Posts: 19375
Joined: 4/22/2002 From: Willmar,
MN, USA Status: offline
In my latest RCU Magazine review (The Great Planes Profile-38) I included some Videos on Basic Covering Techniques. If you're new to covering, give them a look! Just click on the link below to go to the review:
Posts: 161
Joined: 4/16/2004 From: Chicago,
IL, USA Status: offline
yup ive already seen em! yeesh this is gonna be tough covering my RV-4 for the first time.. but im gonna get that video that was made also about covering.. saw it at tower hobbies
~Matt
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"Helicopters don't fly....They just beat the air into submission" <-- Go Planes!!!
Posts: 801
Joined: 2/18/2003 From: Bloomington, MN, USA Status: offline
Volkan-
There is something you can do about the tail. Do what I did on my first covering project, rip it off and start over! I'm pretty sure my Piper Cub wasn't supposed to take 5 or 6 rolls of covering, but it was a learning experience and it made me better. It's better to figure out what you're doing while you're still working on the tailfeathers. Make sure you have a good iron set at the right temp, then practice, practice, practice. Good luck.
On another topic, that was a good review MinnFlyer. Lots of pictures, flight video, shows plenty of steps....little diddy about the engine, who could ask for more? Very complete. Cheers all around from me.
Posts: 19375
Joined: 4/22/2002 From: Willmar,
MN, USA Status: offline
Basically yes.
The biggest difference between the two is this:
MonoKote's adhesive is such that once it is ironed down, it doesn't like to be moved. This can be a good or bad thing.
Ultracote's adheasive is condusive to being reheated and removed, then reapplied. This can also be a good or bad thing.
Here's why:
On the one hand, you could say that UC's ability to be reheated and removed as a big plus, but in some circumstances, it can be a drawback, Like when you need to heat shrink an area (with a heat gun) near a seam. The heat can soften the adheasive at the seam, and as the covering shrinks, the seam can pull loose. This is easily solved by laying a folded wet paper towel over the seam to protect it from the heat.
MK, can do this too, but only under much more extreme circumstances (You have to get the seam a lot hotter)
Actually, one of the easiest covering jobs I ever did was last year when I covered a plane with both. The MK held the seams while I shrank the UC.
In general, I find UC easier to work with, and I really like the paper backing (It comes off easier, and you can draw your designs before cutting them out). UC also shrinks and stretches much better, but as you can see in the videos, MK works just fine too, it just takes a bit more practice.
The biggest drawback to MK's adheasive is that once the sticky side touches itself (While heated) it will NOT let go. This is MK's biggest drawback. It's a bit complicated to explain, but stay with me...
No matter how good you are at applying covering, you can get warps and ripples (Covering tends to expand a little before it shrinks)
With MK, if one of these wrinkles appears in an area that has been sealed to the wood, it can hold strongly enough to the wood to keep it from shrinking. The result is that as the MK is attached to the wood closer and closer to the center of the ripple (Red arrows) the covering can adhear to itself ("C" . Then, it's perminent.
With UC, even though it has been sealed to the wood, heating the area will let the covering at "A" and "B" pull away from the ripple and smooth it out. Even if it touches itself, because it has the ability to "let go" and because it shrinks more than MK, you can heat the area up and it will still smooth out.
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Joined: 12/4/2003 From: Athens,
AL, USA Status: offline
Thanks for your insight. After I finish building my workbench, I'm going to start on my first kit and I plan on using UC. I figure I need all the help I can get.
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Covering Videos - 
. Then, it's perminent. 
RE: Covering Videos - 