Fiberglassing a EPO foam RC plane

After much debating we decided to try fiber-glassing the belly of the Skywalker. I a store nearby I found the light fiberglass. I asked the person in charge about what resin will work best on a RC Plane for rough landings. We agreed that epoxy could be too hard and brittle. I needed something hand and flexible. He suggested "EnviroTex Lite" and explained how to mix it and how to apply it. This is my first fiber-glassing ever!! It turned out to be easy and so far it looks great! Next is see how it behaves in the landings. The surface looks smooth, hard and flexible. It is light, very light.

[@Migueldeservantes]

This procedure will extend the life of the plane well over 5 time longer than during regular conditions... I have planes that have last me so long! I have to dismantle them and re-pack them back on their original boxes.. I usually do the leading edge of my wings.. than also increase rigidity and much better handling... Great Job Man...

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks Miguel!!

[@mostlyharmlessrc3920]

Thanks for this great tip Eduardo! I hope to soon cut and glass my own foam designs. This helps!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

MostlyHarmlessRC Good to hear that can be useful to you! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@FlyingWildAZ]

"Totally like glassssss!" Very nice!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Tim Timmons Thanks Tim! I’m glad you like it.

Looks great and super clean! Well done Eduardo and thanks for showing it on your channel.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks Wofgang, it is quite easy to do it. Much easier than expected.

[@jenniferdaisy1]

WOW looks great! Holy cow smooth and shinny! Nice job.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+Jennifer Correa Smooth!!

[@SubToTripleThreatRC]

Nice job Eduardo and Nick! A great tip, thumbs up! Cheers, Bob

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks Bob, I was afraid it was not going to turn out good. But it work great, better than expected, and super easy!

[@Declan-pg8cg]

Even the strongest smelling epoxy resin doesn't smell that bad. Polyester resin does. It's cheaper and would be better for your application. Besides, most fibreglass is formulated specifically for Polyester resin

[@fpvproductions3340]

Thanks!

[@tomspettel3646]

Except polyester will eat at the foam substrate. Epoxy wont eat away at the substrate

[@da5thletter.]

What a beautiful name you have my friend.....

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Likewise…

[@lucho9132]

Nunca he usado fiberglass, pero su video lo hace ver muy fácil, tratare en algunos de mis modelos.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Yo tambien le tenia miedo al fiberglassing. Averigue como hacerlo en la tienda que tiene la fibra de vidrio y el tipo me explico. Super facil de hacer. Funciona muy bien pero hay que ponerle una superficie de goma para evira que la fibra se quiebre en aterrizajes sobre piedras. Estoy usando Gorilla Duck Tape, es super gruesa y amortigua los aterrizajes. Tengo un video de esta cinta.

[@berry6811]

West Coast Epoxy doesn't have much of a smell FYI

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks for the info!

[@johnstenborg3461]

...just remember and consider the egg-shell effect...very strong and thin brittle outer shell on a soft body...on impact it will crack...like an egg-shell...an outer shell that’s elastic and moves together with the body will last longer...that’s why for example tape works so well on foam...consider what you want and your landing areas...

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

John Stenborg Thanks John, we discovered what you are saying! After a while we moved into a Gorilla Duct Tape with excellent results. It was fun to play with fiberglass though. Very good your explanation!

[@Curious_Skeptic]

old video, but great video! Thank you! I killed my new glider and busted off the nose. THere goes $240.00 Thinking of glassing the whole ship. Your video is helpful. Thanks.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

After years of flying with fiberglass bottoms, I wouldn’t do it again! I broke the glass on rocks on landing… I turned to Gorilla Duct Tape, very thick… and for the nose, just hot glue! I fly planes that have been demolished in crashes and hot glue fix the and still flying!!

[@Curious_Skeptic]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor WOW! Good to know. I tried gluing plane back together, but it just broke again on a hard landing, not even a bad landing. Picked up 1/16 baswood, some fiberglass cloth, and figure I'll make a proper repair. If it breaks again after that, I give up. Honestly, Balsa models were so much better. Cut out bad area, rebuild, recover, better than new. Foam, just not any luck with repairs. Tried the CA foam and accelerator. Tried foam 2 foam, neither hold up very well. Hot glue you say? :) I think I'll go with the heavy repair as if that breaks, well, like I said, I give up. Just a bad design on the glider. Battery compartment cutout is a very weak point of the model.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

@@Curious_Skeptic When “gluing” a plane after a crash you need to use toothpicks between the broken parts… use hot glue on the toothpicks to create integrity on the foam. To fix dents on the foam you use boiling water! Boiling water will restore foam to the original shape! You have to remove electronics that can get damage by water. If the surfaces don’t look to smooth use puddy to even them out or foamtag! You might need to sand after dry!

