My local LHS didn't have any heat guns in stock. But I do have a "handyman" type made by Millwaukee.
The hobbiest guns are supposed to run at roughly 400 F. The lowest temp this gun will do is 750 F.
I've tested the gun on a wing tip on my Easy Sport 40, holding the tip of the gun farther away than normal. This seems to work.
But will too much heat cause problems with the covering later.[X(]

Just use as you are. No need for a "hobby type" heat gun. I use one that is for paint stripping and as you found out you just give it a bit more room. Too much heat? If it melts its too much otherwize it just shrinks a little more.

Cheers.

Get a proper gun from somewhere like Tower, they are only $12,99 http://www.towerhobby.com/products/towr3200.html . The problem with the high temp guns is you will get the covering too hot and risk melting it, or shrinking it too much. When you are shrinking the covering you want to get it just hot enough to shrink, but no more. This is hard to do when the gun is so hot.

I'll chime in and say a combination of both of the previous answers...

You paint Stripping gun will work ok for now, but plan to get a regular heat gun (Maybe the next time someone needs to get you a gift and you don't know what to ask for?)

I gotta agree with Chuck on this one. I too have a paint stripping gun. Low temp is 650 degrees. While I have managed to get away with it here & there, for the most part I fail. There seems to be a very fine line between hot enough to shrink, and too hot. Turning it all brittle & hard. When it does start to shrink an area I'm working on, it actually wrinkles the section next to it. This causes a snowball effect for me. As I try to straighten those wrinkles back out, now it's allready turned hard & brittle, then I either end up pulling it away from it's seems, or just burning a hole in it. I won't throw it out because it is a perfectly good paint stripper, but I won't be ruining anymore plane covering material with it!


Mark

Also, excess tightening/shrinking may introduce warps into the structure, such as the wings or tail. (Which is bad ) The proper heat guns we have for the hobby are made for this purpose and cheap. You will most likely end up using it enough to easily justify its small cost. [8D]

Has anybody tried a hair dryer ?

I have a Milwaukee heat gun and used it fine on my LT-40. Trick is to back off a little and keep the gun moving. I used it on the cooler setting. Worked fine. Work with some good light so you can better see the covering shrink(reflection).

Ultra coat has a bit of a very light texture to it before it's shrunk. It is very apparent when that texture goes away when that area shrinks.

Good luck.

RC-FIEND, A Hair Dryer doesn't get hot enough

Thanks, everybody for the advice. I will get the proper heat gun, before I cover the wing. It was built 5-6 years ago, and has been sitting in storage.
I just got the wing re-straightened; and I really don't want to go through all of that again overshrinking the covering.
Thanks again.[8D]

When you re-cover your wing, you'll want to shrink it gradually over the entire wing. Don't shrink one area all at once or the wing can become deformed. Shrink each side of the top a little then work the bottom a little - back and forth tile it's all tight.

ON my first LT40 ARF, I used a professional hairdryer that my wife has, because at the time it was all I had. I used to to take out some wrinkles in the covering on the wings, and it actually worked okay, it just took a while to get it all done. It would not work for doing a covering job, though. Not hot enough, as was said earlier. I bought a Hobbico heat gun, and it was a good investment at $13.00. I bought the gun and a good covering iron for less than what my wife paid for that hairdryer!

I tried a hair dryer once, just so I would know how to answer this type of question. 2 different dryers at that. Even holding the dryer about 1/4 inch from surface for extended times failed to cause any shrinking. This was the highest settings on the dryers. You will need one heck of a commercial dryer to stand a chance. Better to buy a shrink gun from the LHS.

After 21 years in this hobby, I finally broke down and bought a heat gun. I have not used it yet, however. I have ironed on the vast majority of my covering jobs and simply used my Top Flite sealing iron to shrink the covering after sealing to the frame work. This has worked and was simple enough to use. Why I finally bought a heat gun, I'm unsure! I hope when I use it the first time I'll say to myself; "Self, you should have been using this along time ago"! My guess is I'll find it only marginally more useful!

What I'm saying is heat guns are not necessarily needed! Howver, this is only my opinion and I have found that my opinion and $1.25 will buy me a cup of coffee most places.

I agree that one CAN cover without a heat gun. However, I prefer to use one for shrinking large areas.

I used to cover without a gun or a trim iron either. Neither is usually "necessary" but make life easier. There are some places very difficult without the trim iron.

I need to cave and pick up a trim iron. The primary iron is too large to do some detailed work.

Which would you buy?

Top Flite Trim Seal Tool

Coverite 21st Century Trim Sealing Iron - this one looks a little nicer for $3 more.

Coverite is adjustable temp. TopFlite just has 2 settings if I remember. I have Coverite.

Oh yeah, I like the Coverite tips better too.

Third vote for the Coverite, probably the best iron on the market. I have the 21st Century sealing iron, and the wife seems to have picked up the 21st century trim iron for one of my Christmas presents (yeah yeah, I know, stop snooping).

Third vote? Who was second?

Uh, oops! Okay, second vote!

I have to add my 2 cents here,since the discovery of the heat gun and trim tool my big irons have been doing nothing but collecting dust about 25 yrs worth .I use the trim tool to seal the edges and the heat gun to shrink .no iron marks or dings and dents .My preference is top flight in both trim tool and heat gun like I said there both over 25 yrs old and still going strong .on the average I build anywhere from 6 to 10 planes a year,depending on customers.Thats allot of use if you figure it up.Hint I cut the knobs off the foot of the trim tool shoe so it will fit farther into the holder for more heat .