gluing tissue to wing ribs and how to cover rounded wing tip

grinx76 · Post by **grinx76** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:28 pm

1) been reading that it is recommended to NOT glue your tissue to ALL the wing ribs, just the inner and outer. why? is it unnecessary or does it create a problem?

2) how do you get smooth wing tips if your edges are rounded. mine always appear slightly crumpled as i cannot find a way to lay the tissue down smooth, even making small cuts to the extra tissue to wrap underneath

thanks!

jc -- currently on a Javelin

grinx76 · Post by **grinx76** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:53 am

bump

anyone can redirect me to a link or website with this answer?

thanks, happy friday all!

ADW 123 · Post by **ADW 123** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 8:58 am

i always thought that it makes the tissue looser, that way when it strinks, it just shrinks nicely over the frame. if its already tight on the frame, and you srink it, i suppose that could cause problems. im sure someone else has something to say about that, but thats my view

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 7:51 pm

I think the reason for not gluing to every rib is that it just looks better.
Just gluing to the outer ribs and frame is adequate to hold the tissue in place.

For tissue around curved wing tips, the man to answer that is scigs30 on this forum. The method I use is to cut a section of tissue much larger than the area you are covering. Say about 1/2 inch excess border. Apply glue mixture to the balsa frame. Wet the tissue and very gently apply the tissue. As you might guess the tissue will tear very easily.
Work the wrinkles out and away from the frame. Try to get the wrinkles to form in the excess border, then after the tissue and glue dries; cut away the excess. May not be the best method but, it does o.k. most of the time.

lukebozek1 · Post by **lukebozek1** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:05 am

I believe that by not gluing to each rib, it allows the tissue to shrink across the entire surface area and distribute the stress more evenly for a better surface. Once you apply the dope, it adheres to the framework as the dope bleeds thru the tissue. I have never loved tips, I think I did one correctly once of an old "Fancy Pants" control line plane, but I used silk to cover it. I also did a buildup on the tip with formers running at 30, 60 and 90 degrees to the last rib. Now, I do the tip in two pieces after the wing is covered up to the last rib at the tip. It isn't perfect, but better than trying to cut that tissue and overlap the edges to get a curved shape. Someonbe recommended two people above, Phugoid and Scigs are pretty incredible with the covering that they do. Check out their work at the Virtual Airodrome, and weep as you look at perfection. It simply breaks my heart to see how good tissue looks.

Phugoid · Post by **Phugoid** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:15 pm

I showed how I do wing tips here:

http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 8&start=45

I'm not building any Guillows kits at the moment, I'm building a peanut and an old keil kraft design both of which are on the SFA.

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaB ... 1298494154

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaB ... 1292534124

There are some super builders on that forum. My builds are ordinay in comparison to what is shown on some of the threads.

Phugoid · Post by **Phugoid** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 1:21 pm

I showed how I do wing tips here:

http://balsamodels.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 8&start=45

I'm not building any Guillows kits at the moment, I'm building a peanut and an old keil kraft design both of which are on the SFA.

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaB ... 1298494154

http://www.smallflyingartsforum.com/YaB ... 1292534124

There are some super builders on that forum. My builds are ordinay in comparison to what is shown on some of the threads.

scigs30 · Post by **scigs30** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:24 pm

Gluing the tissue to every rib would be a PITA. Just the perimeter to make life easy and make for a wrinkle free finish. For the wing tips you can cover in small sections and that works great or you can cover with wet tissue.