Hello; I have been trying to get a good covering job on my new Gee whiz Bee, and have wasted 2 rolls of ultracote and 1 roll of ultracote plus. What Have I done wrong? I tack the edges down then when I try to shrink the ripples out, the edges pull off, and everything slides. I have been hording those last few rolls for abour 3 years, could they have gone stale? Is it possible that it goes bad if the ultracote gets too cold? This ultracote has been stored in my (not heated) garage, and certainly has seen many days below freezing.

I have the coverite thermometer and tried 175*, 200*, and 250* degrees, but it doesn't stick at any of these temperatures, same story with the ultracote plus. I used to swear by ultracote, but now I'm going out to find a roll of monocote, and I bet that works.

Hi!
Sounds strange!
Oracover (Ultacote in the US) has never failed me.
Did you really heat it enough!
On the covering iron I use I have it adjusted to max heat when using both Oracover and Monokote. Only occasionally do I change to a lower temp.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

Are you handling the stuff with greasy fingers, or is the surface contaminated by dust or fuel residue?

I have seen a couple of recent posts on the Coverite iron stating it suddenly stopped heating properly. Did you set the temps by the dial on the iron, or do you have a thermometer?

I hope this doesn't come of sounding like a smart ***, because that's not how I intend it. But I have seen this happen many a time with new people in the hobby. Are you removing the backing from the covering??

Ken

But did you come back with high heat (350 degrees at least) and SEAL the edges?

If not, there's your problem. The shrinking action of this stuff (moneyKote too) is very strong. If the edges aren't sealed tight with high heat, they'll pull loose every time.

If you did seal the edges, then I'd check your model's surface for contaminants.

U-Cote doesn't "go bad", to my knowledge. I've got some that is 6-7 years old, at least, and it still works as good as any I've used. OTOH, you may have some "bad" U-Cote. But if you condemn the material on the basis of one bad experience, and try MonoKote, that's your loss. While there are some real wizards out there like Faye Stilley, who can do magic with MonoKote, most of find that UltraCote is MUCH more user-friendly.

But who knows? You may like moneykote better. Better get a hotter iron, though...

350 degrees???

Wow, I don't think I've ever used anything over 300 for final shrinking. I find sealing edges with anything over 250 leaves your nice, straight edge looking like it was cut by a drunk with an axe[:@]. I have my 21st century iron set at 215-225 for sealing the edges and then use 250-300 for final shrinking. My experience tells me that 350 on ultracocte would result in a wrinkled, petrified "wad" of covering. (Now Monokote, on the otherhand is just getting warmed up at 350...)

I learned on monokote and it taught me to hate covering,,I cant imagine having any problems with ultracote its a whole different world I have some thats years old too but I dont think it was ever subjected to below freezing but if that is a common denominator with all your rolls of covering then it may be the problem,,whatever you buy next bring it indoors and store it in a closet...you did peel the backing off right...and the "tacks" need to be about a good 1/2 inch square to hold on too....dust on the wood??....Rog

Ross,

The Kougar below was done entirely with UltraCote, with all seams hit with a 350 degree iron and large areas shrunk at 350 degrees. Now, I do use a sock, so the actual temp of the heat getting to the material is a bit less than 350; but certainly well above 250 or 300.

That is hardly a petrified "wad" of covering... yes?

Steve,

Very nice indeed. That scheme gives a unique new look to the Kougar! Is that the one your grandson flies?

I'm also using a sock. I wonder if different colors have varying temperature tolerances? I know that the neon orange in particular is very sensative to higher temps. And now that I give it more thought, it seems like the darker colors are a little more tolerant than others. I've only used white, neon orange, metallic purple and charcoal pearl and the white and orange seem to shrink much faster than the purple and charcoal.

In any case, the best advice is to test and use what works best for you. I'm sure I have nowhere near enough experience to be considered an expert. More likely a lucky novice with patience and decent results.

I find Ultrcote easier to put on, than Monocote, but I have also observed it to delaminate with time, abuse, & exposure to fuel residue. The clear outer layer of film separates from the coloured layer. This is a serious pain to strip off, as it no longer has any strength -- it comes of in patches, with some patches adhering fiercely to the wood & only removable by sanding.

Monocote doesn't seem to have this problem.

Hello; Yes, I did take the backing off the ulttracote, I also vacuumed the wood before I tried to stick anything to it.

Thanks for all the good suggestions, this will be more then 20th kit I have built and covdered, and have never had so much trouble. I went out and bought a roll of white monokote to finish it off. I used a roll of clear monokote to cover the wing, that worked like I remember.

