Phil.Taylor Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Another F3F nose repair - but this ones an old-skool canopy style fus - A Rotmilan I acquired recently Documenting it here in case its useful/interesting to anyone - let me know Clean break across a previous repair - done with carbon & kevlar - messy. Canopy style can usually be repaired just from the inside - but this one has a very solidly fixed servo tray & ballast tube in the way - so the repair will be partly internal & mostly external. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 First job - file off the kevlar from the previous repair - horrible stuff. Then - re-align the nose & fus back together - easy cos of the previous repair - fitted together well - tape tightly together with masking tape. Thin cyano into the cracks from the inside to hold it together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted April 8 Author Share Posted April 8 Next - 10x0.5mm carbon strips - roughed up well - epoxied along & beyond the canopy edges - which is the weak point of a canopy style fus. Full-strength old-fashioned slow set Araldite - left overnight. Also some epoxy internally across the break to cover missing bits. Morning - bit of a trim & tidy up with a sharp knife - looking good & feels solid. Will leave to set solidly for a few days before the next bit - which will be a classic "grind away across the break & feather the edges & lay in carbon/epoxy & trim back the outside when set" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wookman Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Nice work, as ever. You have gone all retro on us Phil! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted April 9 Author Share Posted April 9 3 hours ago, wookman said: Nice work, as ever. You have gone all retro on us Phil! Haha Just picked up a carload of really retro stuff from an ebay sale - including an original Airjet/Carrera Sagitta - unbuilt - boxed - super rare! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted April 10 Author Share Posted April 10 HaHa - I see that eagle eyes have spotted that - thanks for the "likes" - so I've started a thread about the Sagitta in the slope soaring section Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted April 18 Author Share Posted April 18 Just done the hard work bit - sanding back across the break - nice shallow "U" profile for the new carbon & epoxy. Mostly done with rough 80 grade wrapped around a half-round file. Its the first time I've done one with kevlar in the layup - horrible stuff - doesnt sand cleanly, fluffs up. All masked up ready for the messy sticky carbon & epoxy bit. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oipigface Posted April 19 Share Posted April 19 Kevlar behaves better, Phil, if you soak it in thin cyano before sanding. It's still not fun, but it's better. Try not to inhale the fumes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted Friday at 17:09 Author Share Posted Friday at 17:09 Carbon & epoxy laid up - 2x layers of fairly heavy carbon - then all wrapped up. I've found that a piece of Tesco plastic bag over the carbon & epoxy helps to keep things tidy - then wrapped very tightly with masking tape. Unwrapped - Tesco plastic bag comes away very cleanly. Very happy with that lot - will be left somewhere warm to fully cure for about a week before sanding back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Minchell Posted Saturday at 07:17 Share Posted Saturday at 07:17 Easy Composites do a flat tape which can be spiral wound around a boom and then heat shrunk as well. Starts at £3.60 for a 10m roll. And the CF fishing rod repair kits have everything you need to do this type of repair. John M 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil.Taylor Posted Saturday at 08:47 Author Share Posted Saturday at 08:47 1 hour ago, John Minchell said: Easy Composites do a flat tape which can be spiral wound around a boom and then heat shrunk as well. Starts at £3.60 for a 10m roll. And the CF fishing rod repair kits have everything you need to do this type of repair. John M Found it - this stuff https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/composites-shrink-tape Will give this a try Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oipigface Posted Saturday at 10:11 Share Posted Saturday at 10:11 Good find, John! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Minchell Posted Sunday at 08:46 Share Posted Sunday at 08:46 It helps that they are only a few miles away from me so I can nip in and pick up supplies and save postal costs as I drive by there fairly regularly. There is also a brilliant set of training / how to videos on their website too. John M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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