NJAIRSTRIKE

My Feedback: (2)

Its official, I have to be the worst Monokote coverer in this forum. I ran through an entire monokote roll and I couldn’t cover a wing. What should I do? I really want this kit to completely be done by me and no one else. Any pointers please help.

Cyclic Hardover

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On a guess, are you using a heat/blow gun along with the iron??

CTDave

My Feedback: (1)

Practice,practice,practice.I too am not that good at the covering I switched to ultracote and found it a lot easier to work with.I found that you have to have the heat just right on your iron then take your time and follow the directions on the monokote they are pretty good for getting started.Look around in lthe kit building section I think ther is an article on covering.

NJAIRSTRIKE

My Feedback: (2)

No heat gun just the iron and the small iron for the corners.

yel914

As stated, you may have better luck with Ultracote. I've also tried Sig's new Aerocote with good results. It all takes some practice and you need to invest in a heat gun. Try covering the rudder or elevator first... get the technique down on smaller parts before biting off the big pieces. Uninterrupted time and good tunes also help! Good luck

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Thats your problem. I don't want to sound like a smart mouth here but monokote/Ultrakote is not miracle kote. An iron alone is not going to work. You need the heat gun to shrink the wrinkles out of it. You iron around the edges and shrink it up withthe heat gun but keep the gun moving. Too long or too close in one spot will melt/burn it

NJAIRSTRIKE

My Feedback: (2)

so Should I use the heat gun just for the corners and then blast it with a heat gun and then use the iron again?

PlaneKrazee

My Feedback: (14)

MonoKote is harder to work with than many other coverings. I would highly recommend a heat gun. You could try TowerKote, EconoKote, UltraCote, Solarfilm, etc. Solartex is very to use, just follow the directions.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

I always trim first . Tale the rear stab, I cut about a 1/4ish inch strip and iron it down around the edges. Or take the aileron area where i Trim that first. You will develope your own style and you will learn how it works. Also condier going to Home Depot or some place where you can buy a small box of 100 one sided razor blades, Your gonna need them too

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

Here's what I do to cover wings. I cover each bottom half first and then the top. If the wing has flat tips I cover them first, leaving a bit of overlap so the main covering sticks to the tips covering. Next I will cover the bottom, one half at a time. Cut the covering extra long and wide so you've got some to grip. Begining with the center section I tack down one corner, perhaps near the trailing edge. Then tack down the tip trailing edge corner, pulling it a bit to keep it taught. Now tack down the center leading edge corner. While you are doing this, pull it a bit to keep the covering taught, but make sure you're not introducing any wrinkles. Do the same for the leading edge tip corner. At this point you should have all 4 corners tacked down, the covering should be taught, and there should be no wrinkles. If you've got a wrinkle, use heat to lift a corner and remove the wrinkle.

Next you need to tack down all the edges. Use the iron to fasten the middle of the leading and trailing edges. Note, do not move the iron back and forth, press it down and then lift and move to another spot. Moving the iron while it's on the covering will pull the covering and introduce wrinkles. Keep tacking down all the edges until they are all done.

Once you've got the edges completely tacked down, it's time to fasten the leading and trailing edges. To do these use a rolling motion with the iron where you start on the part that's already fastened and roll toward the part that's not fastened. This will minimize bubbles. As before, do not slide the iron on the covering, it can cause wrinkles. Once you've got the panel fastened down and enough overlap so the top covering will adhere to the bottom, trim the edge with a NEW single side razor or xacto blade. When it's trimmed, it's time to move to the next panel

When all 4 panels are finished and trimmed it's time to shrink the covering. A heat gun is really the best for this. I shrink each panel a little bit and then do the next one. If you try to shrink the top of one panel before the bottom is tight, you risk a warp.

Edit: I've been using Monokote for years and have never had trouble with wrinkles.

tuwood

I agree that a heat gun is the answer. When I tried covering my first wing I had wrinkles everywhere after tacking everything down & then I started attacking it with the heat gun. It was amazing how it stretched all the wrinkles right out.

