Jackster00

When trimming my just-covered planes, I've used various brands of trim stripes which have the adhesive on the back. Unfortunately, after perhaps a month of flying, the very edges of the stripe will start to curl up and then the whole thing eventually comes loose. This seems to happen especially at the start of the stripe. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a pre-cut stripe or one I cut the design out of, they all seem to come loose if they have that adhesive. I clean my aircraft thoroughly of any residue after flying, so there's nothing in contact with the surfaces which stays for any period of time. Has anyone found a way to seal that material at the outset so fuel/oil doesn't work itself underneath and cause the trim to come loose?

r1morris

My Feedback: (1)

Had the same happen for a long time . A now departed buddy showed me a simple fix that works like a charm. Use some super thin CA and a toothpick and lay down a very fine bead of CA on both sides of the trim. May take a little practice and a little time but it will stay put.
Have tried a few other fixes but this one never fails.
Good Luck

Jackster00

Thanx a million for that fix, Morris. You know, my lhs owner suggested (with a smile) that I try thin CA, and I thought he was kidding. Sure, on a toothpick! That makes it go where you want it to.
Jackster

JCOKEEFE

My Feedback: (2)

[8D]One more suggestion which works for me. I brush on, over the striping, a thin coating of
Minwax, fast drying, polyurethane. You can buy this at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

huggins

I used to have the same frustrating problem. I have since stopped using self adhesive trim and resorted to just cutting them out of Monokote/Ultrakote and ironing them on. Works great and is not really that hard. For pin stripping I use the Topflite stripe cutting doohickey to cut large quantities. That works great too providing you follow the directions to the letter. I realize that this probably isn't much help to you now, but give it cosideration next time.

Mike

Jackster00

The polyurethane would be much easier application wise, than applying CA with a toothpick, as I have quite a lot of the thin pinstriping to treat. Would the poly over-brush show on the adjacent covering, tho?
I've seen those striping cutters on the Tower website. They're an idea. I'll have to look closer at them when I do another model.
Thanx to everyone for your suggestions.

Jackster

JCOKEEFE

My Feedback: (2)

As long as you keep the polyurethane application thin, i.e., don' t brush it on real thick to where
it would run, and try to just overlap the application so that both sides of the trim are covered to
create a seal, it should dry clear and be okay.