What method do you use to apply the tape to the gap in clean, wrinkle and finger print free method?

I know a lot of people use clear packing tape to seal the hinge gaps, but how do they get it down into the groove neatly? I was thinking of misting my glass table with water and few drops of dish soap then making narrow straight edge the length of the groove, placing it on the center of the tape (tape being already cut to length), folding one half over the staight edge then lifting the tape off of the glass. If this works, I would have the tape long enough along both sides to allow me to trim each side to the top. Sounds good, lol.. may not work in practice.

So what do the pros do?

Best regards,
Randy

The clear packing tape didn't work well for me bluestatos. It seemed to bind the servos and stressed out the covering underneath. Just use clear covering (I prefer Monocote) and iron strips you cut out down the gaps. Works much better and isn't very difficult at all.

I too would recommend the monokote.
apply it before you attach the servo arms.
Flex the control so the gap is at it's widest then iron on the monokote between the beveled edges.

Yeap use clear covering to seal the gaps. It's easier and will last longer and look better. Tape is a nightmare to seal hinge gaps with IMO.

Yeah, using Monokote is nicer, but tape is quick and easy, especialy when you don't know what the covering on the ARF is.

I cut a piece longer than the gap. I have my wife or son hold the aileron at full deflection. Then I stick the tape to the trailing edge with the ends I am holding curved up in the air. I take some scissors and trim off the finger print section, then smooth the tape down on to the aileron. I slowly bring the aileron up to level and run the tape down in the hinge line.

After I do both sides, I flip the wing over and tap talc or cornstarch into the hinge line to coat the tape so it doesn't creak as the ailerons move. I turn the wing back over and tap out the excess and I'm done.

I can do this by myself if I hold the aileron fully deflected with my belly, but if it slips the tape gets stuck in the wrong spot and I have to do it over again. I guess you could clip a weight to it. A couple of extra hands works better, but since it's on the bottom and doesn't show, I am never too worried.

So when sealing the gaps do you only need to do one side?

Im about to do this on my next ship.

You may get away on the 40 and smaller size planes to do one side, but on anything larger, I would do both sides.
Rick

Its a 90 size so i was going to do both sides.Gaps are faily large(2mm in some spots)so large throws were able to be meet.

I picked up some clear mono coat since I know the base covering is the same. Here is a another question. Any one have any good ideas on how to get a nice, straight fold on coverings. Right now I cut the appropriate size material then bend it with my fingers first, then again along the full length. This is not very accurate at times and fold is not as clear as I would like it.

Regards,
Randy

If done right, one side is all you really need for just about any size model aircraft. That's all I do, and I have planes as large as 96" wingspan that never had problems. There isn't any great forces on the hinge gaps to warrant doing it on the other side too. The clear Ultracote (my preference) should last as long as the rest of the covering on the plane.

One trick I've learned to do is to fold a crease down the center of the strip of Ultracote to form a "V". This helps me to center the strip on the hinge gap and allows me to iron down one side of the "V" without getting the other side stuck down to the wrong position. I just eyeball it and fold by hand, but you can use a long straight edge if you prefer. The "V" does not need to be exactly symmetrical. Just make sure you cut it to stay inside the TE and LE of the control surfaces.

Another thing, don't try to run the iron down the strip along the hinge gap in one pass. You're liable to get the line crooked. Instead, position the strip in place, tack it down, then position it down a few inches, and tack again. After you've run the length of the gap, then go back and iron the whole strip down solid.

Am I the only one that has trouble when the strip of monokote hits the hinge??? It just doesn't want to lay cleanly down into the gap where there's a hinge. I finally got frustrated and just sealed the gaps BETWEEN the hinges....

Ernie

That'll be good enough Ernie. A small gap here or there won't hurt.

I just added monokote to the hinge gap on my latest build and here is how I did it: 1st step, place the wing on the side of the table with the aileron "hanging down" out of the way and cut the Monokote to length. Iron to the wing first, not the aileron. start at one end, iron down, then stretch tight and iron down the opposite end. Next iron down in the middle poking holes with a pin in any air pockets that may develop. 2nd step, adhere the Monokote covering strip to the aileron by still maintaining the wing on the side of a table with the aileron hanging down in the "full down" position and working the iron in short strokes back towards the trailing edge across the entire length of the aileron, the key here is making sure you work back towards the trailing edge. 3rd step, lift aileron up to the "neutral" position and the Monokote strip will crease along it's entire length so with the edge of the iron only work the iron down this crease, this last step will make a real neat job out of the project.

How about some close-up pics.

How big a gap should be sealed?

Or should any plane be done if its going to do any sort of high speed.

What happened when you tried to iron it down into the hinge area? Perhaps on larger (than say, 46) size planes, the aileron is thick enough that the hinge is further away from the edge.

Ernie