The model has been sitting out of the packaging bags for about 10 days. So first things first I took out my covering iron and heat gun and went to getting the covering tight again. I live in Phoenix AZ so the air is very dry. I find that when models come to my climate the wood will dry out a bit and since this moister is not present…the covering will sag a little. The Focus Sport had a few wrinkles…but overall it was still in really good shape. This is even though its been in my garage during that time. For those that have not been to AZ in the summer time, our low temps are around 90-95degs with Highs above 100deg F almost every single day. This past week has been near 105-110deg F with lows being about 88 as the lowest temp. My Garage has no AC yet so the model was subjected to similar temps for the last week.

I place my H9 covering iron inside a cotton tube sock. This gives a soft surface to eliminate scratching and digging into the balsa surfaces. This also gives an even heat that works well to get stubborn areas.

I then used a brand new #11 X-acto blade to remove the covering from those areas on the fuse where the covering has not been cut away. I then ironed the covering around the edges and got everything ready to go.

Below is a before and after photos