Hangar Rash Remedy

Note: this post will have a high "Duh" factor for a lot of folks here, but there may be those like myself who are still fairly new to this hobby, and this is such a neat trick that it probably bears repeating.

The wing for my Umland All-American Sr. has been sitting around for a while while I work on the fuse. I got back to it recently, to do the cap strips and finish it off. Last evening, I noticed some really bad dents in the sheeting. A lot of them. So bad, I was afraid I'd have to resort to filler prior to covering.

However, I dimly remembered something about using water to fix this kind of problem. At first, I was thinking I should try using an iron with a wet cloth, but I decided that first I'd just put a bit of water on and see what happened.

So I put a bit of water on one of the dents and went for supper. Came back after supper, the water had dried, and after a light sanding, the dent was gone! I did the same thing with the other dents, just dipped a finger in water and applied it to the dents, then went away for a while. When I came back, I sanded a bit, and lo and behold, the problem was gone!

I imagine that for really big, deep dents it might be necessary to use hot water, or maybe even the iron treatment, but for dents in sheeting the above method works a treat. Some of these were fairly deep, and would have been really noticable.

Tim

Tim,

I've used this method for years. Something else I do after all the fillets and covering prep work is done (except doping) is to give the model a spounge bath with a fairlt damp clothe. After a couple hours drying time, I give it the once over with 400 grit W&D and apply the dope. It really saves me allot of after covering touchup work.

>I imagine that for really big, deep dents it might be
>necessary to use hot water, or maybe even the iron
>treatment, but for dents in sheeting the above method works
>a treat. Some of these were fairly deep, and would have
>been really noticable.

Soak the dent with water and use a $Kote iron set hot enough to make it sizzle. This removes even pretty deep dents easily. A little 400 grit wet/dry and none the wiser. I've been doing this since i was a kid building Hand Launced Gliders. It is very unlikely you'll introduce a warp this way, provided you keep the heat and water limited to a small area around the dent.

Andy,

I know this is a little off the subject, but an interesting side note:

Do you remember my 1940 Lanzo Cabin? The stab has bent 1/16x1/8 top spars and it warped horribly when I took it off the bench. Not wanting to build another one I threw the whole thing in the bathtub in hot water. I left it in there for a couple hours and when I took it out it was limp. I blocked it up and let it dry, covered it and it hasn't moved in 7 years of flying. I've done this with 2 different D-tube wings as well.