Just yesterday, before the warning messages came in about the silicone with acetic acid in the formula, I hinged some flaps in a new wing with Loctite Permatex, a clear silicone. The tube says it skins over in 15-20 minutes and cures in an hour, fully cured in 24. No servos or wiring were in.
Today, it is all nicely set up. Wow, those hinges are strong and flexible! I had sealed the vertical faces of the core along the hingeline with epoxy and then painted them with Krylon. There is no lingering aroma of acetic acid and no sign of any eating of the paint. Is there now still some insidious danger lurking I should be aware of? Incidentally, I used an extremely simple procedure to apply a bead of the silicone that may be of interest. After applying regular, paper masking tape on the bottom of the wing over the hingeline, I squeezed some of the silicone into a 12CC syringe that had a #14 sized business end. The hole in the 4" needle is a bit under 1/16" in diameter. I would have hated to be the horse or bull that had that stuck in them. I used this years ago in measuring out fluid for developing film. So the thick stuff would only have to flow a short distance in the needle, I shortened it to 1" with the Dremel, beveling the end to about 45 degrees. With all positioned so the flaps were down about 45 degrees, a neat, even bead of the silicone was run along the inside. I think that was the easiest hinging I've ever done. To keep the syringe useable, I squeezed out what was left over, shot acetone through several times and ran a wire through the hole. I finished up with a wad of paper towel and a Popsicle stick. RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off.
