Repair wing torn at root?

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Repair wing torn at root?

Postby JFS61 » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:04 am

I'm afraid I know what the answer will be, but I'd thought I'd ask anyway. Is there anyway to mend a butterfly's wing when torn close to the root, as I was wondering if I would be possible to glue it back together by sandwiching the damaged area with lightweight model aircraft tissue, or would this be a fool's errand?
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Re: Repair wing torn at root?

Postby Mona Miller » Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:29 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah0SBALIc0o
Here's a video on how to repair some breaks.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2423&p=11850&hilit=wing+fix#p11850
This topic details fixing a wing with some of those tiny orange tags from the tagging kit.

I have a friend who did replace a whole butterfly wing, but I haven't had any luck with that.
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Take care of the small things....
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Re: Repair wing torn at root?

Postby Paul Cherubini » Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:01 pm

JFS61 wrote: Is there anyway to mend a butterfly's wing when torn close to the root

Depend on how close to the root. If torn within 1/8" to 1/4" of the root then there wouldn't be enough room to splice the tear with tape. I use 3M package strapping tape http://tinyurl.com/85hc6qg as a splice (a roll is about $3.50 at Walmart). It's thin and lightweight yet strong and seems to be waterproof.
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