I obviously need a lot of work on my technique to minimize the wrinkles but the heat gun is bailing me out until I get to that point.

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Like he said, Monokote works as good or bad as Ultracoat. It comes down to skill. I am pretty darn good at it but I could do better.

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

A heat gun is not an absolute necessity. Both of these planes were done almost entirely with just irons. The only use of a gun was the final tightening of the wing bays after all of the covering and shrinking was done. These are the first planes I've covered and are done entirely in Ultracote...

Cyclic Hardover

My Feedback: (3)

Nice looking planes

CP140

Like the guy said... practice, practice, practice. My first covering job had more sags and wrinkles than the club executive. By the time I was up to my fifth airplane, my covering job had "improved" to the point where it looked like I was drunk when I did it.

trust me... you're not the worst at covering...

NJAIRSTRIKE

My Feedback: (2)

Thanks everyone for the tips and motivation, I will keep trying and show you pictures when complete.

mimhoff

My Feedback: (3)

If you are the worst -- then I am a close second... I love to build -- hate to cover. I am not sure of all the issues you are experiencing but one problem I had was getting the Monokote to really stick to the wood. I used compressed air and a rag to wipe the balsa dust from the surface to be covered - but a friend (who is experienced at covering) suggested that i use a real "tack" cloth. I was amazed at the amount of balsa dust remaining on the wood - after wiping down with a "tack"I had much better success with getting my Monokote to stick to the wood. I am not sure if this is an issue for you but it sure helped me.

-Mark

Safebet

My Feedback: (12)

Nairstrike: Go to the following link.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...?article_id=67

This will help. Also, do a search for the thread: "good covering jobs"


This will help, too. Don't be discouraged. Covering is probably the most dreaded, but necessary, step of plane building. Few, if any, relish, the job.

Jim
AMA 821369

PS

RCKen and Minnflyer are probably two of the best. Minnflyer authored the above article. Don't be afraid to ask them questions. Also, look in the "tip and Techniques" forum for
covering tips.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

This is one of the reasons I use Balsarite. I never have problems getting the Monokote to stick to the wood.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Try using Ultracote and a heat gun. Here are links to 3 videos on covering also.

http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazi...s/352/cov1.wmv

http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazi...s/352/cov2.wmv

http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazi...s/352/cov3.wmv

kzimmerman

I covered for years with just an iron. You can do it, but you have to have alot of patience. I have also used most major brands of covering, and i found Monokote to be a pretty forgiving covering. the secret is to take your time, and tack down the edges every inch or so, then iron the edges down. try to get a little tension in the covering before you use the gun or iron to shrink it down. Using the iron alone takes about 10 times the amount of time you can do it in with both the gun and the iron. Also, remember that covering sticks the best to other covering, so try to leave a small overlap of about an eigth to a quarter of an inch.

The main thing that you need to do is have some patience. It is tricky to get started in, but once you get started, it becomes very easy. Just keep the patience, and if you find yourself starting to rush, quit, take a break and come back to it later.

tuwood

Littlebit off topic, but do you guys prefer to use a hot sock on the iron or not? I notice in the video MinnFlyer posted that it doesn't look like he's using a sock on the iron?
Pros? Cons?

krossk

My Feedback: (27)

I use a sock on my regular iron and a bare shoe on my detail iron.
I find that it doesn't scratch as much, but it does make getting the proper temp settings a bit touchier.

bruce88123

I covered for many years without a heat gun but it is definitely easier with one. Also didn't have a trim iron. Have all 3 now and the job is relatively easy. I use only Monokote and have no problems, others may. Also have no sock on my iron but avoid scratches usually and those I get are small compared to what the first off field landing causes.

bruce88123

Don't feel bad though airstrike, you don't have the record. There was a guy on here before that used up an entire roll on just 1/2 a wing of a 4-star that never flew. The covering didn't have waves in it, there were breakers.