I'm about to cover my plane but I don't have a covering iron or heat gun [sm=drowning.gif] what could I use instead and how would I use it.

See if there is someone you can borrow them from. Unfortunately you will need both to do a good job.

you can get both for about 40 bucks total, i recomend just buying your own.

go to www.towerhobbies.com

pt-power- In a pinch, you can use a clothes iron. The larger size makes it a little more difficult to use, but if you take your time and follow the instructions that come with the covering, you can get very good results. Watch the temperature of the iron and don't allow it to touch open areas. When heat shrink covering first came out, there were no special irons or heat guns so using your wife's iron was the only option. Jim

yes there were but the hobby stor was selling them for $40 each

store

hi there when i first started i used to use a travel iron for covering. but like everyone said always best to have the right tools

but it sucks to have tools that are over priced I checked great hobbies and they were selling one for $25.98 including shipping thats pretty good but I'm broke after buying my plane. I'm only 13 and I'm jobless

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pt-power- I just looked at the Tower site. They sell an iron for $13 and the heat gun goes for $14.- Jim

but that about $29 CA. I think I might buy a heat gun and iron at the great hobbies in P.E.I they probably have a combo deal or something

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I have tried a clothes iron covered wiht a t-shirt to tack down some loose ends. It works, but I don't think I would attempt a whole model this way.

A hair dryer probably might work as a heat gun, but I don't think it gets hot enough to really shrink the covering propersly.

You are going to have to buy the tools.

You can get by with an iron alone but it is a pain to do the larger shrink process with just the iron.

I covered my first airplane with my wife's clothes iron. It worked ok, but the close areas around the tail were pretty tough. The clothes iron even worked to shrink the covering. The other contributors are correct though, if is best to use a real covering iron and heat gun. If you don't have the money, be sure and clean the iron very well before using it on clothing!!! Especially if it is your wife's or mother's! [:@]

I have a covering iron and heat gun and it is a L O T easier with those!

You will be best served if you get hte proper tools, but if you must use a clothes iron, cover it with a cotton t-shirt. Some of the glue from the covering eventually gets on the t-shirt and you can turn the shirt. Use one that has been set aside for rags. It is much better than trying to get the glue off the iron later. They sell socks for the covering irons for the same purpose.

According to the ultracote I just applied, my first covering attempt, the tack down temp is 220 degrees. If your covering is like that, they suggest the following to check the temp.

Set the iron just hot enough so that if you drop water on it it takes a few seconds to boil off. Then it is right around 212-230 degrees. If it steams right away, it is too hot for tacking.

They suggest you shrink the covering at 300 degrees. I don't have a test for 300 degrees, so you can try setting it about 1/4 higher than you set it for tacking. Then see how it behaves. If it melts the covering, it is too hot.

If you set a hair dryer on the highest heat and hold it close enough you might have enough heat. Make sure it is over 1200 watts minimum. If you can set it for high heat and low fan, that will give you the highest heat.

Here are photos of the patches I did. The red to the left is the new part. The older covering was more translucent. The light area on the blue covering is a reflection. The new piece is slightly darker, in the center.

I could not match the colors exactly as the covering is over 10 years old. Next time I will remove a whole section when I am doing a repair. It will look better.
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