Filling balsa nose cones

Well in my build of MADCOW's Bat Ray I'm at the point of filling the nose cone. This is actually believe it or not my first kit with a balsa nose cone. It's a nice cone, but has some minor imperfections. I decided to try some Aerogloss Balsa Filler. I applied a couple coats letting it dry completely between coats before sanding. It looks alright, but not exactly what I was expecting. I started sanding and some of it came off. There are some areas on the nose that still need some work. Towards the base you see some rings that were probably caused by machining, which I'm assuming is normal so I decided to mix up some FnF. I got the mixture not as thick as peanut butter, but maybe a little thinner so it would be easier to apply. I brush on a couple nice even coats and I'm going to let it set up 24 hrs before I start sanding it. I'm in no rush. I can always find other things on the build to work on.

Anyway just wondering if this is normal procedure most of you follow. I know some have mentioned they use thin CA and that would probably work best on smaller nose cones with very little imperfections, but there were some imperfections that I felt CA wouldn't fix. I figure after a couple times sanding and primer it should look pretty good with the FnF.

Anyway I'll post some pictures after I am finished with it. I was also considering painting it maybe a semi gloss or satin black and of course the fins gray.

CA to harden the balsa followed by light sanding(220 or higher). then an all over coat of spot putty, sand with 320 grit. for best sandpaper life do not use garnet paper, CA and spot putty are tougher than garnet. wet/dry paper works for me.

Balsa cones with dings and imperfections.......I deal with this a lot so I have some knowledge. With a ding, I usually try soaking the area with water to see if it will swell enough to sand smooth. If it doesn't it will at least help with the ding. Same goes for those imperfections. Next effort is to use a wood filler. Elmer's has done well for me. If you want an easy fix, use the "wood filler" NOT the "sandable wood filler." The sandable dries very hard and hard to sand, It also has some dark brown fibers in it. It's way overboard. Their plain Jane filler has 2 things going for it. 1, is it's easy to sand, 2, you can thin it down with water like a creamy paste to paint & fill imperfections and grains in the balsa. I never use those bottled fillers because they require too many coatings. You can use this in one coat if you get the mix right.

Gary Byrum said:

Balsa cones with dings and imperfections.......I deal with this a lot so I have some knowledge. With a ding, I usually try soaking the area with water to see if it will swell enough to sand smooth. If it doesn't it will at least help with the ding. Same goes for those imperfections. Next effort is to use a wood filler. Elmer's has done well for me. If you want an easy fix, use the "wood filler" NOT the "sandable wood filler." The sandable dries very hard and hard to sand, It also has some dark brown fibers in it. It's way overboard. Their plain Jane filler has 2 things going for it. 1, is it's easy to sand, 2, you can thin it down with water like a creamy paste to paint & fill imperfections and grains in the balsa. I never use those bottled fillers because they require too many coatings. You can use this in one coat if you get the mix right.

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Gary

That's exactly what I used is the wood filler you mix with water. See link

https://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E842L?filterPath=wood-filler

A lot people on here use it on their fins. I just call it FnF. It sands like butter. A little messy, but results are decent. The reason I decided to use it is because I used it before with much success on balsa fins and it does a good job filling in any imperfections. Rex maybe I'll try your way on my next project that has a balsa nose or tail cone. This is just one area I need to experiment with and wanted to thank you guys for taking the time to share your techniques...I look forward to trying them.

RocketManDan said:

Gary

That's exactly what I used is the wood filler you mix with water. See link

https://www.elmers.com/product/detail/E842L?filterPath=wood-filler

A lot people on here use it on their fins. I just call it FnF. It sands like butter. A little messy, but results are decent. The reason I decided to use it is because I used it before with much success on balsa fins and it does a good job filling in any imperfections. Rex maybe I'll try your way on my next project that has a balsa nose or tail cone. This is just one area I need to experiment with and wanted to thank you guys for taking the time to share your techniques...I look forward to trying them.

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It's a little softer but has always been my method of repair madness. Makes for a clean surface to prime on and the end result looks great.

Gary Byrum said:

It's a little softer but has always been my method of repair madness. Makes for a clean surface to prime on and the end result looks great.

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Exactly!

You know when I got the nose cone I should have used the FnF first, because I knew the Aerogloss wouldn't be able to fill in anything very significant. I do like Aerogloss, but it works good on a surface that nicely sanded sanded and pretty smooth.

The FnF is easy to apply and sand and if you miss a spot you just reapply it again until you get it the way you want it...also not no smells. LOL

kinda like snowflakes, no two rockteers will use exactly the same techniques to build a rocket.
rex

I've only had 2 balsa nose cones recently.

The first I just used FnF, packing it into the grain from the tip back, sanded and painted. Worked pretty well, but on it's first launch got an Estes frown.

Next one I hardened with CA & sanded with 320 before the FnF. Hasn't been painted yet, so I am not sure how it is going to work out.

As Rex R. pointed out, everybody has 'their' way. See what works for you.

Micromeister posted in a thread about rubbing on thin CA very fast, so that you get total coverage and don't get stuck to the nose cone.

I FnF and sand once, then hit it a la MM and it comes out very nice after a final sanding. Very slick and hard. Maybe he'll chime in here as he has it down pat.

I'm gonna try Rex's method sometime on my next balsa part. Either on a nose cone or tail cone. Like I said I didn't really know the procedure.

I checked the nose cone this morning and it looks good. Just needs some sanding. I'm also thinking that having the couple coats of the Aero-Gloss balsa filler beneath it helped. I'll sand it today. I also need to pick up some 3M sand paper at Home Depot.

I like to paint them with with 2-3 coats of Titebond wood glue thinned with water. That gives a kind of shell over the wood to make it less susceptible to dings. If there are noticeable imperfections in the surface, then I fill them and sand with the Elmer's wood filler, followed by primer and paint.