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**wonwinglo** · 21-09-2004

Decided to try and restore a model that is very special to me,the model is of a Hawker Typhoon built in 1950 by my father but which was never completed from plans published by the Aeromodeller plans service,50 years of poor storage together with dust and glue fatigue had left its toll on the structure,the brittle balsa breaking before my very eyes,it was either scrap the model of attempt to do something about it,the model was certainly too far gone to even think about getting flying so I decided to go for a super detailed replica built from the existing airframe but how to go about it ? the tissue structure was just falling away and the first thing to do was with a cyno charged syringe go through as many joints as possible to secure them before any further work could be done,a simple jig made from foamboard was set up on my workbench and the long task ahead commenced,wood just kept breaking away as I worked my way from nose to tail but with a little care and a bit of re-inforcement things were looking up.
Then I had this brainwave to cover the entire structure with sheet balsa one thirty second thick,laying the first piece along the fuselage I carefully marked the shape,then soaked the wood with water and carefully wound the first piece around the ageing structure,the adhesive used was aliphaetic resin adhesive which grabs quickly and is easier to sand than conventional PVA glue,after several hours I had a close look at what had been achieved,the formewr fragility of the old wood had been helped with the new sheeting,now I was in with a chance to fully restore the airframe to some dignity.
So instead of scrapping her off which would have hurt to do I am now on the way to rebuilding an historic model very special to myself,once that new wood went on I then realised that there was a chance to save her and above all make something out of the model.
As soon as I get something substantial in the jigs I will take some pictures for you to judge the results of my labours,wish me luck as I am going to need it on this one.

21-09-2004	#1 (permalink)
wonwinglo Moderator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Warwick,UK Real Name: Barry My Models: Aviation artifacts Visit wonwinglo's Gallery Posts: 5,610 Images: 49	Restoration dilemma. Decided to try and restore a model that is very special to me,the model is of a Hawker Typhoon built in 1950 by my father but which was never completed from plans published by the Aeromodeller plans service,50 years of poor storage together with dust and glue fatigue had left its toll on the structure,the brittle balsa breaking before my very eyes,it was either scrap the model of attempt to do something about it,the model was certainly too far gone to even think about getting flying so I decided to go for a super detailed replica built from the existing airframe but how to go about it ? the tissue structure was just falling away and the first thing to do was with a cyno charged syringe go through as many joints as possible to secure them before any further work could be done,a simple jig made from foamboard was set up on my workbench and the long task ahead commenced,wood just kept breaking away as I worked my way from nose to tail but with a little care and a bit of re-inforcement things were looking up. Then I had this brainwave to cover the entire structure with sheet balsa one thirty second thick,laying the first piece along the fuselage I carefully marked the shape,then soaked the wood with water and carefully wound the first piece around the ageing structure,the adhesive used was aliphaetic resin adhesive which grabs quickly and is easier to sand than conventional PVA glue,after several hours I had a close look at what had been achieved,the formewr fragility of the old wood had been helped with the new sheeting,now I was in with a chance to fully restore the airframe to some dignity. So instead of scrapping her off which would have hurt to do I am now on the way to rebuilding an historic model very special to myself,once that new wood went on I then realised that there was a chance to save her and above all make something out of the model. As soon as I get something substantial in the jigs I will take some pictures for you to judge the results of my labours,wish me luck as I am going to need it on this one. __________________ 'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !' www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/