Ah... I copied that scheme off the box photograph...

Yes, that is #1 grandson's plane.

I've used most of the opaque U-Cote colors, and don't recall any significant difference in shrink rates, etc. I used Pearl White and True Red on my first SE; no differences remembered there.

That's odd... I covered my LT-40 with Ultracote and it went great. Expecially for my first job. Plan to use it on the SSE I am getting ready to build as well.

Curious to know what the culprit was in your situation.

I am new to monokote or ultracote and have a question. I am making a high mileage vehicle and making the body out of balsa wood. I am then going to wrap it in monokote, but the engine in the back may be too hot and melt the monokote. Will the Monokote melt or will it be fine??

Hi!
Show us some pictures...

Jan K

Is the rear engine going to be outside in the open air or enclosed inside the fuselage?

It sounds like you are hinting of another engine in front? Free air for that or tightly cowled in?

school project?

Is the rear engine going to be outside in the open air or enclosed inside the fuselage?

It sounds like you are hinting of another engine in front? Free air for that or tightly cowled in?

school project?
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School Project it is. A single 3.5 hp motor we are putting in the back inside the body of the car, or under the monokote. The car is like a go-cart with a steel frame, not more than 10 foot long, 2 foot wide. We want to cover the balsa wood with Monokote or something rather to make it lightweight, but we are all new and do not know if the Monokote will melt. We may just need provisions for routing the heat outside of the vehicle. Any insight would be appreciated.

School Project it is. A single 3.5 hp motor we are putting in the back inside the body of the car, or under the monokote. The car is like a go-cart with a steel frame, not more than 10 foot long, 2 foot wide. We want to cover the balsa wood with Monokote or something rather to make it lightweight, but we are all new and do not know if the Monokote will melt. We may just need provisions for routing the heat outside of the vehicle. Any insight would be appreciated.
[/quote]

I'd be tempted to recommend an aluminum chassis for weight and use steel brackets to mount the engine if necessary although alum could be used there too. Cost could be an issue.
Are you talking about solid sheeting balsa or space frame structure?
You're talking about a lot of Monokote here too - cost.
Make sure you have enough cooling air to the motor to keep it from overheating. if it is OK and you don't have enough heat to scorch the wood, the Monokote should not melt. Not sure how well the adhesive will hold in those conditions.

I have always used Monokote until I bought a couple of H9 ARF's and did some mods that required the use of Ultracote. I have noticed the Ultracote shrinks a lot better than Monokote but after a trip to the field, wrinkles re-appear whereas my Monokote covered planes stay tight. I'm stickin' to Monokote wherever possible.

Cheers,
Andy

I have had the exact same experiences with Ultracote. I've had 2 Dave Patrick Ultimates that were covered in Ultra cote. No matter what I did I could not keep the covering tight. I would have to go back over it after several flying days. On the other hand I've had planes that I've covered with Monokote that have stayed tight for the entire flying season. I'm sticking with Monokote. If there is some trick to keeping Ultracote tight I'd sure appreciate hearing it.

I realize that this discussion is kind of like Ford vs. Chevy and that everybody has their own opinion on the matter, I just wanted to share my experience with the matter.

Ken

Well here's my vote (sorry, couldn't resist):

Oh Look! A RAINBOW![sm=bananahead.gif]![sm=bananahead.gif]!

I'd be tempted to recommend an aluminum chassis for weight and use steel brackets to mount the engine if necessary although alum could be used there too. Cost could be an issue.
Are you talking about solid sheeting balsa or space frame structure?
You're talking about a lot of Monokote here too - cost.
Make sure you have enough cooling air to the motor to keep it from overheating. if it is OK and you don't have enough heat to scorch the wood, the Monokote should not melt. Not sure how well the adhesive will hold in those conditions.
[/quote]


Cost shouldn't be a problem as we have gained donations of over $2000, and salvaged some parts from last years project. The structure will be space frame, not quite sure how we are going to make it. I am just questioning whether or not the Monokote will melt once the engine runs and heats up. The engine will be cooled and we will have exhaust gases ran out from inside. We may choose to cover the engine with solid balsa wood sheets to prevent the heat from reaching the Monokote. As I said, I am new to this so I guess we will soon find out how well this works for us.

Hello; I finished up with monokote, but I had to pull the ultrakote off the ailerons, to have different colours on the top and bottom. I managed to make the ultra work with more heat (thanks for the advice) and now have a lovely Gee whiz Bee, I haven't flown it yet, as it's winter here.