Hi folks. Many of you will use something similar but .....
You know the tiny gaps you get when joining two surfaces at an angle - like in my pic? The ones which are so small you can barely see them until you've painted, at which time they've grown to the size of the Grand Canyon.
Quick hint. I was talking about making sure that canopies were properly sealed in a recent thread and how I use Formula 560 canopy adhesive to do it. It turns out you can also use this for sealing those tiny gaps. Put a drop on the end of a cocktail stick and run it along the gap. For tiny gaps, the glue will capillate along as it's very thin. If the glue forms a big bubble, use the cocktail stick to drag it along the gap. The surface tension pulls the surface of the glue into a nice, smooth arc joining the two surfaces and Robert's your mother's brother!
Here's the real beauty bit though. If there's too much glue, or you've got some where you don't want, use a damp cotton bud to wick away the excess. Get your cotton bud too close and you'll wick the glue from the joint, but another dab with the cocktail stick will fix it. Gap filled in seconds - literally! And NO clean up required afterwards. No sanding or using solvents - nothing.
I found this useful on the tailplane assembly of my Osprey. There's a line of rivets just where the two pieces are supposed to join so a gap is inevitable. I went ahead and fixed the two pieces anyway and it took me less than 5 minutes to fill the resultant gaps. The shiny line you can see is the finished joint. It looks a bit blobby on my pic but it is actually very smooth all the way along and the gap has disappeared.
Steve (Stona) reckons that this Formula 560 is a PVA type adhesive so maybe you could use this or whiteglue to do the job.
I doubt if this would work on large gaps or seams as the glue shrinks as it dries, but for tiny gaps I reckon it's good.
Gern
View attachment 37028
You know the tiny gaps you get when joining two surfaces at an angle - like in my pic? The ones which are so small you can barely see them until you've painted, at which time they've grown to the size of the Grand Canyon.
Quick hint. I was talking about making sure that canopies were properly sealed in a recent thread and how I use Formula 560 canopy adhesive to do it. It turns out you can also use this for sealing those tiny gaps. Put a drop on the end of a cocktail stick and run it along the gap. For tiny gaps, the glue will capillate along as it's very thin. If the glue forms a big bubble, use the cocktail stick to drag it along the gap. The surface tension pulls the surface of the glue into a nice, smooth arc joining the two surfaces and Robert's your mother's brother!
Here's the real beauty bit though. If there's too much glue, or you've got some where you don't want, use a damp cotton bud to wick away the excess. Get your cotton bud too close and you'll wick the glue from the joint, but another dab with the cocktail stick will fix it. Gap filled in seconds - literally! And NO clean up required afterwards. No sanding or using solvents - nothing.
I found this useful on the tailplane assembly of my Osprey. There's a line of rivets just where the two pieces are supposed to join so a gap is inevitable. I went ahead and fixed the two pieces anyway and it took me less than 5 minutes to fill the resultant gaps. The shiny line you can see is the finished joint. It looks a bit blobby on my pic but it is actually very smooth all the way along and the gap has disappeared.
Steve (Stona) reckons that this Formula 560 is a PVA type adhesive so maybe you could use this or whiteglue to do the job.
I doubt if this would work on large gaps or seams as the glue shrinks as it dries, but for tiny gaps I reckon it's good.
Gern
View attachment 37028