good gluing techniques, due to the higher flying speeds,
and hence higher loads on many of the joints.
1.
CA glue 'Thin' and 'Thick' types. We recommend ZAP, as this is very high
quality.
2.
ZAP-O or Plasti-ZAP, odourless, or ZAP canopy glue 560 (for clear canopy)
3.
30 minute epoxy (stressed joints must be glued with at least 30 min & NOT 5
min epoxy).
4.
Loctite Hysol 9462 or equivalent (optional, but highly recommended)
5.
Epoxy laminating resin (12 - 24 hr cure) with hardener.
6.
Milled glass fibre, for adding to slow epoxy for stronger joints.
7.
Micro-balloons, for adding to slow epoxy for lightweight filling.
8.
Thread-locking compound (Loctite 243, ZAP Z-42, or equivalent)
We take great care during production at the factory to ensure that all joints are
properly glued, but of course it is wise to check these yourself and re-glue any that
might just have been missed.
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