[@Curious_Skeptic]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor Thank you again my friend! Happy flying!

[@chillville5571]

Nice job! Next time use a digital scale to weigh out the epoxy and get a perfect mix

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Many thanks!

[@nikolaosdenikarias3564]

Very impressive well done

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+Nikolaos Denikarias Many thanks Nikolaos!!

[@flyinflea]

Very nice! That shiny finish looks amazing :)

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Indeed, the finish is very nice

[@winibaldcroux2000]

It is heavy....the shiny finish is a pool of epoxy...

[@crackup007]

Great tutorial! thanks for sharing ; )

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Israel Montoya Thanks, I'm happy you like it.

[@NOXFPV]

Thanks.

[@arminattila1488]

Mui bonito el resultado final😁😁

[@curtiswinrop2745]

Where did you get the cloth looking for 2 oz in roll

[@wibbyarief8958]

i'm sorry, i have a question. does it add more strength if i applied it to the wings? what about using minwax polycrylic?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Wibby Arief Hi Wibby, probably it will add more resistance to the wings for sure. I've thought about that a lot and in my experience the wings se OK in just foam. I have made a plane and covered the wings with brown paper and Policrylic and the results are awesome! Very resistant wings! Easy to apply too! I covered wings made out of Adams foam! The plane name is Flair Magnatilla. You can see the build in Flitetest.com

[@wibbyarief8958]

thanks for the answer.. i'm going to look for it

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Wibby Arief What plane were you thinking in fiberglassing?

[@wibbyarief8958]

Eduardo Fritis It's FPV raptor. the fuselage is "plastic" (i don't know what it is). the wing, vertical and horizontal stabilizer are made of foam. that's why i'm thinking to fiberglass-ing it

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Wibby Arief I wouldn't fibreglass the wings! You will be just adding weight. If you want to stiffen the wings you can put Monokote! Much lighter, prettier and very easy to do! I've done it to all my planes! They have different colours to choose!

[@TheStickyBusiness]

So How it has handle crashes? I just bought the hobbyking 18g fiber glass first time I deal with this. Have you tried it with Polycrylic ?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

I have done a plane with brown packing paper and Polycrylic and it is awesome. I have not tried Polycrylic with fiberglass. I suspect it is not going to be as hard for what I researched. Fiber glassing is not for crashing but for abrasive landings.

[@Trustworthyfarrot]

How does the riverglass not melt the foam?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Fiberglass is epoxy. And epoxy doesn’t react with foam!

[@CoyoteFPV]

Nice finish on them :)

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks Ian, next is the twin! I had some landings in gravel and did some scraping on the belly.

[@NewRCPlaneIndia]

Good work sir

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

New RC Plane India Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@aldoyosbel1728397263]

Se extrañan tus vídeos

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Aldo Allende Oliva Gracias Aldo, he estado atendiendo problemas de salud de familiares! No he volado desde comienzos de Marzo

[@MyRCChannel-CJScott]

I'm about to build an epo foam fpv flying wing and I'm going to use the resine you recommended to glass the wing. I wanted to add some structural strength since I've seen demos of the kit and the wing flutters in high speed dives. This should do the trick. Thanks!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Awesome idea! What wing are you going to work on?

[@johnle231]

Epo foam or eps? It’s called eps

[@MyRCChannel-CJScott]

@@johnle231 That's incorrect! Click the link in the reply above. The title of the plane is "ZETA FX-79 Buffalo FPV Flying Wing EPO 2000mm Wingspan RC Airplane Kit". Under features, you'll see the item "Ultra tough EPO construction". Google "epo foam" and it's defined as follows: "EPO is a molded plastic foam material that is created by engineering polyolefin into small beads and then using heat to mold it into different shapes. EPO is very durable and tough. It is commonly used in making model airplanes and automobile parts, because it is very resilient to damage."

[@robertherman7982]

Can this product be used over be applied over decals ?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Robert Herman Absolutely, the Fiberglas is super thin and it would be transparent enough!

[@edwincordero8]

Excelente. Espero el vid cuando lo vueles.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Edwin Cordero Gracias Edwin, ya lo vengo volando casi dos años!

[@CahyoPrabowo]

how about the weight compared before glassing ?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Cahyo Prabowo Weight is not significant for this plane. Most likely extra 40 grams. If you are planning in reinforcing the belly of the plane, Gorilla Duct Tape is the way to go! Glassing is nice if you land always on grass!

[@sibujacob977]

After you crashed the plane , did it have any damage while it was in Fibre glass

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Yes, it breaks at the point of impact but the whole structure holds well! Avoids the shattering of the foam!

