Thanks N1EDM! There's no thrill like building a FF old timer and seeing it climb and glide on its own without radio assistance. But that's a different subject.

I think silk/nitrate is your ticket. Just in case you haven't used this method before: apply three full strength coats of nitrate dope (don't use butyrate to adhere covering) to the edges of the fuse. You can sand between coats. Silk can be applied dry or lightly misted with water; try both to see what you prefer. Start attaching the silk by brushing straight dope thinner on the silk and rub the area with your finger as you would rub an iron when using Monokote. The thinner will desolve the nitrate below and glue the silk down. It re-dries very fast, but can be released with more thinner. Then just stretch the covering across the open area and adhere it, pulling out wrinkles the same way you would when covering an open area with Monokote. After all edges are adhered, mist the silk with water or alcohol for the preliminary shrinking.

Now comes the hardest part. The silk must be filled with dope to seal the weave and fully shrink it. I use nitrate for this stage, too, since I think it has more solids and shrinks tighter than butyrate (which I only use as a topcoat for glow fuel-proofing). If you are brushing it on, you should thin the dope a bit so that it won't form droplets on the underside of the silk. Several light coats are better than one or two heavy ones. You only need to let it dry for an hour or so between these coats. If you have a spray gun, then it is a much easier process and with light coats you don't have to worry about the dope pooling up on the underside. Preventing the dope from collecting under the silk is the only part of the whole process that is somewhat of a pain, but with practice, you can avoid it. After the surface has a nice sheen and you can no longer see any pin holes throught the weave, set it aside for several days to cure and finish shrinking. The longer the better. After this, you should be able to apply the glass and epoxy without trouble. I hope. I at least know that epoxy alone works fine.

If you decide to give this a try, let me know if you have questions.

I look forward to seeing that Playboy Sr. Then you can join in the fun of running spark ignition engines!

1940s Ohlsson & Rice .60: