Tissue Covering
 

I have looked but cannot find the following:

I need a how to link for tissue covering and a link on how to balsa sheet. Also, can anyone tell me the dif between tissue and silk and pros/cons of each.

Thanks

RE: Tissue Covering
 

Bill- Here's an old Comet tutorial http://www.antiquemodeler.org/Comet_...ing_Guide_.htm
One of the things not mentioned is the 'grain' of the tissue which is always applied spanwise or nose to tail. The grain is distinguished by tearing a small corner. A tear with the grain will be a lot smoother than across the grain. This is a pretty basic tutorial, but maybe it can help you get started. Silk is normally used on larger rubber jobs and gas models. True model silk is very expensive, but the results can be spectacular. Jim

RE: Tissue Covering
 

Tissue can refer to two variations-silkspan, which is like the stuff that teabags are made of, and what we used to call Jap tissue and now is usually called Esaki tissue. Silkspan is white, heavier than Jap tissue, and is found more on control line models and heavier free flights. Seals with clear dope and can be painted and brought to a very high finish. You dope the edges of the airframe, dampen the 'span, and dope the edges down. It shrinks tight and then is doped.

Tissue, as in the Comet article, is much lighter and thinner, comes in colors and is used on light rubber power and small free flight models. It usually is applied dry, lightly shrunk with a mist of rubbing alcohol, and sealed with a few light coats of nitrate dope (an airbrush is good here). Photos are of a really nice tissue covered FF Hellcat and a nice CL stunter done in silkspan and dope. The yellow old timer is all silk.

Silk is just that-silk. It's gorgeous when done well. Usually comes in the basic colors. I think I have red, yellow and blue right now. Takes a little practice to get it right, with the grain straight and no drips of dope on the inside, but really nice. Might take 15-20 coats of dope to get it sealed and shiny. Here's a link to a nice thread on silk covering: http://www.aalmps.com/silk.htm