I had heard that you could use a home iron to take the bubbles out of ultracoat. Is this true/recommended? If so what do you need to do? I.E. how hot and do you need to put a cloth under the iron? Thanks
Dave

I think that someone has been pulling your chain.

A household iron to work on RC AC.., In theory it could work (I guess) but in the real world it is too big and would not fit into all of the small crevases that make up a plane. Not to mention the fact that your wife/mother would kill you for getting monocoat glue and colours onto her iron which would then totally mess up the laundry... [:@] [:'(]

If you truely have bubbles that you need to get rid of, get a pin - pop all of the bubbles and then run over the covering with a normal RC iron. This will shink the covering and allow the air to escape while sealing the pin holes.

Good Luck.

yes, it will work, but as the previous poster mentioned, you WILL get color on it. glue really isn't a problem, but that color will transfer to clothing for a long, long time, it is fairly hard to get off the iron.

buy a covering iron on tower, get the cheap one, they basically are all the same and are well worth it. You MAY be able to use a hairdryer for touchup use, most of them have over-temp sensors though, so it may shut itself off.

The answer would be very carefully

It is easy enough to do, make sure the iron is set to dry (no steam) and use one of the lower heat settings. I would suggest that you start with the lowest setting and increase it slowly till the bubbles dissappear. I haven't used a cloth under the iron but if you are concerned about the finish then it would be wise to. If you are only taking out bubbles you shouldn't need a cloth, just hover the iron slightly above the surface.

I have seen pictures of an ARF factory in China where they were using standard household irons (probably from the factory next door ) to apply covering.

Cheers
Vaughan

Well, I'm going to have to disagree with those who say it can't be done. In fact, the first plane that I covered was covered completely using a travel iron that I have. So yes it can be done. As others have said, you will probably get colors leeching onto the iron, so make sure you clean the iron off before you use it for clothes again. You will have to do some experimentation to get the temperature correct. Work on a small area that is hopefully out of view. Start with the temperature at a lower setting and slowly move the temp up, testing after every temp change, until you find the correct temp setting that will work for you.

Now with that said, a new covering iron only costs about $12. You would be much better off if you can get the tool designed to do the job. [link]http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXJD40&P=ML[/link]

Hope this helps

Ken

If you were to look at the old instructions for monokote you will see them using an iron and ultracote goes on like monokote. In the early 70's it's what I used and many others used to apply the covering and we would set it on cotton, but do be careful. It would be best to buy a iron from top flite or whoever and do it right.

just put a tea towl over it let it walm up and go.

Ditto to Art and Ken. I've covered several planes with a clothes iron

I used a standard iron for years because the special irons seemed like an unaffordable luxury. And yes it can be done but it sure is clumsy. After you get a specialty iron covering will become easier. After having several irons I prefer the Coverrite iron with thermostat and temperature setting.

Bill