Hello. I'm new to the hobby so let me first start off by saying say hi to all on this forum. I have an ARC ready 2 that i'm leaning to fly on. Now I've brought a second hand Acrowot that I'm hopeing to progress on to later on. It has what i think is called 'hanger rash' and some of the covering has rubbed off in places and has been touched up with paint! and the trim line is peeling away at the edges off the wings and tail. To be honest, the white covering is looking a bit tierd. I want to brighten it up, give it a face lift. Now I have never covered a model before. Whats the best way to go about giving the model a fresh look. Is it easy to strip off the old covering and would it be easy to re cover the model seeing has the tail plane and fin are fixed in place. Any tips would be most wellcome.

Hi!... Welcome to RCU...

There is a great article on covering which is already on RCU... [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=67]Click Here[/link]

That will teach you all the basics... There is some downloadable video too...

As for the old covering if its that bad you will probably find it will just peel off...

Peel it all off, prep the surface by filling any dents and sanding lightly with a fine paper... Read the article... Then cover... Post some Pics...

Matt

Use a heat gun and/or sealing iron to heat the old covering and remove the old covering while it is still warm. The heat loosens the adhesive backing.

Once the covering is removed, CAREFULLY sand those areas where any residue remains. If you are going to remove any paint with a chemical, be careful around glue joints, especially with acetone (acetone will soften/disolve CA and many other adhesives).

Now that you have a bare airframe, check it over for any oil/fuel soaked wood and areas that may need filling (dents, gouges, etc). Oil/fuel residue can be removed from the wood using K2R or sprinkle with corn starch, rub it in, wait about an hour and brush it off. You will need to use several applications of corn starch. When the oil is removed from the wood, give those areas a THIN coat of SIG "StixIt" or thinned epoxy (heavy though) to seal the wood and give the covering something to adhere to.

For the attached tail surfaces use strips of covering about 1/2" - 3/4" wide. Fold them so there is a crease running lengthwise on the strip, then iron 1/2 of the strip to each surface. For instance, horizontal stab to fuselage. Using a trim iron (preferably) iron 1/2 of the width of the strip for the full length to the horizontal stab, then iron the other half of the strip to the fuselage. If you are using bright colors or light dark combinations take some scrap pieces and iron them down to see if they have to go a certain way to keep colors from showing through.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tips. I read the article on covering, interesting. A customer I got chatting to whilst I was visting my local model shop suggested rubbing down the covering, which by the way I think is solafilm, and then spraying with car body primer and then spraying it with a top coat, pity he did not tell me what to rub the covering down with. I wonder if this would work, has anyone done this?

I guy in a hobby store suggested that you rub down the covering, prime it and paint it? You need to find another hobby store. People like that are the ones who "entertain" us with "near death" experiences at the field.

This would most likely not look good, not adhere well and add too much weight. 3 good reasons against this method on such a large scale.

Cyclic thought he was an employee of the LHS but the way I read it he was just another customer like you.

Best description of these guys I've ever heard.

If they aren't at the field they are at the LHS bugging the customers. It's like there is a law which requires their presence.

The other thing I've noticed is that if you can't spot the RCtroll it is probably you.

We have met the enemy and he is Us!

Welcome to a great hobby TP.

I've decided not to strip the covering off now. it's to much work anyway. i've touched up the rubbed off bits whit white paint and after a good wash\rub down with soapy water, it don't look to bad. I do want to apply some new trim lines, (fuzz, wings etc.) but in a lighter colour, the ones on the model are blue and red stripes and I want to put yellow ones on. I am having the devils own job of removing the old ones. Seems to come off in bits leaving the coloured backing behind. Whats the best way of getting them off without damaging the covering underneath?. Buy the way, the chap in my LHS was a customer not a member of staff.

I've had success with lacquer thinner. Use it sparingly, working small areas at a time. It's best to place the thinner on a small cotton rag and then rub the the backing. After you get the backing off then take a clean rag with a little more thinner and rewipe the area to remove the last of the color.
Do this in a well ventilated area.

lacquer thinner, is that the stuff they thin down car body paint with?. Ain't got non, I do have some White spirit (turps) or the wifes nail varnish remover is on hand (No pun intended). Will these do it?

Try the polish remover. I think it contains acetone. It also has some oils in it to keep your wife's hand soft which will be important if she discovers that you've been using her stuff.

Some polish removers don't have acetone. Bottle will be labeled.

laquer thinner is very cheap at your local auto parts store

Is lacquer thinner cellulose based? if it is, then won't it melt or at least damage the film covering under the trim i'm trying to remove. I know that cellulose and plastic do not like each other.

Oh dear help It's all gone pear shaped. I used white spirit and scraping with a sharp knife to remove the trim line down one site of the fuzz nad one half of the tailplane. Whilst this worked quite well it has made the clear part of the covering lift away from it's colored backing, also the covering along the side of the fuzz and tailplane where I applyed the white spirit has gone all wrinkly. I seem to have made a bad job even worse. Is there anything i can do to rectify the problem and get the winkles out or (deep breath here) am I now looking at a strip and recover job......

Ok. I've manged to get almost all the wrinkles out using the wifes hair drier. The covering looks much better now, almost the same as before I started. it was not 100% perfect when I got the model, it is after all a well flown model. I'm going to tackle the rest of the trim removal by gently heating it and see if i can pull it off. I have yet to tackle the wing, and I dread to think what will happen to the wing covering if I use the same method I first used on the fuzz.

Well, I finely maneged to get all the trim off the fuzz and tail plane. I did not bother to do the wings as the blue trim came off the fuzz very easy using nail the varnish remover method but the coloring in red trim seemed to have stuck itself solid to the white covering and was a sod to get off. The NVR just spread the red colour all over the white covering and I had to use the white spirit to rub it off. I did not want to risk damaging the wing and given the amount of time and effort it took just to get the trim off the fuzz ( the red mainly) I thought i'd leave it well alone. I'm now stuck as to what to re-trim the fuzz with, I had thought about using fablon, Thats the trade name for a type of sticky back plastic film here in the UK for those of you who don't know of it, this stuff sticks like s**t to a blanket and is easy to apply. What do you guys think?

You don't have a hobby shop there that stocks Monokote or the British equivalent? The fuel residue may attack the adhesives or the material itself. Nitro REALLY doesn't like some things at all.

You know I never thought to phone them and ask, dumb or what. No, don't answer that. Does it come in trim size strips or does it have to be cut to size and does it need any modeling tools like say an iron or heat gun to put it on with or does it just stick on?

Yeah I found it. The british version is called Solartrim - a glossy, self-adhesive trim film. Solartrim is very thin and flexible. Just cut to shape and press on - no heat needed. Colours match Solarfilm and Solarspan. Brill, I'm going to get some.

dont worry, things will improve...hopefully