abufletcher

It's been a long, long time. Time to get rolling again. And first up is to give the flight surfaces (long since covered with SIG Koverall) their final "clear doped linen" color. As those of you who have followed my tortured things know, my plan is/was/should be/might be to use dope to adhere a "second covering" of appropriately colored silk onto the Koverall. But somewhere deep down, I guess I really don't want to do this...or feel that I'm missing some other technique to give it a nice "coffee stain" color.

In an old issue of the Japan RC magazine AirWorld, I found a profile of one of the best EIII models I've ever seen. And the color is A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y perfect! Now, just to get one of my club mates to look at the text and see if it gives some clue as to how this was achieved. Otherwise, I'll just go ahead with my silk-on-koverall technique.

[I'll post scans when the upload is working again.]

TFF

Nice looking EIII. It does not look real big but I see a Saito under the cowl. I would say Earl Grey with coffee highlights. With sugar.

abufletcher

So I think this is my last and final test. This one was comparing a 50/50 mixture of bottled ice coffee and Nelson's Clear with the "bamboo-colored" silk applied with dope to the white foundation covering, in this case Solartex. I gave the solartex two thinned coats of nitrate dope and when it was dry put on the dampened strip of silk (to help it lay smooth) and then added another application of the thinned dope. After it was all dry, I used PolyC to fill the weave. I don't want to use dope for all the coats both because my supply of dope and dope thinner is limited but also because I'm afraid of residual shrinking down the road.

The coffee plus clear just ends up looking a bit too waxy...like covering the model in wax paper...and the color gets irregular where the clear builds up, which doesn't look right. This color represents 3 coats of the coffee/clear. The silk-over-koverall/solartex looks like doped/varnished linen. On my sample, I've covered and prepared the piece the same on both sides to get an idea of the translucency. The silk/solartex is somewhat more translucent than Solartex Linen and the color is better IMHO.

So I guess it's time to go ahead and do the flat tail feathers before moving on to the wings with their drooping fabric between the ribs and the scalloped wire trailing edge. The plan with the wire edge is just trim the silk on the curve.

TFF

Maybe just enough dope to make it hold and fuel proof limited areas? What does fine sandpaper or steel wool do to knock down the shine?

abufletcher

I cut out sections of the silk for each of the surfaces. But I'm concerned about whether the wrinkles and creases might show up on the model so I experimented with a scrap piece. On the web, people will tell you to NEVER iron silk garments. Instead they recommend hanging the silk item in a steamy place, like a bathroom. Ever eager to experiment, I jumped into my extremely steamy Japanese tub and soaked away my cares for a while. It was very relaxing. However, it did nothing to remove the creases in the silk.

So next I tried ironing...first with the iron at its lowest setting and then when that didn't get any results, I increased the temperature to the mid-range. As you can see, this did indeed remove most of the wrinkles (certainly enough for my purposes) and doesn't appear to have damaged the silk in any way.

****

PS. TFF, the plan is this: 1) attach the silk to the under-covering with dope, 2) fill the silk weave with PolyC and 3) fuel-proof (where necessary) with Nelson's Clear. Or I could just skip the PolyC and fill with Nelson's.

Nieuport nut

My Feedback: (10)

It looks like the ironed area shrank a little?

Martin

abufletcher

No, the piece was just irregularly cut. Actually, I thought the same thing when I saw the photo...so I just ironed the other half and no change.

TFF

A pink iron?

abufletcher

I'm secure enough in my manliness not to worry about using a pink iron to smooth out my silky things.

abufletcher

Actually, I've got a whole other quart...but of butyrate thinner. [] At the time (a couple of years ago) I just bought a whole bunch of dope types and thinner not really sure which I'd end up using. I haven't used a drop of the butyrate stuff.

TFF

Butyrate thinner is universal to all dopes. Nitrate thinner can only be used in nitrate dope, so you are good. I only buy butyrate thinner; even for nitrate dope.

abufletcher

Nieuport nut

My Feedback: (10)

I've used lacquer thinner as well as acetone for thinning nitrate. Acetone flashes off too fast but it works in a pinch.

Martin

abufletcher

After months of putting it off and testing and retesting, last night I finally started applying the silk over the "under-covering." I'm taking it very slowly since this is an entirely new process for me, both in terms of working with silk and applying the silk over other materials. I started with the fin and stab since these are simple shapes with few complications. In this case the under-cover is solartex. I first applied two thinned coats of nitrate dope, then positioned the slightly dampened silk (to make it easier to work with), and then starting in one corner doped it into place with more thinned nitrate. Once the initial application was done, I trimmed the edges and gave the whole surface another coat of nitrate.

I'm satisfied with the color and the weight seems acceptable. For example, the un-treated stab half weighed 41g and the silk-covered and doped version weighed 47.5g. Bear in mind that I won't have to paint these (although I still need at least one more coat of something, but that would be the case in any event). Also note that previous tests showed that the silk-over-koverall weight was less than for colored solartex by itself.

For some reason, though, I've gotten a bit of slackening of the fabric on the top of the stab. Not sure why. There was no problem with either side of the fin or on the bottom of the stab. This could be a weather related issue for me.

abufletcher

No problem with the other stab. Next, it's on the rudder and elevators. And by the time I finish those I should have enough experience to tackle the wings.

ZoomZoom-RCU

Geesh that's lookin pretty Abu.

ZZ.

TFF

Looks good from here, too.

abufletcher

It's slow going...but it's going. By tomorrow, I'll be finished with the tail feathers. One more elevator to go.

abufletcher

The silk application on the tail feathers is DONE! It's starting to look like a butterfly! Once I got the hang of working with the silk it wasn't so bad. And sticking it down with dope seemed very authentic.

TFF

It does give the right transparency heft to the look.

ulpilotrmh

My Feedback: (2)

Looks like all that covering research paid off.

Russ

Idigbo

Oooh that looks nice, is it antique Solartex?
















































Only joking, it looks truly fabulous Abu!!!

Mein Duff

Looks fabulous Don....well worth the time and research...already has that "serious believability factor"...can't wait to see it with the wings finished and all fussied up with some weathering

abufletcher

abufletcher

Partly, I think the "believability factor" comes from the fact that the covering isn't immediately recognizable as Solartex, either Antique or Linen. It's not that the color of either of those is really objectionable, it's just that these Solartex fabrics are so commonly used on WWI models. Anytime a model uses a product that is immediately recognizable (to other modelers) as this commercial product or that commercial product, it takes away from the magic of the model.

I'm still pondering the "weathering" issue. I think any dirtying up probable needs to be done at this stage rather than after I apply any further coats (of whatever). Also I think I've given up on rib stitching. I haven't come up with anything that looks good (unpainted). Problem #1 is that every method I've tried makes a dark strip on the wing and from every photo I've ever seen, the rib stitching/tape on CDL should end up lighter than the surrounding areas. I've even experimented with creating the "impression" of rib tapes by taping over the ribs and then gently applying graphite to the edges (then pulling up the tape). But it just looks fake and too noticeable, which brings us to Problem #2: Rib stitching on the CI just isn't that noticeable.

BTW, here's a nice model of a "tin whistle" at a local museum. Look at that lovely Solartex!