Furious Predator

Is there an easy way to remove monto-kote without making a mess of the airframe?

i purchased a new plane recently, and i do not like the colros used (clear purple), so i want to strip it down and re-cover it.

i have covered planes before, but i have never had a lot of luck removing it without tearing the covering to shreds and making a mess of everything.

2HI2C

Use your Iron or heat gun to heat it while pulling it off.

Safebet

My Feedback: (12)

I recently had to remove covering from a Hobbico tainer. It is like shelf paper and the covering would not peel off
without leaving a white residue, even with heat. It came off in small pieces and was really a pain to remove.

I went to the hardware store and purchased a can of "spray on" paint stripper like you would use on
furniture that tyou wanted to refinish. I sparywed it on and let it sit for about 5 minutes and then
scrapped it off with a putty kinife. Came off beautifully. Then I let it set for a couple of days, took
paper towels soaked in Acetone and wiped the bare fuselage down, removing any left over
residue.

I then covered it with MonoCote and it adhered great. No trouble, whatsoever.
Worked beautifully, and it took no time at all to remove the old covering.

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

Since you were using Acetone anyway, you could have skipped the stripper step. When you remove most coverings, if they color separates from the plastic backing, it usually comes off very easily with acetone.

I just use the heat gun, warm up the covering, and pull it off.

Brad

Safebet

My Feedback: (12)

I tried acetone and the only thing it would do to the glue on the back of that shelf paper is smear it and
make it stickier. Acetone is great, but it is not the answer to every problem.

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

Heat is your friend. Use the heat gun and light pressure. It helps to have a second set of hands. Start peeling at one edge. Hold light pressure and heat where it is peeling. You should be able to feel the sweet spot when you find the right amount of heat and pressure.

David

Furious Predator

thanks for the tips guys. i'll try out the heat first and see how it goes.

i was going to put some covering on a piece of scrap balsa, then try removing it just to see how that would go before attempting it on the real thing.

incase anywone was curious, the plane i got was the Bird of Time sail plane. its actually the electric version. another company took the origional BoT, beefed up the wings, widened the fuse, and made it very easy to put an electric setup on it. Plus they added Ailerons, but im also going to add flaps while the covering is off so i can do the "crow" (ailerons up, flaps down).

http://www.espritmodel.com/index.asp...OD&ProdID=2143

Furious Predator

well, i got all the covering off that i wanted off.

turned out to be easier then i thought it would...or just way easier then it was in the past. i spent maybe 30 minutes pealing it off of 3 meters worth of wing and ailerons.

heat made it easier, but like david said, it helps to have a second set of hands. i only had my own, and it was too difficult to heat and peal, so i just pealed, haha.

it all came off fine.

BadSplice

My Feedback: (1)

I also find that sometimes you can get those last stubborn shreds off using packing tape. Press the tape on tightly, or iron on, then quickly rip it off. Usually takes the bits of covering with it. Leaves the wood nice and smooth.