eagle 01

Hi!Been out of building for years but think I heard mention of using some dress lining for covering?Old days we just went to dime store and bought silk scarfs!Don't like the cost of some of the cloth type coverings I see in the RC mags!Any one have experience with use of these materials?I believe it was some sort of dress lining they referred to questions then such as how they shrink it etc,as I remember we used to use dope on frame and apply the old silk wet!Any thoughts or is this just my wishfull thinking to find a cheaper cloth alternative!OK so I am just cheap!Thanks for your thoughts!

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

I have a lot of planes that were built by a veteran RC'er and he told me he covered all of them using colored sport coat lining and dope with painted on accents/stripes. It's not very heavy but it is tough and holds up well.  Have one that is 30 years old and still looks good. The application is similar to using silk/fabric.

Chip_Mull

My Feedback: (1)

The biggest problem with "dress lining" material or backing is they run it over a steam bar to iron it. Since women don't like wrinkles, they iron it for them. This takes away the first shrink at 250 degrees. Dacron or polyester shrinks about 5% at 250 and 10 to 12% at 350 degrees F. If you spent more than a day assembling your model, why cheap out at the first thing people see and judge? Take the time and finish the model properly.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

The shrink was the biggest problem for me. I made a test panel to try it out and like was said, not much shrink. You have to get it tight to look right. I really like koverall from sig. It shrinks like crazy and is cost effective. Solartex is the easiest to use (already has adhesive), but at a pretty high cost.
Edwin

CK1

My Feedback: (60)

+1 with Chip

Don't go cheap on the covering , it is the first thing people will see and is the biggest pain to correct after the model is finished .
Go with Stits , Koverall , or Solartex . If you take your time and follow the instructions it will be worth the money and time spent .

Zor

I appreciate the previous recommendations but I have my own finishing method for wrinkle free, strength and weaher resistance.

It is using polyester fabric from the fabric store and is typically used to line ladies skirts. It has up to 54" and even 72" width and costabout $5.00 a yard of length.

It is finished with tautening genuine aircraft dope and no heat shrinking is necessary.
That covering finish looks just as good after 50 years and is still tight as a drum and wrinkle free.

Zor

EJWash1

My Feedback: (3)

Hey Chip,

Very good points from someone in the business for both full-size aircraft and out models. Thanks.

By the way, I hear you may be getting a new uniform?

sideng

I buy 5mm Chinese silk from Dharma trading for only a few dollars a yard and it works great.  Don't waste your time with "alternatives".  Don't spend $45 a yard for "model airplane" silk either.  Dharma also sells dies to add color easy as pie.

goirish

Pulled up their site but not sure which silk I should be looking at. Can you help

Zor

Hello sideng,

How many dollars is "a few dollars" ?
What is the width of that silk material ?
What is the 5 mm referring to on their site ?

Thanks for your reply when you have a moment.

Zor

eagle 01

Hi:Sideng!Looked up that Daharma outfit!Looks like the one you tried is that 5mm silk habotai they show call it Chinese silk as you mentioned May be worth investing few dollars to just see how it works! for $3/yard.How did you attach it,Dope? Also did you shrink it with heat?I assume would use the tautening dope but never could keep tract of which nitrate or butyrate to use as I remember one is fuel proof,and one can't be applied over the other,few things I have forgotten since those days that was long ago but I rember we used to apply silk wet and used dope on the airframe to hold it in place.That was back in the 50s suppose you guys have found better methods now!Ichecked Aircaft Spruce they have the different dope etc but there again the 2 kinds and would want the kind that shrinks the material as much of what they advertise is specified as nontautning[sp] as would want the one that shrinks made that mistake as a kid and covering just sat there and did nothing then had to take off and get the correct dope!Kind of an interesting thought have a couple of uncovered airfames in the shop!Thanks for the info!!

goirish

Thanks eagle 01 , you asked some of the questions I was interested in. Thanks

eagle 01

goori*****hing is I have some of the questions now we need someone with the answers!

eagle 01

SORRY ABOUT THE MISSPELLING BOB

Rodney

For a really nice covering, go to Aircraft Spruce and speciality Co. and get the lightest weight Ceconite. You can also get the dope and any other necessary supplies there. Now, the Ceconite comes only in white with no adhesive but you can get it in as long a sheet as you want which makes covering large surfaces with no seams a snap. It shrinks up very well, in fact, if you do not have a good structure, you can warp it out of shape when you heat it. You can get the full instructions on how to use it there also.

Chip_Mull

My Feedback: (1)

Rodney, we have the very same products available plus instructions for modelers. We started this business to help modelers. Dealing with large full scale companies can come with shipping surprises, inexperienced sales people when dealing with modelers and some prices are not always as advertised. Just sayin'.

http://www.stits.com

Zor

Chip_Mull,

I just went to the link and browsed around.
I could not find anything about Randolph dope.

The instructions for modelers are awfully expensive.

Zor

Zor

sideng,

A response to my post #10 would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Zor

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Zor, I can only answer one question from #10. The mm is not referring to the thickness of the fabric in millimeters (i.e., metric measurement). MM referres to Mommes which mommes which is a number that equals the weight in pounds of a piece of silk if it were sized 45 inches by 100 yards.

For the rest of it, you can head up to thaisilks.com and peruse their website. I have heard discussion about silk covering where they refer to haboti silk, so you could start there for information. I haven't used silk myself but have kept a close eye on it because there are a few projects that I would like to try it on. This is just some of the information that I have come up with so far.

1 out of 3 questions is at least a start... Hope that this helps,

Bob

geoardsog5

My Feedback: (31)

Hey, Dope & fabric guys. For those big projects,1/3 scale & up I like to use white 100% polyester dress lining from Jo-Ann fabric store. The weave is slightly coarser than Sig Koverall. It shrinks as well as koverall and is easy to work with. After it is shrunk with an iron, you can fill it with dope. i usually attach it with nitrate dope or Stixit. It's cheap-$4.00/yd. Jo-ann stock #400014314931. For 1/5 & 1/4 scale projects, I like The Sig Koverall. Good luck on the covering projects. John R.

Zor

Robert,

Thanks for answering the most important of the three questions.

73

Zor ___VA3?? and VE3???

acdii

Giving some stuff a try that I picked up for $3 a yard. Picked up some clear dope and thinner today. I tried a test panel using colored dope, but did not shrink, so probably used the wrong stuff. Going to test it again and see how it works. If it tightens it will be good to cover with. The test panel I did, though loose, sealed up nice, and looks good.

Zor

acdii,

Your post leaves me all confused.

What kind of stuff did you get and tried ?
You picked up some clear dope. Which ? Nitrate ? Butyrate ?
and what kind of thinner ? for nitrate or for butyrate ?

You say it did not shrink then you say "the test panel I did, . . . . looks good.

I give up.

Zor

N1EDM

My Feedback: (2)

Could it also be that the silk you had picked up was of the pre-shrunk variety??

Just a guess,

Bob

Zor

Even if the fabric was pre-shrunk the fabric applied evenly without wrinkles will still tighten up using tautening butyrate dope.

Zor