Sanding Through

Gang --

Leonard is moving now, so he can't solve the problem he caused. (Always blame problems on others). Yeah, if you sand it right, you sometimes sand through the covering. I did. I wish I hadn't.

I stuck a little finger dope in the gap, and it is drying as we speak. I have little hope. Looks all saggy and droopy.

How do y'all patch sand-throughs?

You is likely in for some work Suh...
If it is in an open bay (as I assume it is), best to trim the covering to the nearest surrounding balsa structure, and re-cover. There are "tricks" I learned from FF that you can use, but without seeing the indivdual specimen at hand, that is my advice.
Moral: Be VERY careful sanding any open bays.

You can patch minor sand throughs by putting a little patch over the area. It is best to tear the edges ragged when doing so and it will mask pretty well. Any sand throughs over wood can be patched, but over open bays you may end up having to go back to the edges if you sand too big a hole.

The moral: Stop as soon as you see any evidence of sanding through. Double or triple dope all edges and down the rib areas to give you extra material to sand away.

And if you didn't get a couple of sand throughs somewhere, you didn't sand enough.

Leonard, Jake --

Thinking that sand-throughs are good signs has to be a result of a dour Lutheran outlook on life . In the future I will sand open bays in a more Catholic way!

Actually worked out OK. The dope did shrink it back, as the sand-through was only 1/2 long. It is on a bottom panel, and a minor relocation of trim sheets should totally cover it. I was anxious enough to check it even before my first cup of coffee this morning.

Thanks, and a lesson for many. Perfection comes at a price that I would rather not pay. Front row Nat finishes are, indeed, well-earned.

On the eighth day the lord went control line flying!
Sanding bays is one of those things that should be tought in High School. You must have a feal for it. I always put a lot more dope on the rib caps, And I don't thin the dope. HOWEVER, You still go through and you just have to learn new words like...." Fu*&%^$*, OH SH*(&^$@@, and DA%##*((($%.

I've read that the guys who built I-beamers covered with tissue and 40 coats of brushed on dope, sanded between each coat, used 1-inch squares of 400 sandpaper with the corners of the square rounded off.

Try using steel wool on the open bays, It cuts slower than sandpaper and is more flexable. Be sure and run a magnet over the wings after you finish. It will be covered with metal fuzzies.

Most, thankfully, of my sand throughs have been on top of the ribs. I just cut a thin piece of tissue and dope it over the sand thru. If you can sand or taper the edges of the paper (tearing it helps) it will make it blend in better. Then most of mine have been on Japanese tissue, not too many on medium silkspan, but I do the same there. Be thankful that it was not on silk!! If the sand through is in the middle of the bay, cut out the entire bay, leaving a small edge into the bay. Put on the new tissue, damp, and use thin dope to get it tight. Then go on to your usual routine, just use a real fine touch. Easy to say, hard to do.