Snake45 Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) I invented this method a couple years ago to fix the small, thin, delicate landing gear of a 1/72 airplane. It worked great and I always thought it would work well to fix bent or broken car model A-frames or window frames. Got a chance to fix a car this way last week and it worked as advertised. If you don't have any balsa model airplane tissue laying around, or don't know anyone who does, the kind of tissue used in gift packaging or sometimes for gift wrapping will work fine, as long as it's thin, flat, porous, and has a little stiffness to it (i.e., Kleenex won't work). These links show the fix in progress, and the finished result. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/viewtopic.php?f=578046&t=474182&p=1839420 https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/viewtopic.php?f=578046&t=474278&p=1849007 Edited May 19, 2018 by Snake45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Used dryer sheet material works very well too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Used dryer sheet material works very well too.Ironically, I was just doing the laundry and seeing a dead dryer sheet on the floor made me think of posting this today. I think it's a little thicker than model airplane tissue, but it should work fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Ironically, I was just doing the laundry and seeing a dead dryer sheet on the floor made me think of posting this today. I think it's a little thicker than model airplane tissue, but it should work fine. I got the dryer-sheet idea from somebody else, and tried it when I ran out of my tissue-thin real fiberglass material. As with any repair of this type, the thickness of the final laminate needs to be taken into consideration...on real parts or scale parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 I checked again and we're both right. The NEW dryer sheets are thicker than the tissue, but the used ones are in the same ballpark.I think this trick would work with newsprint paper, too, if that's all you had on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Driver Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 How about coffee filters? They're porous and have a certain amount of give to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace-Garageguy Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 (edited) How about coffee filters? They're porous and have a certain amount of give to them.Should be a good choice too. It's the longish cellulose fibers that give certain types of paper their strength and flexibility, especially when supported by a matrix of some rigid material (superglue or epoxy or polyester resin)Interesting related historical fact...during WW II, Britain didn't have a lot of aluminum to make airplanes. As an experiment to find a viable replacement, a Supermarine Spitfire fuselage was constructed with parts made from linen cloth (also cellulose fiber) saturated with phenolic resin (think old-school brown circuit boards with a visible weave pattern in them). Though the plastic fuselage never flew (to the best of my knowledge) many Spits were delivered with plastic seats made with the same material, and these paved the way for the composite materials and related construction techniques we know in aircraft and race-cars today. Edited March 26, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Driver Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Should be a good choice too. It's the longish cellulose fibers that give certain types of paper their strength and flexibility, especially when supported by a matrix of some rigid material (superglue or epoxy or polyester resin)Interesting related historical fact...during WW II, Britain didn't have a lot of aluminum to make airplanes. As an experiment to find a viable replacement, a Supermarine Spitfire fuselage was constructed with parts made from linen cloth (also cellulose fiber) saturated with phenolic resin (think old-school brown circuit boards with a visible weave pattern in them). Though the plastic fuselage never flew (to the best of my knowledge) many Spits were delivered with plastic seats made with the same material, and these paved the way for the composite materials and related construction techniques we know in aircraft and race-cars today.Some of our grinding machines had phenolic resin/linen spur gears as part of their gearboxes. We replaced them with steel ones, but I have a couple in a drawer at work as conversation pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talon63 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 The only issue I've run into using the dryer sheet method relates to the thickness of the "resin". If it's too thin, and you need to do some sanding, you will end up with fibers protruding from the repair. In one of my early builds here I created a rag top for a Cobra using damp construction paper. After it was shaped, and while it was drying I applied very thin layers of "Future" and let the drying action wick it into the fibers. Once I got the stiffness I wanted, a light coat of matte finish was all that was required. Didn't add anything noticeable to the finished thickness. I've since used the same trick to create construction paper "wrecked" fenders for a garage dio. They crumple nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 (edited) Interesting related historical fact...during WW II, Britain didn't have a lot of aluminum to make airplanes. As an experiment to find a viable replacement, a Supermarine Spitfire fuselage was constructed with parts made from linen cloth (also cellulose fiber) saturated with phenolic resin (think old-school brown circuit boards with a visible weave pattern in them). Though the plastic fuselage never flew (to the best of my knowledge) many Spits were delivered with plastic seats made with the same material, and these paved the way for the composite materials and related construction techniques we know in aircraft and race-cars today.That is very similar material millions of East- German Trabants were made from. My uncle owned one and he used epoxy glue to fix a cracked trunk lid. Edited March 28, 2017 by peteski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitbash1 Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 That is very similar material millions of East- German Trabants were made from. My uncle owned one and he used epoxy glue to fix a cracked trunk lid.When I worked in the printing trade, we had phenolic resin gears in the roller train on some of our sheet-feed presses. These made the gear train run quieter and eliminated gear streaks in the print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redneckrigger Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Dryer sheets have many uses, as I've used one to good result as a stand-in for underhood insulation/sound deadener found on many cars and trucks. I use Elmer's glue to attach it, and while still wet, lightly color it with a brush with flat black paint. Looks good to my eye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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