Last night I did some more reinforcing of the seams on the control rods.
As promised I would talk about the fiberglass 'tape' used on this job.
It is very hard to wet out properly. I figured out that trying to do the whole length in one go is harder than doing it in sections. Still use one piece of tape - just wet out one half first then do the next half. I found this quite a bit easier to manage and got a much better result - straighter tape and better wetted out.
Bit of a messy job this as the resin tends to run down around the rod and you end up with quite a bit of resin below where it is needed as it forms like paint runs underneath. Use your gloved hands to wipe this off at the end and minimize the excess resin.
As you can see from the below images the tape comes in a roll and is a certain width - but before applying its best to pull it outwards. Doing this first while it is dry before applying is easier than when it is wet.
The last photo is a top tip I got from a book - wrap your resin weighing scales in plastic - so that they don't get covered in resin if you spill some (resin is always mixed by weight rather than volume). I have taken it a bit further and put the whole thing in an old upturned plastic container lid so that if the resin ever spills over completely then the whole mess is contained in the lid.
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| Elevator and two aileron control rods |
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| tape laminated on seams |
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| Fiberglass 'Tape' - in this case 40mm width |
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| Pull it apart gently while dry |
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| Scales in plastic and then in a tray to catch any spills |
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