[@sibujacob977]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor Please can you advice where to purchase the fibre glass for the EPO foam

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

@@sibujacob977 depends where you live.. you need to get the glass cloth 8 gr/m2 and the epoxi!

[@sibujacob977]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor where did you get the glass cloth . What is the epoxy you used .

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

@@sibujacob977 Industrial Plastics and Paint in Richmond BC, Canada. The epoxi is the regular one... mentioned in the video.

[@ricardopr54]

Te quedó muy bien, tremenda idea, pero, una pregunta, como hiciste para que la resina no se comiera el foam? ...Claro está, ahora el Avión también tuvo q haber quedado más pesado, o me equivoco.... Como quiera q sea, les quedó muy bien, se ve muy bonito, y pues ojala q les dure mucho su trabajo. Happy flying my friend!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

La resina no come el foam, es un epoxico. Como pones una tela súper delgada y poquísima resina, no le agregas demasiado peso. No se nota el peso del Coating, es bastante liviano.

[@55Rumble]

Hello Eduardo. How did this stand to impacts? I want to Kevlar my Skyhunter and the guys on the forum say to use CA???

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

KillerDave55 Hi Dave, since this video I realized that fiberglass is not optimal! It’s to brittle and landing over gravel doesn’t work. I run into the solution! For years now I’ve been using Gorilla Duck Tape. Much thicker and slippery than the regular duck tape. I use the black one. More than double thickness, rubbery and slippery. Cheaper and easier to apply! All my planes are covered with Gorilla Duck Tape. I have a video of it too.

[@55Rumble]

Yes, I see this but the Kevlar is to add crash resistance to the fuselage plus apply some to the main wing to increase rigidity.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Good idea! I build a plane and covered the wings with brown packing paper and coated with Polycrilic. I crashed few times and no damage at all! more flexible than fiberglass therefore more resistant.

[@pushpasrivastava915]

Would it be easier to just put fiber glass tape?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Pushpa Srivastava Actualy what it works even better is “Gorilla Duct Tape” discovered after this experience! The fiberglass is very good if you land over grass, I land on dirt and gravel.

[@jimmynoname4089]

Location of fiberglass roll? I’m having a hard time finding it

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Jimmy Noname Do you mean where to buy it?

[@agustinferreira5128]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor yes where to buy

[@horsship]

Are you glassing the skywalker revolution with the carbon tailboom?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

My plane is the Skywalker 2014 1880 mm wingspan. Carbon fiber tube tail. From FPV Model

[@horsship]

+Eduardo Fritis Glad to see. I just ordered the 2014 1800 mm wings. Definitely going to glass the bottom of mine. Very nice!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+horsship I cant wait to fly it now! I will make a video and share it with you. The tail is tricky to build! I used hot glue to put it together.

[@DeucesWildRC]

I wonder how much extra weight it gained and of the strength trade off is worth the effort

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+DeucesWild I think it's totally worth it! Looks great and feels great too. I was afraid that it was going to be lot's of work and I have never used fiberglass. It was super easy and fast to do. Extra weight probably less than 20 grams. Strength? a lot more than tape.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

We just tried a landing in the gravel road yesterday and it holded perfectly. Minimal scratching at the bottom. It's in a video from the Skywalker flying in the rain, at the end after the landing.

[@nathanbowser609]

Depends, this plane isn’t the best example, but with a pylon racer or wing you almost need a little weight to really go fast. The added rigidity enables you to strap on a lot more power. Q light planes get tossed around, which is why balsa flies better. The expectedly rifles and most hot liners are glasses foam, and they’re scary fast.

[@DeucesWildRC]

I've thought of this before and wondered if it was impact resistant enough to endure a crash with minimal to no damage. It looks great sir! Nice work

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+DeucesWild I had think about fiberglassing for a while too! Since I did it I realized that it's not a big deal. It is easy and looks great. The resin we are using is flexible and hard. Unlike Epoxy that is hard and brittle.

[@cjb9754]

I've been searching for something to glass & coat my Cessna floats - that leak. I think THIS is the answer! Thanks a ton! BTW - why are you wearing a heavy coat and your brother only in a tee shirt??

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

C JB Thanks C, I’m glad you liked the video and be useful to you. I guess I was cold that day! Lol

[@planesstevee]

Hi great video, just wondered ,, can you paint on top of this??? thanks and thumbs

[@planesstevee]

thanks for the quick reply!!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

FpvExmouth my pleasure

[@Wakko0o]

I wonder how much weight did this product add to the airplane.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Herman A. I didn't weight the plane before and after. I could calculate the weight of the cloth which is 25 gr per yard square and the epoxy I used. For this plane is really insignificant.i tend to remember calculating around 40 grams of weight extra. Since this, I have changed they way I protect the bottom of my planes. Now I use Gorilla Duck Tape. It is thicker than the regular duck tape and quite rubbery. It works better with the flexibility of the foam. I didn't know this duck tape existed!

