ORIGINAL: ratshooter

I just scratch built a Sweet Stik and took a little extra care on thw final clean up and covering job. Here is what I did different from what I normally do.

First I went over the comepleted wood frame with a worn peice of 120 grit sandpaper. Very lightly to knock off the fuzz on the wood after sanding with coarser paper. Instead of my air compressor to blow it off I weighted my electric weedblower to the bench. Then I held each piece in front of the very strong wind and was amazed at how much dust blew out of the wood pores.

Next I dusted the airframe with a very light coat of Minwax Polyurethane. Just a dusting. Then I went over it again with the worn sandpaper. Then one more time in front of the weedblower. My goal was to get the plane as dust free as possible. You don't want to seal the wood with the Poly. The pores need to be open so that the MK can gas off when being applied or you will get bubbles. Big time.

When covering I tacked the edge and did my best to pull the monokote as tight as I could and tacked the second edge down. Doing this saves all the stretch the MK has built into it. If you push it on with the iron you are using up the shrink it has built in and will have none left when you need to shrink it tight. Same thing with the wing. Seal the leading edge and pull the trailing edge tight and seal down. I did the trailing edge by starting at the corner and working my way down the wing. t was wrinkle free when I finished and I hadn't shrunk it yet. When I went over the wing to stick the covering to the ribs it also shrunk the covering. It is drum tight.

The only place I have had to touch up was on the fuse where I gripped it in a death grip trying to get my new ST 40 to start with an electric starter. Now that it broke in I just bump it and it starts.

If you are having trouble do a self exam and see if you can change your style a little and it might improve your results.

I have used Ultracoat and liked it but not enough to cause me to abandon MK comepletely.