any alternitve to epoxy?

You can actually use silk and yellow glue for some "fiberglass' work.

Depends on where you need it and why.

I have joined wings using silk and yellow glue instead of 2 o fiberglass tape. You have to make a larger joint.. and double laye the silk.. but it ends up at least as strong and lighter than th fiberglass.

I have used a layer of silk and yellow glue as a covering over shee balsa.. seals the wood grain and leaves the model ready for fillercoa then painting. (again lighter than the .75 oz fiberglass I replace with the 5 "momme" silk but I don't think as much strength wa added...

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It sounds like you have developed an allergy to epoxy.

Did you thin it? if so, with what?

John

a lot of people have switched to water based clear polyurethane to glass. It's easy, quick, cheap, doesn't irritate you. Cleanup's a snap, and I'm told it's lighter weight. I have a glass job coming up and I'm going to try it for the first time. If you'll google for "glassing with polyurethane" you'll find a LOT of discussion about it.

There's a good article about it here:

scroll down the page a little. This guy has a lot of other good info too!

You also should go to

There are a lot of forums going on there with an incredible amount of good info!

Good Luck!

I have used the water based polyurethane for fiberglassing and it works well, for thin stuff. Not sure I'd trust it with a wing center section with nothing but butt joints, then again, I no longer build that way. I always include a spar joiner.

Ed Cregger

I'll give an example of the strength of a silk-glue replacement o

fiberglass wng joining.::

Altech Tamecat.. 63 inch span foam core .40 to 60 size trainer (discontinued)

Glued the wings together with the 2 6 inch dowels (they are really jus for alignment...) using a mix of yellow glue and pro-bond poly. (ligh and gap fills.. the dowels were a VERY loose fit) Taped to hold.. sanded next day to remove excess glue that foamed out.

Layered 10 "momme" silk 4 inch wide and 2 inch wide with 50-50 water yellow glue to replace the recommended 2 inch wide 2 oz fiberglas cloth. Came out so smooth that I needed no sanding.

Applied the Monokote.. can't see the joint. (except by the dihedra angle)

flew it for about a year.. then decided to play RC combat with it.. had 3 mid-airs in ONE FLIGHT first ripped off the left wingtip (plasti easilly knocked off) second took 2 inches of the sheated foam core win off the right wingtip. 3rd took 4 MORE inches off the right wingtip.. thing was still flying but the "CD" for the event made me land becaus anything above 30% power I had an aileron fluttering like hell (snapped a clevice pin from a metal GP 4-40 clevice)

I think you can trust a silk-yellow glue joint.. it sure ddn't get tha kind of strength n the dihedral joint from the cheap dowels and foam glue.

I still have the wing. Want pictures? (I carved the wingtip that wa ripped off in prep to repair the wing.

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Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

Yep. Use water base polyurethane to apply and seal the fiberglass cloth.

The bottom line: It is MUCH easier to sand and about 1/2 the weight of a resin glass job, no fumes, soap and water clean up.

The downside: You only have about 60% of the strength of a resin glass job.

I use the water base poly for glassing a fuselage and latex for painting. Except for the "super high shine" of many of the "traditional" paints, everything looks good and is as durable as MOST of the "traditional" paints.

You can use water based polyurethane varnish in place of epoxy for glassing surfaces.

Fibretech do a water-based resin. I've never used it but will try some when my bottle of their "Laminate Lotion" runs out. The relevant web page is :

Hth,