Propfinger,

My .02 here and I've tried just about all the covering systems in 20+ years in the hobby.

A quality iron-on job will take about the same time as a good fabric job - some guys like Monokote, some like Ultracoat. Both are good. But after a while, the seams lift, they wrinkle and they are not as permanent as other types. If you're learning and expect to repair the plane a lot, it is the only way to go. Also for .40 sized planes and smaller, it makes sense as it usually comes out lighter than a painted finish, but not necessarily so.

Fabric and dope will give you a more permanent, fuel-proof, seamless finish. I don't like the iron-on, self-stick fabrics - they never seem to stay tight and the seams lift - they share the problems with iron-on plastic coverings. The colored ones (Worldtex, colortex, etc.) benefit from a clear coat of some kind of fuel-proof paint. The pre-painted ones were really heavy and didn't work well for me.

For years now I have settled on Sig Koverall glued in place with Sig's Stix-it or Coverite's product - glue you brush on the wood, then iron the fabric on and it sticks. You just need to glue the edges - where the seams go. Fabric that overlaps needs glue put in there too - the fabric doesn't have any. Shrink (carefully) with a heat gun. It will get nice and tight, and stay that way. Fill and seal with Sig nitrate dope, I brush it on. One other poster was right, I have never had two coats seal - more like 4 or 5, with a light 400 sanding between each coat. Some guys add a little talcum powder to help fill the last coats. Then I spray (you could brush) a coat of silver dope, then your colors. The silver evens things out, hides all woodgrain, and provides a good base for colors that have trouble covering - especially yellow. For darker colored dopes you can skip the silver step. This will give you an almost seamless, permanent covering. The downside is the cost and strong fumes that will run non-model builders out of the house!

I have just finished a project with a new system that is much lower cost, zero bad smell and water clean up - and the final result is 90% as good as dope. I use Koverall and brush-on glue like before, but fill and seal the fabric with Minwax water-based polyurethane finish from the home store. Two or three coats fill the weave. Finish with housepaint sprayed on with an airbrush, or you could use a foam brush. The paint works great, but needs to be thinned before using. Fuelproof final coat with a spray (gloss or flat) of Lusterkote clear - or any other fuelproof clear, as latex isn't. I use outdoor grade latex - zillions of colors are available and it's $8 a quart. Now, I don't know how many years this will hold up, but it looks great so far. (I've had doped planes for many years.)

Good luck, and if you have any questions email me.
Bob