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I've been foiling for a couple of years now and decided to take the plunge and have a go at making my own front wing.
I made it from ply and wrapped in epoxy and glass. The shape was loosely based around the lift/slingshot nf2.
Its now complete but needs finishing / sanding / painting.

I'm wondering what finish I should be trying to achieve and whether or not it needs painting first. I don't care about aesthetics of the wing just function. Living on a little island I have easy access to rattle can paints only but a good selection of wet sand papers.

BTW I tested the wing in a rough unfinished form and it worked a treat. Nice, stable and cruisey. I'm inspired to make more and improve my build skills.

Cheers
Jonny

Paint is not necessary. Paint can actually slow down the hydrofoil's speed. That is what I heard back in the day with airchair hydrofoils, unfinished was faster.
Would you care to share the detailed specs of your build with others?

Yeah, load a picture up.

Add a resin layer or 2 until you have good coverage over the wing. Then get In there with some elbow grease and sand it back until its smooth as a babies bum. The advice given to me when I did mine was that sanding to 600 grit was about right grit level.

Will share specs and photo later this evening -Tho it is very amateurish so be gentle. Pure experiment. Reading the experience of you guys and then actually building It has inspired me to make more.

Its already finished (more or less) to 600 grit so in that case just some more elbow grease needed later on in the day.
Just making a shim out of shapelock plastic and then gonna try her again this afternoon.

Cheers

Sorry guys got busy with kiting. Got some nice out of season winds.
Also in my hurry to get the wing back on I was redrilling one of the bolt holes on the wing and foolishly took the big drill bit straight through. So delayed my second test. Gutted. Will fix it up and get you the photos when done.

Jugglajon ;
I'm wondering what finish I should be trying to achieve
plummet;
The advice given to me when I did mine was that sanding to 600 grit was about right grit level

was a discussion on, http://kitefoil.forumactif.org/t5189-le-vernis-freine
go fine, even super fine grit; 1500 -- 1200, try it.
if not to your liking, go coarser , you may finish with a shark shin

from 2016; ENGIE Kite Tour Douarnenez J2 ( in french )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZDnIQFGt2M
@2:01 he spoke of that

Looks like his foil is ridiculously well maintained. Interesting to watch but wish my French was better.

As promised some pics of very low tech wing build. Scrap ply, shaped with a rasp using contours, wrapped in fibreglass, filled, sanded. Splooged shim for connection to sword 2.


new wing alongside original


foil wing showing splooged shim / sand and fill edge of this tomorrow and hopefully take it out for another spin

Looks very nice, I want to make a speed one for my zeeko alloy foil. Hopefully it will look as good.

The shim is just so it fits snug on fuselage or you had to adjust AoA after some test?

Jugglajon wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 03, 2017 5:18 am

As promised some pics of very low tech wing build. Scrap ply, shaped with a rasp using contours, wrapped in fibreglass, filled, sanded. Splooged shim for connection to sword 2.


new wing alongside original


foil wing showing splooged shim / sand and fill edge of this tomorrow and hopefully take it out for another spin

Looks like you put more effort into the wing than I did my whole board and foil. Nice work