Hi,

Joining pieces of Monokote together for use over open structure requires one thing. Structure underneath it. To join the pieces of Monokote, you first clean the side to be joined w/alcohol. Next, you put the two pieces together in a straight line over a 1/2" piece of hard square balsa. You can use 1/4" if you are really good, but 1/2" is easy to work with. After you have already joined the pieces of Monokote... then... wherever that joint line is on your wing, you need to place a 1/16" piece of balsa sheet approximately 1/4" wide underneath it. This would make it look like a capstrip. If you are doing a sunburst pattern, with 3 colors, then you would have 4 capstrips at the join lines where the pieces meet. When you apply your precolored sunburst, you MUST put down the joined Monokote first and it must be put down first with low heat and then gradually increase it to high. You must make certain that wherever you have a bond line, it is securely attached to your capstrip underneath. Apply heat only to your joint line and the capstrip. You do NOT want to shrink the Monokote around the joint line. After your sunburst is ironed down, then you do the trailing/leading edges in the normal manner making the covering as tight as you can BEFORE hitting the open wing with a heat gun. One other thing. Cover the opposite side BEFORE you shrink any open area w/a heat gun. This will enable the heated air to shrink the wrinkles as well as the plastic to shrink. On a fully sheeted wing, what you are doing is simple.. but on open framework, it requires this technique. One other thing... when you are making the "capstrips" for your joint lines, make certain to sand a notch into the ribs where they cross. You do not want these pieces to be obvious to anyone looking at the covering job. If you have any further questions, please ask/email...

Dan

aka deadstik.....

Carolina Custom Aircraft