I am refurbrishing an old Phoenix Topstar. Its atleast 6 years old and the Oracover monokote is starting to delaminate- the plastic is coming off while the color remains on the wood, then flakes off. So I want to strip the entire covering and redo. There is one issue. When I pull off the covering, the color and glue remains on, when I try to sand this, the glue gets activated and spoils the sand paper. Previously I tried to solve this by putting a news paper and ironing over the residue after removing the covering. This causes most of the stuff to come off but some still remains. How do I remove the monokote completely?

P.S. I cant get monokote solvent here, its inflammable

Ameyam

Perhaps a rag and an iron?

I had the same issue, I just took some packing tape and put it over the color adhisive and then peeled it away.

Acetone might remove the color.

The rag wont help too much. The coloring will stick to it & make it unusable in one instant. Packing tape is a good idea speedracer. Did you also iron over the top of that?
Ameyam

Don't use a solvent to get it off. If you do, it will stain the wood and there will be no way to get it off. I've gotten it off before by using a coarse grit sandpaper like a 100-120 grit and sand the stuff off lightly. It will ball up and plug the sandpaper, but it's pretty easy to get it clean as long as you don't press hard while you're sanding.

How about using some news paper and ironing over the top?

This airplane has clear monokote, and I intend to use clear monokote again, so stain is not an issue

Ameyam

Newspaper will probably tear when you pull it off. Any kind of fabric will work better for that, as you need a surface that the adhesive will stick to better than the wood.

Great answers, I have my old pattern plane needing repairs and my big hold up is I wanted to pull the covering. I have done this a number of times but in this case the plane is old, 1989 and the covering was put on the wood with something like hair spray or balsarite so it isn't lifting off. I never thought about using tape to pull it. The covering comes off in little pieces. The plane is sheeted. In the past when I removed the covering and it left the color on the wood I just used Acetone and then sand paper to remove the color. In this case I just haven't been able to get the covering off. I'll try the tape idea today and see how it works for me. And before someone says to use the heat gun, that's what I have always used but in this case the heat made it harder. The builder also used a wood pecker. Tape?? Sounds good to me!!!

Ameycam, I recently had to strip and recover a four year old ARF, and had the same problems you're having. The plane was covered in Ultracote in four different colors and and when the covering was removed, the colored residue stayed on the wood surfaces. I used a Scotchbrite pad dipped in automotive urethane reducer and the residue came right off. I also tried lacquer thinner and acetone but they dry too fast. Once all of the residue was removed, I sanded everything with 180 grit sandpaper followed by 320 grit and the wood looked good as new and was ready to recover. It's a messy job but it doesn't take long to do it. Would post before and after pics but can't get them uploaded. RS

whats urethane reducer?

ameyam

It's a high grade enamel reducer. Enamel reducer would probably work also, but I just used what I already had on hand. You could also use steel wool instead of Scotchbrite pads. Make sure to wear rubber gloves and have plenty of paper towels on hand. RS

Ok, I took the covering off the airplane and will start putting in the new one soon

I have a question though- this airplane has two fibreglass patches- one where the thing had crashed, broke the fuse into two and got rebuilt. The other in the tail section around the horizontal stab- this airplane has a rep at my field for the tail breaking off in flight.

Now I want to keep both patches. Is it possible to monokote onto fibreglass? What was used in both sections before was more like a sticker than monokote. If I cat monokote over the fibreglass, I will get trimkote that comes with strong self adhesive to simply paste over

Ameyam

You can cover over glass, doesn't stick well but when you use your shrink gun it will suck it down tight.

xylene (xylol) works well also. i wet down those disposable shop towels and just start rubbing the adhesive. it takes a little work, and the xylene doesnt evaporate very fast. it also works well for applying monokote trim on top of monokote.

Hey,
Just remember that acetone is CA solvent. [:-]