How To: Fiberglass LOC Precision airframes

Glass packs - the quickest way to fill spirals and cut down the finish work. We offer 4oz precision cut fiberglass cloth so you can wrap LOC airframes. This adds a bit of strength and helps the longevity of your rocket. Use your favorite thin, long cure epoxy to wet out the glass on butcher or wax paper. Roll airframe on glass so it adheres, lay out Mylar and wrap. Squeegee out air bubbles, let cure, trim ends. Unwrap and you’ll have minimal finish work. Give it a try - works wonders!
locprecision.c...

[@RickBoyette]

Wow, that's a lotta work. I'll stick with (bad pun) nylon pantyhose (for up to 4" tubes) or Carriff DrainSleeve sock (larger tubes) pulled tight & knotted each end, adhered with Miniwax Polycrylic, lightly sand when dry, then apply a coat of laminating epoxy (or two). Can stand on end or support horizontally. Use a grille rotisserrie setup for best results.

[@captainf1027]

YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME!

[@fieldkitchen]

I have a question for loc precision. I have recently bought back a parade float I did over 35 years ago. It is a 1/3 scale jet looking thing that was used to promote our RC club. It got sold to a nightclub in west Toronto and hung up for 30 plus years. When I got it back it was missing the missiles. I have been looking at your 1/3 Aim missiles and wonder if they can be purchased with fiberglass body. These will not be loaded with any rockets just hanging from the wings. Any help is appreciated .

[@normanperkel139]

Quick question regarding how you recommend hanging the tube. It’s a little confusing. Could you explain what you mean by allowing it to cure, “hang with wooden down through airframe”?

[@locprecision542]

Use a long dowel or a pipe. Put it through the tube and hang it to cure horizontally.

[@normanperkel139]

@@locprecision542 thanks!

[@pisolo86]

Do you suggest also to remove the glossy coating ?

[@pisolo86]

Which is the best source of mylar film? I have been looking around but I was not able to find a good source. I was planning to use peel ply instead.

[@chrisgreen417]

I've been looking everywhere myself, hard stuff to find apparently

[@messedupfmj]

Either of you find a solution?

[@stever.4998]

@@chrisgreen417 Amazon.... BANLTRE 18"x48" 5 Pieces Clear Blank Stencil Acetate Mylar for Cricut ,Silhouette Vinyl Cutting

[@stever.4998]

@@chrisgreen417 Amazon... BANLTRE 18"x48" 5 Pieces Clear Blank Stencil Acetate Mylar for Cricut ,Silhouette Vinyl Cutting

[@GnarlsGnarlington]

Why not just buy a fiberglass kit in the first place?

[@jsgraham67]

Back in the beginning of the hobby, we didn't have the luxury of fiberglass kits. They were exorbitantly too expensive. The affordable fiberglass kits came along in the 2010's or so. A traditional cardboard or phenolic kit was and still is more affordable than a fiberglass kit. Since the beginning of the hobby, many rocket enthusiasts would modify their kits to accept larger motors than recommended. That's the nature of the hobby. So in order to handle the extra stresses and G-forces exerted on the airframe, a layer or two of fiberglass cloth was added. In short, it's an old school way of adding strength to an airframe, without adding a lot of weight. It's a skill that every rocket enthusiast should know.
Rolling your own tubes is the next logical step, and that begins with a mandrel covered in mylar or packing tape. A release agent is layered on, and 2 or 3 layers of fiberglass or carbon fiber is layed up onto the mandrel. I use shrink tape wrapped in a spiral fashion over the mylar sheet, and taped at the ends. Then I cure the tube in a curing oven. The tape shrinks down, squeegeeing the excess resin out of the layup. You can use full length couplers for the mandrel, so that the tube you make will accept the commercially available nosecones.