Covering fins with paper(another rookie question)

I read somewhere awhile back about covering balsa fins with copy paper(attaching with spray adhesive) rather than sanding to get a nice surface.
What does anybody think of this?(other than it's lazy).
Vance

Vance, people cover their fins with all sorts of stuff My only experience is that you cover the grain of the wood but its' easy to just add ripples. I was thinking of trying to use drafting vellum on a rocket one day. But I'm no expert, so hopefully others chime in. You might try searching TRF and EMRR for the Imperial Lambda Shuttle by EMRR. As I remember he might have tried this on one of his prototypes.

I have never heard of covering fins with copy paper but I have covered them with tissue paper and dope like what model airplanes are covered with. it made them a little smoother and it added alot of strength

I've stuck .6 oz. Carbon Tissue to 1/8" balsa w/ West Systems epoxy and vaccuum bagged it w/ a Foodsaver. WAY smooth and lots stiffer and not much heavier!

I've tried using breather and release to do this and get LOADS or ripples. I've gotten the smoothest finish by using a glass (glass, not fiberglass) plate on one side, using several sheets of heavy bond paper as the "breather" and wax paper as the release. Use the papers on both sides. You can use glass plate on both sides, but make sure it doesn't overlap the balsa by much or it'll shatter when you pull the vaccuum. I'd imagine you could use reg'lar tissue for this as well. If'n you haven't got a Foodsaver, use two glass plates and a bunch (the more the merrier) of those big spring clamps from Home Depot (you may end up w/ small voids from bubbles this way) . I've glassed basswood bulkheads and balsa fins (usually .5 or .75 oz) this way as well.

Way more info than you needed,
-bill

I paper my balsa fins with any kind of copy-machine paper or card stock that I can find.
I cut and sand the fins (no escaping that part of the work) including whatever airfoil shape I want to use.
Fold the paper in a sharp crease---this fold will go onto the leading edge of the fin.
Pre-cut the paper, and cut it oversize so it extends past all the other edges of the fin.
I use white glue cut 50/50 with water, and spread it onto both sides of the fin with my finger until the fin is wet from root to tip and front edge to back.
Then wrap the paper around the fin, layer the thing top & bottom with waxed paper, and put it in the bottom of an old phone book overnight.
When dry, you can cut the excess paper off the root and tip and trailing edge with a straight edge and an X-acto knife. I do a little touch-up sanding with fine sandpaper, and then use CA on the edges I cut.
I seldom get any bubbles in the finished paper using this approach, and don't know what everyone else is doing that causes them so much trouble.
I can consistently get a decent surface finish and especially a nice smooth leading edge.
After all this, I glue them onto the model just like normal, and fillet.

I need to try this technic

Originally posted by powderburner

After all this, I glue them onto the model just like normal, and fillet.

Click to expand...

A thought struck me when I read this last sentance. What if you left 1/8 -1/4 inch over-hanging tabs of paper on each side of the fin at the fin root to assist in gluing to the body tube? Your fin would look like a "T" from end on, and you glue the head of the "T" to the body tube.

Anyone tried this?

Thanks guys, as usual you are a wealth of info.
Think I'll get out some scrap balsa & start experiementing with the different methods before I start on those big slabs on my Super Big Bertha. Keep the ideas coming.
Vance.

My favorite, to date, method is using 15-min epoxy, spreading it on the balsa fins, thinning it way out using a business card, and then applying a piece of transparent tracing paper! (I'm doing it right now). I believe this way also helps prevent dents and such.

I plan on trying Elmer's Extra-Strength Spray Adhesive, but on a model I care less about than the one I'm doing now.


Nick

I recently tried using 3-M spray adhesive and drafting vellum. It was easy. The strength seemed fine (considering it was paper). The finish was nice, except for a few bubbles which were easily fixed.

BUT....

The solvent in spray primer eats the glue and the results were disasterous. Had to pull all the paper and then deal with the layer of goo.

And of course I did this on a model that I did care about I had done a test run, but hadn't primed it. D'oh!