Hi summerwind.

First—wow! You have purchased five airplanes this summer! I don’t know what brands they were, but that’s a significant expenditure when you consider not only the cost of the kits themselves, but also the cost of all the associated engines, radio gear, etc. to outfit these models!

Onto your question about the covering job on the B-25; First, let me say that I am probably the most critical one in all of Hobbico about covering. I have won a few awards at Toledo for covering and am known within the company and locally for being an expert at applying MonoKote. This has also earned me the tedious task of inspecting all new MonoKote shipments (portions of which occasionally must be rejected—much to the dismay of some of my superiors!).

Second, you have to understand (and surely already know) that all these ARF kits are assembled and covered in large quantities by workers overseas. While we are usually quite impressed with the covering we see on prototypes as well as production models, this means you are not going to get a “Toledo” covering job—this is part of the tradeoff you accept when purchasing a model assembled by somebody else.

That said, I would have to say that, by and large (but admittedly not always), I am stunned (positively—in a good way!) by the covering jobs I see on our ARF models. For example, the covering job on the 3rd prototype of the B-25 was acceptable. We received one sample for evaluation to make sure they made all the changes requested after viewing the second sample.
But when I examined final samples from actual production (one of which is the one I have assembled, flown and been talking about on this thread including photos), I was truly amazed at the covering job. I’m not saying there weren’t wrinkles—that’s ALWAYS to be expected, but the wrinkles were few and the seams were well-hidden and secure.

Another thing I must tell you is that I did spend probably a total of one to two hours tending to the covering job on my B-25 by going over it with a 21st Century iron with a covering sock to get all the wrinkles out and THOROUGHLY bond the covering to the structure underneath. If you take ten or twenty minutes to fix the covering on this bird you haven’t taken enough time and some of the wrinkles you have removed will reappear and many new wrinkles will form when you get it out to the field.

What you have to do is TAKE THE TIME to go over the entire model—even where there are no wrinkles. You have to press down on the iron to bond the covering to the wood—even where there were no wrinkles in the first place. Where air bubbles form you have to go over the area again or use a sharp, new #11 blade to poke small holes in the covering to allow the air to escape. Simply going over the model with a heat gun is not sufficient—forget about using a heat gun.

This is what I have always done it.

As for my B-25—the one photographed in this thread—the first day I took it out the temperatures were not blazing, but were fairly warm—probably around 80 – 85 degrees F. Some wrinkles did form in the top of both outer panels, but I think I forgot to go over these in the first place. Back home after the first few flights, I removed the wrinkles with my covering iron. Since then, I’ve had the model out about four different times, in the heat and in the sun, but no more wrinkles have formed. In fact, this weekend when I had the model out at a club near my brother’s up in Michigan, more than one person asked me how the model was finished—they didn’t know it was an iron-on covering!

About the show/instruction manual model (the one photographed in our advertisements, on the web site and in the manual and flown by Greg Hahn), this one was covered by me. It came to us with no covering (or paint) because we hadn’t yet decided on a trim scheme. Once the scheme was decided, I covered and painted the model accordingly. The first time Greg took it out to Warbirds over Delweare (I think that’s the name of the event), the temperatures were extremely hot and the model had been sitting in the sun for two or three days—all day. The model returned with only a few wrinkles on top of the fuselage. Back in the shop I removed the wrinkles, then the model was taken to another event in Dayton, Ohio. This time the model came back with no more wrinkles. Yes, the covering was applied by me, but the flat olive MonoKote seemed to hold up well.

Summerwind, I cannot guarantee what type of covering job will be on the B-25 you receive (should you decide to purchase one). I can just about guarantee that it WILL have some wrinkles. But if you take the time to properly go over the entire model and eliminate all of the wrinkles and securely bond the covering to the wood (using your favorite brand of covering iron with a protective sock), I think you will be pleased with the final appearance of the model and it should hold up over time.

I may be speaking out of turn here, but of course, Hobbico and Top Flite stand behind their products, so if you were to receive a kit that was absolutely unacceptable, I bet they would give you a refund or send you a replacement. To be certain, that is something you would have to take up with our Product Support department though.

I didn’t intend to give you such a long answer, but I am sure others will read this post and possibly learn something. And the answer just isn’t so simple. The kits aren’t absolutely perfect, but with a little work from the modeler, done correctly, you can have something really nice. That’s the best and most honest way I can put it.

Look forward to reading more posts!

Tim

P.S. And oh, yea, thanks for your compliments on my plane. It is an ARF, but I still take pride in the work I have done to make it nice (although I'm a little embarrassed when someone asks "did you build that?" and I must reply "no" ).

P.S.S. One other thing, the B-25 is covered in actual Top Flite MonoKote--not something else--flat olive drab and flat gray.