Varnish & Warping Issues

2026-03-29

Previously, I noticed a strong tendency of the plywood to warp when wetted out with epoxy. I have not found anything about this topic in the documentation, but it worries me a bit. I have noticed it with multiple types of epoxy:

  1. Sicomin GP33 + SD4775
  2. Sicomin SR810 + SD4775
  3. R-G L + CL

In all cases, wetting the plywood with epoxy caused warping and deformation. For the bulkheads I am currently working on, this is no more than a cosmetic issue, but I am worried about what will happen when skinning the fuselage and, more importantly, the empennage surfaces and the wing.

Testing with C9

As described previously, I decided to also use the R-G system depending on the application. For varnishing I plan to use either the R-G L + CL, L, or S.

Hence, I ran a test with C9 to check how the plywood behaves when varnished. The epoxy was applied generously and then worked into the wood with a cloth. After a couple of minutes to allow the wood to saturate, all excess was wiped off.

The result is as expected and somewhat discouraging. I really want to figure out how to prevent this.

varnished and excess wiped off
varnished and excess wiped off
plywood clearly warped
plywood clearly warped
...the corner as well
...the corner as well