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  #11  
Old 08-29-2013, 09:42 AM
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mojo1986 mojo1986 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshire
Do you use "un-doctored" dope, or do you add a few drops of castor oil to it so that it won't make the tissue shrink? If it shrinks, it can warp sheet balsa boost-glider wings.


I use CA (so, no warpage), and my paper is just Christmas wrap (CHEAP, and available in many colors). Added advantage: the glider is REALLY strong.

Joe
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  #12  
Old 08-29-2013, 09:56 AM
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K'Tesh K'Tesh is offline
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Default Well, I made one of my color choices...

I tested a black Sharpie (King Size), and a red Stanford Magnum 44 permanent marker on some scrap balsa with the black and scarlet RIT Dye samples I have tried.

The Hawk is now Stanford red, and I plan on using Sharpie black for the details

I'm thinking seriously about painting the Nighthawk, I saw a photo of a yellow and black version that I'd like to reproduce, however the golden yellow RIT dye isn't bright enough... Perhaps yellow food coloring suspended in 99% alcohol would be worth a scrap of balsa.
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  #13  
Old 08-29-2013, 10:13 AM
jetlag jetlag is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K'Tesh
I tested a black Sharpie (King Size), and a red Stanford Magnum 44 permanent marker on some scrap balsa with the black and scarlet RIT Dye samples I have tried.

The Hawk is now Stanford red, and I plan on using Sharpie black for the details

I'm thinking seriously about painting the Nighthawk, I saw a photo of a yellow and black version that I'd like to reproduce, however the golden yellow RIT dye isn't bright enough... Perhaps yellow food coloring suspended in 99% alcohol would be worth a scrap of balsa.


The 'wetness' of the alcohol or water would most likely warp your wood where it is thin. I would drop the 'dye' and either use a light spray coating of lacquer or Sharpies.
Just forget about using dye altogether is my rec.

Allen
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  #14  
Old 08-29-2013, 11:35 AM
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gpoehlein gpoehlein is offline
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I agree about the dye - I think that was recommended back when there were no Sharpie Magnums and weight was a very real concern for competition (even a gram or so can make a huge difference when you are trying to get glide times of tens of minutes). Now, most competitors use Sharpies to add some color to the wings for visibilty (black on underside, red on top so you can see it on the ground). I don't know too many people who use dye any more.

For sport flying, a couple of light coats of paint are fine - after all, if you can get it to glide for more than a minute, you're probably going to lose it! Remember that, first and foremost, painting and finishing any rocket, whether it is a BG or any other style, is about pleasing yourself. If YOU like the way it looks, that is the only important thing! Enjoy and have fun!
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  #15  
Old 08-29-2013, 12:39 PM
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Painting was recommended for the Fake Wulf and I painted mine in a German camo paint scheme and it flies really well.

That said, most of my gliders have either no paint or just a light dusting of color.
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  #16  
Old 08-29-2013, 04:07 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mojo1986
I use CA (so, no warpage), and my paper is just Christmas wrap (CHEAP, and available in many colors). Added advantage: the glider is REALLY strong.

Joe
Thank You! Yes, that's essentially Burt Rutan's lightweight but very strong homebuilt airplane and sailplane (VariViggen, VariEze, Quickie, Solitaire, etc.) fiberglass/epoxy-over-foam structural method, just using paper instead of glass cloth, balsa instead of foam, and CA instead of epoxy.
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Last edited by blackshire : 08-29-2013 at 04:08 PM. Reason: This ol' hoss done forgot somethin'.
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  #17  
Old 08-29-2013, 04:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob H
Painting was recommended for the Fake Wulf and I painted mine in a German camo paint scheme and it flies really well.

That said, most of my gliders have either no paint or just a light dusting of color.
Indeed--a Fake Wulf just isn't...well, fake--without that decor scheme. :-) Also:

Another option (especially for model airplane folks with various types of dope on hand, who might get into model rocketry by way of boost-gliders) could possibly be a variation of the "glider dope" (a 50/50 mixture of clear dope and dope thinner, applied to a boost-glider and sanded with No. 400 sandpaper or sanding film between coats, until the surfaces are very smooth) that G. Harry Stine described in his "Handbook of Model Rocketry." Now:

I have not tried this, but maybe glider dope made using *colored* dope and dope thinner (perhaps using, say, 75% colored dope and 25% dope thinner, to preserve the color "density") could also produce good results? (For myself, I'd just use spray paint like you did [particularly lacquer paint, on B/Gs with no plastic parts] because that's what I have on hand, but maybe model airplane folks could get equally good results with glider dope, without having to buy new and [to them] unfamiliar paints.)
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Last edited by blackshire : 08-29-2013 at 04:32 PM. Reason: This ol' hoss done had to correct a typo.
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  #18  
Old 08-29-2013, 04:48 PM
Neal Miller Neal Miller is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by K'Tesh
I've read that painting a Boost Glider is "bad". That it has a very bad effect on the glider's performance.

I've now got a Semroc Nighthawk, and Hawk, and I'd like to give them a nice finish, but I'm scared as to how to get them to look and perform well.

I'm not trying to win (or even enter) any kind of competition, but I don't want to build something that won't fly just because I added some color to the thing. Nor do I want it to look like some unfinished POS that I just slapped together.

I've experimented with RIT Dye dissolved in 90+% alcohol, but the color is underwhelming to say the least... RIT's Scarlet looks more like a purplish red wine stain than anything that is "Red".

Any help here would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jim
.

Hi Jim, If you want your glider to look good I would paint it with dope. you can mix some of the colored dope with the dope type sealer and then sand it real smooth. this will fill the Balsa and add color at the same time. them use colored dope to complete the finish.
after the finish is fully dry , I would wax and buff-out to make the surface as slippery
as possible. the least amount of dope you use= better flight.
Sharpie markers look just OK at best without sealing. they are the finish of choice for competition but they do leave the model with a very spartan finish.
here is a picture of a couple of contest gliders we flew a the last BARS monthly launch.


Picture: Two fine gliders both of the Stine Design.
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  #19  
Old 08-29-2013, 07:04 PM
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I build most of my boost gliders for show. I want people at the launch to say "that was cool!" rather than "Wow, that stayed up forever". It all depends on what you want the outcome to be. I love my 2.4 X RC upscale Mach 10. Its draggy and heavy but it looks cool and unique. It glides for 20 seconds at best, but it looks good doing it. Many competition gliders benefit from the surface drag of raw balsa and it HURTS them to get a pretty finish (even a light one). When I build a model that is supposed to be super light, I will usually do 2 coats of 50/50 thinned out dope, sanding after the first coat. MY theory is that "it won't fill the grain, but it will make it kinda smooth and keep out moisture".

And there you have it... MY opinion on boost gliders .

LOVE that Fake Wulf Bob!!!
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  #20  
Old 08-29-2013, 07:06 PM
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rokitflite rokitflite is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neal Miller
Hi Jim, If you want your glider to look good I would paint it with dope. you can mix some of the colored dope with the dope type sealer and then sand it real smooth. this will fill the Balsa and add color at the same time. them use colored dope to complete the finish.
after the finish is fully dry , I would wax and buff-out to make the surface as slippery
as possible. the least amount of dope you use= better flight.
Sharpie markers look just OK at best without sealing. they are the finish of choice for competition but they do leave the model with a very spartan finish.
here is a picture of a couple of contest gliders we flew a the last BARS monthly launch.


Picture: Two fine gliders both of the Stine Design.



On that note, it sucks but Midwest (formerly Aerogloss) no longer makes colored dope (or to be politically correct) dope of color, anymore .
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