Re: Spary painting balsa?
Posted: 19 Jul 2021, 19:35
Hi John.
I have been following this thread for a while now and have resisted replying till now. Like Peter and Chris I come from a dope and tissue age and have seen and tried most finishes. If you go down the bare balsa and dope/sanding sealer route I guarantee that you will soon regret your decision. After a few slope landings the nicely finished balsa sheeting will be splitting among the grain as the structure flexes. It will also be covered in deep scrapes and scratches.
Balsa surfaces need something to toughen the surface, be it tissue, nylon, tex or glass cloth. No ifs, no buts! It would be best to bite the bullet and choose the most suitable option. Looking at your structure which is mixed open and sheeted construction I would have covered the whole model in tex or diocov. Alternatively cover the sheeted surfaces in 25gm/m glass cloth then cover the open sections with tex or diacov. It will be more satisfactory in the long run.
Best of luck.
Brian
I have been following this thread for a while now and have resisted replying till now. Like Peter and Chris I come from a dope and tissue age and have seen and tried most finishes. If you go down the bare balsa and dope/sanding sealer route I guarantee that you will soon regret your decision. After a few slope landings the nicely finished balsa sheeting will be splitting among the grain as the structure flexes. It will also be covered in deep scrapes and scratches.
Balsa surfaces need something to toughen the surface, be it tissue, nylon, tex or glass cloth. No ifs, no buts! It would be best to bite the bullet and choose the most suitable option. Looking at your structure which is mixed open and sheeted construction I would have covered the whole model in tex or diocov. Alternatively cover the sheeted surfaces in 25gm/m glass cloth then cover the open sections with tex or diacov. It will be more satisfactory in the long run.
Best of luck.
Brian