I have been reading posts on this site for nearly a year now and along with the reading has come allot of bashing about the quality of the arfs and in particular, the coverings . Last week I finished up covering my Four Star Forty kit that I had bought before the 4 star Arf was on the market. I made a trip yesterday to my LHS and there they had the New 4 star ARF assembled and hanging from the ceiling. Man, let me tell you the covering job on mine is no where near as nice as whats on the Arf. This got me to thinking, I have never done a covering job as nice as whats on any Arf that I have seen. Here's where I need the truth, particularly from those that constantly bash arfs. Can anyone cover a plane as well as the factories do? If the answer is yes, then my hat goes off to you because I feel I will never be to that skill level. I think this will be my last kit anyways so it will be all arfs from here on out.[&o]

George

Yeah there are people who can do a better job than the factories do...
All it takes is: Time, thinking and maybe alittle skill..
-Nik

YA! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH! Sorry I could not resisit. I thought I could cover fairly well until a few flights is on the plane and the covering wrinkles. Oh well. I think They can cover better than I do. Sorry Arfs for me. I enjoy flying more than building. But what gets me how can they get covering to stick over covering. I sure as hell can't.[:@]

I know there are some people that can cover there planes better but I feel these people are of a very small number, thats why I am asking this question. I see the planes at the club I belong to and there are some very nice planes that have been built, but from what I see , honestly, I think the arfs look nicer.

George

I've built a couple of kits in my short flying days & it seems the more I do the better I get. My last kit was a 4 star 120 & the top side I would have to say came out as good as any ARF (solid red color though) On the bottom I striped the wings & elevators with white to make it look like a big peperment. This I have to say will take me a few more times to get it to look as good as the top side did. I think the biggest thing is the closer we get to getting done the bigger hurry we get in to either just get it done & out of the way or fly it
(sometimes I suffer from both!!) I think it just takes pratice & lots of patience.

If you did the same covering job, on the same part of a plane 200 times a day... You'd get pretty good at it too. It helps that the piece of covering is pre-cut for you, by a machine, to be the exact correct shape needed.

People who have done a lot of planes will do a better job. Its as simple as that.

The best looking planes aren't covered with film... they are covered with silk, or some other fabric (or fiberglassed) and painted by an expert. (They couldn't afford to do that with the ARFs...)

I like ARFs.

But nothing is stronger than a kit built plane from what I've seen. Your airframe will most likely outlast the covering job. It will look better next time, it takes a bit of practice and thought to be good, but possible.

Tim

Practice makes perfect. You should see what Faye Stilley can do with Monokote...he's a magician

Yak

Gentleman,

I consider my self extremely tallented with covering. Monokote is very tricky to work, you shrick it too much it becomes very brittle and almost impossible to remove if you have to recover again. The trick is to stretch it as tight as possible and tach it around its edges, then apply heat to center and make sure let it cool or it will pull free on the edges and make a mess. Ultracote, econocote and most of the lesser used brands are much easier to work with. Use a heat gun to get rid of the wrinkles as you work remember the heat gun isn't a good tool to make it stick to surface, your iron or use of a glove behind your gun will make the covering stick. Oh, covering over a covered surface, make sure you have it to proper dimensions and then apply it like a wet decal. Mix a few drops of Joy and water in a spray bottle, spray the area, place and move the piece around until your satisfied on placement and squeege it let it dry and tack the only the edge of the piece the next day. Trying to go over the entire piece will create bubbles. Ok, that is covering in a nutshell.

If you take the time to and create a plan to cover it will be easy. As you precut each piece, there will be lots of waste. So you will have to buy approxiamately 5 to 6 rolls of covering per 40 to 60 sized plane more for larger which will cost you 60 to 72 dollars at the lease just in covering, plus the kit and glue etc. As you get ready for the poorhouse, because of your stronger home built kit, think about the ARF. The Arf is a good deal, so you have to dribble a little CA on the joints and complain about the selection of coverings and colors. Be happy, you can afford to buy a nicer engine for it and fuel and stuff fly and repair it. Now your in the doghouse because your spouse thinks your a nut to spend all that money on a toy. Have fun!!!!

will

Most ARF coverings aren't film over film. They only overlap pieces about a 1/4 inch
then seal the edges with trim solvent . Overall most ARFs have a pretty nice
covering job. The only thing you should do is go over it with your sealing iron to
make sure it is stuck to the airframe good.

tommy s

Someone asked about covering over covering, not the seam edge. But, you are correct, they do seal the edge with the iron, its a good idea to seal it with thin CA and capillary or nail polish.

Stay away from anything with "shelf paper" covering on it.
Very hard to get wrinkles out of if not impossible and cannot be repaired.
I haven't seen a "shrink" covering job yet that dosen't need tightening from time to time and new ARF's "out of the box" sometimes have wrinkles due to climate changes during the long trip from thier production line to your work shop.

You didn't say what colour the 4* 40 was, I was looking at the red 4* 60 a short while ago in the LHS and was comparing it to the Tiger 60.
That plain red covering that SIG uses is unbelievably DULL. I went for the Tiger 60 instead. Aside from it being a lot brighter colour (Flame Red Ultracote according to the instructions), it also looks like it's a better quality plane.
I also picked up a 4*40 kit (LHS was closing down) and a couple of rolls of neon blue and orange. I'm not sure yet whether I'll use them, but my 4* will be easy to spot when the ARF's start turning up at the field...

The 4 star at the lhs was indeed red, as was the one I assembled.

Assembled? I thought you said you built the kit....

Since it comes as a kit... and as an ARF... I can understand the potential confusion.

TO ME:

It was clear that he built a kit, and looked at an ARF in the hobby shop.

as was the one I assembled (built, made, constructed, kit.)