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How to Make a Fiberglass RC Plane

Fiberglass is a durable material that works well for RC airplane fuselages. It would be impractical to build wings or movable tail surfaces from fiberglass; these are best built of foam or wood. Fiberglass wings would be too heavy and lack the interior support needed to handle the stresses a wing experiences in flight. Fiberglass is used to reinforce RC airplane wings.

Things You'll Need

  • Fiberglass cloth
  • Fiberglass resin
  • PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) Release agent
  • Mold
  • Plywood formers
  • Epoxy
  • Knife
  • Scissors
  • Sandpaper
  • Rubber bands
  • Compressed air or a tack cloth
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Instructions

  1. Building a Fiberglass Fuselage

    • 1

      Apply the release agent to your mold. This is needed to separate the finished fiberglass part from the mold. You should have a left side and right side mold for the fuselage.

    • 2

      Cut strips of fiberglass cloth to lay in the molds. Do not put the strips into the mold in the same direction; varying the weave of the fiberglass cloth increases the parts strength. Make sure each piece extends past the edge of the mold.

    • 3

      Apply the fiberglass resin with a paintbrush. Make sure all of the fiberglass gets saturated with resin.

    • 4

      Allow several hours for the resin to dry. The parts should be rigid and dry to the touch.

    • 5

      Remove the parts from the mold. This may take a little effort, do not pry the part out with a screw driver or other sharp object as you might damage the part.

    • 6

      Trim the part with a knife or scissors. Your fuselage halves should match up perfectly.

    • 7

      Use epoxy to glue the plywood formers into one half of the fuselage. Use sandpaper to rough up the fiberglass a little for better adhesion. Wait for the epoxy to set up before moving on.

    • 8

      Join the two fuselage halves together using epoxy on all surfaces that touch. Use rubber bands as clamps to hold the pieces together while the epoxy cures.

    • 9

      Cut two long thin strips if fiberglass cloth about 1/2 inch wide. Apply these strips to the joints where the fiberglass meets. Use resin and saturate the cloth. When dry your fuselage is built, sand all edges smooth.

    Fiberglassing a Foam Wing

    • 10

      Dry fit wing halves together and epoxy in any dihedral bracing. Allow the epoxy to dry before moving to the next step.

    • 11

      Sand the leading edge smooth with a fine sandpaper. Remove any foam dust with compressed air or a tack cloth.

    • 12

      Cut a strip of fiberglass cloth about 3 inches wide and 2 inches longer then the wing cord at the center. Use epoxy to secure the fiberglass to the top of the foam wing. Overlap the leading and trailing edges with 1 inch of fiberglass cloth.

    • 13

      Repeat Step 3 for the bottom of the wing.


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