Anyone had any problems with the covering being badly wrinkled on the 27% Cap from Great Planes? I just recieved one from Tower and it was horribly wrinkled. I know some wrinkles can be expected but this was beyond fixing. Tower was kind enough to do and exchange but I am concerned that this might be the norm for this plane. Any info. would be appreciated.

Mike

Mine looked like a mirror...I didn't have to touch it. Later as I flew it and kept it in my basement it has developed some wrinkles which I have ironed out a couple of times. But I consider that pretty normal.

thanks
Barry

Wrinkled so bad beyond repair? Never heard of such a thing. I have this Cap, and it had a few wrinkles, but nothing like the arfs of the 90's. You had to spend hours on them to get all the wrinkles out.

I appreciate the information, I am hoping this was just a fluke. I have never seen covering this bad on anything, past experiances with GP have been good that's why I was concerned. It would have been easier to recover it than fix it.

Mike

Mike,

Mine had a few wrinkles.

Now the GP Super Stearman took both me and my youngest daughter 8 hours to get all the wrinkles out with both an iron and heat gun. We'd get a section done and look at it an hour later and it was wrinkled again. We could not fnind a single spot on the airframe that was not wrinkled. In the end it was and still is basically wrinkle free and is a real looker

I cannot see how it was so wrinkled it was not repairable. With time and patience it could be done

My UCD60 was wrinkled big time! Took close to 3 hours of iron and heat gun work. I still have to reheat every once in awhile, but the covering looks great.

I spent roughly 2 hours to get them all out of my Cap 232. Which was about how long it took me to get the wrinkles out the UCD 60 a few years ago. I'm sure the next one you get will have the same issues to. That seems to be the norm for GP arf's. I found the heat gun worked best. Just take your time, they'll come out and stay out.

I wanted to thank everyone for their input.
The area that has been the most difficult to get the wrinkles out of are the areas where it is multi-colored. They are more of a hard crease than a wrinkle. I have tried everything from heat gun to iron and those will not come out. It's not just here and there it's the whole plane. I have been in the hobby for 22 years now and this is the worst I have seen. I was pretty disappointed to see this when I opened the box for the first time. I have bought other ARF's from Great Planes and they were all in good condition, they all have a few wrinkles but nothing major. I think we should just all go back to building like we used to....whats the saying... if you want it done right do it your self. Sad part is you can't build one for as cheap as you can just go buy it as an ARF. I will admit, the quality of craftsmanship has come way up in the last few years.

twin,

I see you point. When I mentioned the Stearman, there are very few multi colored areas on that plane, it's basically all white with some red on the wings. With the Cap I can see where you are coming from as there are large area's of multiple colors and I noticed the same thing while shrinking mine. I own one and though it was not as bad as your, it did wrinkle a few times at first but has settled down.

What I found that worked is to get a thin wash cloth, wet it slightly and lay it on an area, they set the iron a bit hotter than you would usually use and go over it. Sorta like when I was in the military to get a nice sharp crease. Well it works just the opposite on these coverings. as the steam helps remove the wrinkles, even on multiple layered spots

I like that tip!

I'll have to try that tip, never heard of that before on this type of covering. Always learning something new. Hopefully the next one will not be as bad but if it is I will give that a try. Thanks.

Mike

Lets us know Mike