jetranger-RCU

My Feedback: (1)

Back in the early 70's maybe 71 there was a hobby shop in Brockton Ma. Al the owner use to sell a clear iron on covering like Monokote He got it some where in Brockton, and once told me he was paying 3 cents a foot for the stuff. It came 36 inch wide and 78 long. Also as he told us this same place that made it also gave it to the guys who made that pedal powered Grossman??? plane that flew back then to set some record. Any how he sold it for I think $2.50 a roll and Monkote may have been $3.95 a roll. I wonder if The Monokote guy used this and got the idea to ad color to the plastic.

F-16WpnsTech

Capt'n Kirk.
Legend had it that Monokote was invented by a 10 year old working in an Asian sweatshop by the name of Monohara Kota. Monohara was beaten by a bamboo reed one too many times and decided there had to be a better way of applying covering. Even at 10 years old Monohara had a doctorate in chemical engineering and came up with an adhesive that would slightly become liquified when heat was applied to it. He soon thereafter named it Monokote. Cheers!

tailskid

My Feedback: (34)

Yep

Kirk RC

My Feedback: (4)

Wow.This is a blast from the past. I started this thread 4 years ago! Great info on monocoat.... I just started covering a 1/5 P-51B to look like "INA The Macon Belle" and got into my second role of alum colored monocoat that just happens to be new. Is it just to much gin or did they change (increase)the mil thickness and adhesive backing. I can swear that the new role didnt shrink half as well as the older role and you can see the adhesive on the back. I went to cover the tail in true red (older role) and the properties are like I remember. The last two war birds I glassed but this one I wanted to take a short cut, plus monocoat would match the real look better than I can paint. Whats going on with monocoat? Time to go get another jar of olives, this may be a long process.
KirkRC

JohnAgnew2978

I started using MonoKote in 1966. This was the second version. The first was what is now MonoKote trim--adhesive backed, no shrink, and it did not go over well (obviously). Sid Axelrod, who owned TopFlite, brought it out. Mylar film was already available, and I don't know who thought to add color. The original recommendation was to use a regular household iron, which was a struggle, then they suggested a travel iron, which was a little easier to use. Then somebody used a small iron used to seal packages for the freezer, and wrote an article about it, and then the model companies started to produce those irons specifically for modeling, with a thermostat. Every time I try something new, I come back to MonoKote. Thanks, Sid, where ever you are!
Incidentally, in the early days hobby shops would sell MonoKote by the foot, as well as by rolls.

JohnAgnew2978

After Sid Axelrod died, the company changed hands, the new owners being business people and not modelers. They decreased the amount of pigment, which saved money but made the product less opaque than the original configuration. Don't remember anything about a change in shrinkability. I remember being quite upset about the translucent MonoKote.

Capt. Bill

Good summary John. I had heard back in the early 70s that trim Monokote was the very original Monkote. I imagine the modeling sealing irons are still made by Sealector who made those film sealing irons with the green teflon shoe. Did you ever use Solarfilm, a British product. I used it a lot in the 70s because it was cheaper but the gloss was not the same as Monokote. I still have some in a box from back in the 70s. Monokote is mylar film and Solarfilm is polypropylene. The first Seleactor iron I got had a "P" stamped on it and worked great for Solarfilm but didn't get hot enough for Monokote. I see Solarfilm is still made in the UK, you just can't get it from Tower (wonder why )

frequent flyer

My Feedback: (6)

I was at the1968 AMA Nationals in Los Alamitos Naval Air Base and remember a Monocoat demo of a new covering material.

ramboy

You are correct. Patents can take years to get thru the Patent Office. The product could well have been developed in the early 1960s (or earlier).

Tony Hallo

I started using Monokote in 1985 and it still had the travel iron instructions with the brown print. I always thought Al Gore invented Monokote right before he started working on the internet.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

This is from Wikipedia but I put it in there

TopFlite Monokote covering film http://www.monokote.com/ is made by http://www.generalformulations.com/ in Sparta MI 49345 and is exclusively sold and/or distributed by Hobbico Inc 2904 Research Road, Champaign, IL 61822 http://www.hobbico.com/ and their subsidiaries.



Though Monokote and Ultracote have similar uses and more or less matching colors, they are not the same weights and have different application characteristics.

Ultracote is distributed in the United States and Canada by http://www.horizonhobby.com. Ultracote is not manufactured by Horizon. It is a product manufactured with the trade name Oracover in Europe and manufactured by Lanitz-Prena Folien Factory GmbH http://buegelfolie.de/home.jsp?root_...91153607563158 Horizon Hobby Distributors have exclusive distribution rights from the manufacturer for Oracover to be sold as Ultracote in the US and Canada. At one time Ultracote was sold in the United States as Carl Goldberg Ultracote.

A PDF of the Patent by Sid Axelrod is below or you can get it here . . . http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3388651.pdf

The MSDS for Super Monokote http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:...k&cd=171&gl=us

Or the PDF http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/WWW/publis...20Monokote.pdf.

SoCalSal

My Feedback: (16)

Don't really know???but whoever it was should be taken out and whipped!!! But make sure you clean out his wallet first.

frequent flyer

My Feedback: (6)

I've used it for 30 years or longer and love it. Why do people make negative comments about it?

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

Usually patents go through in one or two years from personal experience.

This patent was filed on Jan. 28, 1966 and granted on June 18, 1968.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Monokote didn't just "POP" out of a bag in 1966, There were a few years of evolution that eventually led up to this patent. A timeline of the evolution would be very intersting? A lot could be derived from the patents preceeding Super Monokote and the process variation attacks on the patent afterwords.

Live Wire

This is an Old One Brings back memories. Post #9
I still think the military were the first to use it,

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

Anybody ever use fascal (or something spelled like it)? A real PITA, it was popular for a while with CL combat types.

pjanders

Monokote, cyanoacrylate glues and laser cutting are among the top innovations in this hobby that make kit building enjoyable. Building is fun no matter what but those three things make it even more enjoyable.

 Just my humble opinion.

Deadeye

I know. I love it! I'm gonna PM Bax and see if he can give a timeline of it's evolution. Stay tuned.

Kirk RC

My Feedback: (4)

Gota love it. I started this post 4-5 years ago. Since then must have finished another half dozen planes in monocoat. Moved into large gas 100cc stuff (Aeroworks) and havent built much in a few years. Just started a UltraSport 1000 that Ive been saving so I guess the old iron and heat gun will go back to work. Kinda forgot how fun building is, and how less expensive then the big IMAC birds! Wife will love the savings (gives me more funds for cigars).

Let the snow and balsa dust fly!!