[@Wakko0o]

Wow interesting... I need to try this gorilla duck tape. I just crashed my apprentice and this may help for repairs. New better motor can help with the little extra weight also. Thank you!!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Herman A. Sorry to hear you crashed your Apprentice. There is a linen tape that is used for hinges. That might be lighter and better to fix your plane. Someone mentioned this to me. He said strapping tape. It's a thin fabric self adhesive!

[@Wakko0o]

Liner tape for hinges and strapping tape for frame? Got it, I will look into it. Yea it was unfortunate that the apprentice crashed. I was being a baby and wanting a gyro for the ailerons. Gyro failed and you know the rest

[@mazpr2025]

Eduardo Fritis 40 grams my ass, no way. A buddy did the same thing on a Apprentice, it killed the flying characteristics of the airplane.

[@mr.know-itall6838]

Ever heard of or used Rosco Flex Bond?

[@IFlyMillennium]

Nice job Eduardo!, how much weight did it add to your plane(s)?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Thanks! I didn't weight the plane, before and after. But I guess not more than 20 grams. It is very little material and just a thin coat of epoxy. The plane would not notice the extra weight. I didn't put the plywood supplied for the bottom, so all in all, I would say not relevant for this plane. I covered the wings with covering film from Hobby King. Awesome too!

[@IFlyMillennium]

+Eduardo Fritis oh nice! it's really minor the weight gain, nice work again!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

I calculated the weight to be less than 20 grams.

[@austntexan]

Very nice. Do you remember what grit sandpaper you used to prep the foam surface with?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

#120 light sanding

[@austntexan]

Thank you! Found some "Pour-On" locally at Jerry's Artarama, if anyone else is looking for it and has access to a Jerry's. Going to glass the center bottom section of my Wing Wing Z-84 and Skywalker X-1.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+bauhaus sounds like a great plan!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

I let 24 hr to dry and then I apply a coat of the expoxi on top, a generous one to have that glassy look!

[@austntexan]

Ok, that's sortof what I did too. I waited for about 2 hours, let it get tacky, then I put an extra piece on the front area and the rear(motor mount). Worked great. Thanks for your help! It's exactly like you said, hard but still slightly flexible. A lot more protection than the polycrylic wing I did(which turned out beautiful but really isn't much more durable).

[@bscotchco8503]

Can we paint it after it dries? :D

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Absolutely!

[@RPGstorm]

hey Ed, which paint is best suited for this?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Any paint will do! I put on Acrylic. But on landings the paint will scrape off.

[@MrCottonmouth]

Does it add much weight? I wonder if coating a whole plane would work? Nice work!!!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

It doesn't add much weight at all. I believe for the rest of the plane, the wings specially I would, in fact I did, use covering film. I will make a video of it today.

[@MrCottonmouth]

cool!!!

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

+Aero FPV I calculated the extra wight to be in this case less than 20 grams

[@winibaldcroux2000]

Just like made in a shop 😂😂

[@footduck6681]

Is the plane crashed now?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Enesettin Hüseyin Yes, it crashed early this year at 93 km/hr into the ground due to the elevator servo failure!

[@footduck6681]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor and did the reinforcement protect it?

[@johnle231]

You mean eps?

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

The foam type is EPO!

[@johnle231]

@@EduardoFritisRealtor Oh ok thx

[@hunterjones9822]

oh my...

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Hunter Jones I’m glad you like it!

[@sahabatsmartotomotif6121]

Sir .this is fiberglaas cloth sir

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Hendrikaa Wahyudi Yes!

[@ryanstreuli8667]

Careful with leaving resin in a paper cup in condensed form. It can create a fire from the thermal reaction

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Ryan Streuli Thanks for the advice!

[@keithwhisman]

Make life easier for you and spray the surfaces with adhesive spray.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Keith Whisman I really enjoyed the fiberglassing, it was a great experience. Since I found that Gorilla Duct Tape is the way to go.

[@keithwhisman]

Eduardo Fritis just cover the plane in duct tape? That would make MacGyver very proud.

[@EduardoFritisRealtor]

Keith Whisman Indeed! This Gorilla Duct Tape was not around when MacGyver, it’s more than twice thick than regular Duck Tape and the rubbery surface is quite strong! Great results! I quit fiberglassing since I found it. (Home Depot)