Harleyflyer

My Feedback: (9)

I have a large profile plane that I bought used and is covered in Pearlized Charcoal Ultracote. I would like to create a canopy area with some silver Ultracote. Can someone tell me if I can just apply the silver Ultracote over the charcoal Ultracote? Or do I need to take off the charcoal covering so I only have one layer of the silver?

Thanks in advance,
Keith

carrellh

I applied white UC over purple with no problems, and it is on a pretty big area.
I got it where I wanted it and started in the center with my iron set just hot enough to get it to bond. This took some experimentation. I started low and turned it up a tiny bit at a time until it stuck.
I worked from the center to the edges. Then I turned the heat up a little and went over it again from center to edges. I got very few bubbles and punctured them with a pin.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Olathe, cool. That's where my daughter and grand kids are.
If it's A used plane you want to clean the area you want to cover with acetone and alcohol so there is no oil at all in the area you want to cover.
CAR has it down pretty good, by going low temp in the center and working out the covering sticks without leaving A trail of gas bubbles. I do it almost the same way but I use A trim iron on high and go around the outside of the trim by about 1/4 inch. That seals it down really tight. The little trim iron is pretty hot when it's on high and really seals the covering down, never had any lift doing it this way.

Harleyflyer

My Feedback: (9)

Thanks for the tips guys....I appreciate the information!

Grey Beard....regarding your daughter and grand kids....sometimes it really is a small world.

Thanks again,
Keith

Walt Thyng

My Feedback: (9)

SLOWLY is the key here. I use U/C almost exclusively because I can make patterns so easily over the base color.

FYI, I have also had great success at making multi-part covering skins with U/C. I have three planes that I have done this on , including a seven year old Nosen Citabria and I've never had a problem. Technique is essentially the same; work on a glass surface, work slowly with about a 1/4 inch overlap, tack it with a cool iron, then lock it with a hot iron. Takes time, but saves weight (on the Citabria about a 1/2 pound).
Walt

CitationX

My Feedback: (2)

I am about to apply a checkerboard pattern on the bottom of a rather large wing that is already covered with Ultracote. The squares are 4" x 4". I did not cover this airplane and since I primarily fly helicopters my covering skills have a lot to be desired! Anyway, I have a regular Monokote iron as well as a trim iron. Getting the squares lined up properly will be half the battle, controlling the bubbles the other half. Just curious about how you guys would go about this.

Thanks

mikegordon10

Hello CitationX, One tip you need to know is to keep your iron set as low as it will go until the square is positioned and stuck down. If you hit the edges of the square with the iron too hot the UC will shrink before it has a chance to stick. This will leave a crocked edge that you don't want. After it is stuck down then you can turn the iron up to final seal the edges. Also be careful with an air gun for the same reason.